Invaders From Mars (1986)
Allegedly cocaine-fueled Tobe Hooper is the best of all possible Tobe Hoopers. This, while a far cry from CokeTobe's best work, is still a pretty fun take on 50's alien invasion movies.
Terrible kid actor Hunter Carson (I was warned about his performance but not nearly enough, he was truly awful. Also, it should be noted that he runs exactly like Steven Seagal, which is never not hilarious) is David, our hero. This is problematic, because within minutes we're rooting for aliens to eat him.
Anyway, David stumbles upon an alien conspiracy to take over his neighborhood, which leads to a great deal of slimy goings on about town. Karen Black (Hunter's real-life mom, sadly) is the school nurse and also the only person who believes David that they're in deep slime. Things are a bit more fun in the first half, once they head into the alien's lair the movie starts to drag a bit and never quite recovers, but there's still plenty of silly fun to be had.
My favorite CokeTobe movie (and favorite Hooper movie in general, probably) is Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, and that movie has a crazy cartoon energy that he's never matched since, even in a movie like this that's just as cartoonish only actually meant for kids so it can wear those influences right on its sleeve. While it's missing that crazed anarchic spirit, it still revels in a very specific sort of artificiality that I really enjoy. Sets that look like sets, actors going just a notch too high over the top, rubber-suited aliens...if these are things that make you smile, you're gonna find a lot to love here. Also, Eric Pierpoint with hair, making him the second Alien Nation alumni I've encountered this month (the lovely Teri Treas, also with hair, was in The Nest). Hopefully Gary Graham will turn up in something soon so I can get the hat trick.
No comments:
Post a Comment