Invasion stars Edward Judd (The Day the Earth Caught Fire, First Men In The Moon) as Mike Vernon, the doctor in charge of treating a mysterious young man brought to hospital after being accidentally struck by a car. The man's blood tests prove puzzling, and, after questioning his patient, Mike learns that the stranger (Ric Young) is an extraterrestrial -- a Lystrian -- in pursuit of two escaped criminals. However, the Lystrian later reveals that he is actually the escapee, having absconded en route to a penal colony after being wrongfully found guilty of murder.
While Mike is tending to his otherworldly patient, the temperature rises rapidly inside the hospital, and the staff discover that they are trapped inside a force field, placed around the building by two other aliens, who claim that the Lystrian being treated inside is lying: he really is a dangerous killer and they must take him back into custody. Who is telling the truth?
A plodding pace, overwrought acting and the obvious low budget work against the film, but the intriguing 'who is telling the truth?' premise means that those viewers who stay the distance should find their patience rewarded, the final act resolving matters satisfactorily, with just enough left in the coffers for a few 'spaceship' special effects. Bridges struggles at times to make good with the very talky script, but he provides plenty of atmosphere and a couple of genuinely shocking moments: a car crashing into the force field, the driver catapulted through the windscreen, makes an impact (pun intended), and an incident with a pair of scissors is surprisingly nasty.
And, as is often the case with such films, there are a couple of things about Invasion that will elicit unintentional laughs, making this forgotten flick even more enjoyable for those who like their sci-fi a little schlocky: Yôko Tani, as leader of the Lystrians (all of whom are, inexplicably, Japanese), takes the place of the hospital's Asian nurse, and no-one notices (because they all look the same to us, don't they?), and despite the temperature being raised in and around the hospital, it is possible to see the actor's breath in the obviously cold night air.
5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.
While Mike is tending to his otherworldly patient, the temperature rises rapidly inside the hospital, and the staff discover that they are trapped inside a force field, placed around the building by two other aliens, who claim that the Lystrian being treated inside is lying: he really is a dangerous killer and they must take him back into custody. Who is telling the truth?
A plodding pace, overwrought acting and the obvious low budget work against the film, but the intriguing 'who is telling the truth?' premise means that those viewers who stay the distance should find their patience rewarded, the final act resolving matters satisfactorily, with just enough left in the coffers for a few 'spaceship' special effects. Bridges struggles at times to make good with the very talky script, but he provides plenty of atmosphere and a couple of genuinely shocking moments: a car crashing into the force field, the driver catapulted through the windscreen, makes an impact (pun intended), and an incident with a pair of scissors is surprisingly nasty.
And, as is often the case with such films, there are a couple of things about Invasion that will elicit unintentional laughs, making this forgotten flick even more enjoyable for those who like their sci-fi a little schlocky: Yôko Tani, as leader of the Lystrians (all of whom are, inexplicably, Japanese), takes the place of the hospital's Asian nurse, and no-one notices (because they all look the same to us, don't they?), and despite the temperature being raised in and around the hospital, it is possible to see the actor's breath in the obviously cold night air.
5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.