Invasion (1965 film)
| Invasion | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Original British 1-sheet poster | |
| Directed by | Alan Bridges |
| Written by | Roger Marshall |
| Based on | a story by Robert Holmes |
| Produced by | Jack Greenwood |
| Starring | Edward Judd Yoko Tani |
| Cinematography | James Wilson |
| Edited by | Derek Holding |
| Music by | Bernard Ebbinghouse |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors (UK) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 82 min. |
| Country | United Kingdom |
Invasion is a 1965 low-budget British science fiction film, directed by Alan Bridges and starring Edward Judd and Yoko Tani.[2] It was written by Roger Marshall and produced by Jack Greenwood.
Plot[edit]
Driving home at night, Lawrence Blackburn knocks down a strangely-dressed male figure. He takes the casualty to a nearby hospital, where blood tests reveal that he cannot be human. Later at home, Blackburn dies from a heart attack when he suddenly meets two women similarly dressed to the accident victim.
At the hospital, which is surrounded by a mysterious force field, the patient recovers consciousness and explains that he is a Lystrian, and crashed while transporting two prisoners to another planet. Soon the Lystrian women reveal that the man is actually the prisoner, and they are his escorts. The prisoner escapes from the hospital and takes off in his capsule. A missile destroys it.
Cast[edit]
- Edward Judd as Dr. Mike Vernon
- Yoko Tani as Sita, leader of the Lystrians
- Valerie Gearon as Dr. Claire Harland
- Lyndon Brook as Brian Carter
- Eric Young as the Lystrian
- Tsai Chin as Nurse Lim
- Barrie Ingham as Major Muncaster
- Anthony Sharp as Lawrence Blackburn
- Glyn Houston as Police Sergeant Draycott
- Ann Castle as Sister Evans
- John Tate as Dundy
- Jean Lodge as Barbara Gough
Production[edit]
The film was written by Roger Marshall from a storyline by Robert Holmes. Holmes later re-used elements of the storyline in the Doctor Who serial Spearhead from Space (1970), which introduced Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor.[3]
It was made at Merton Park Studios.
Release[edit]
Invasion opened at the ABC Lime Street cinema in Liverpool on 15 May 1966.[4] It was theatrically released by Anglo-Amalgamated in the UK, and by American International Pictures in the United States.
A very brief video release by Warner Home Video was available in the UK in 1992.[citation needed]
The film was re-released on DVD in November 2014 by Networkonair.[5]
Critical reception[edit]
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "[The] suggestion, that the extraordinary, the nightmarish is simply one step further on from the everyday, is effectively evoked throughout the film by James Wilson's restless, prowling camera, by judiciously timed shock cuts, by the use of over-lapping dialogue, with sentences half-finished and characters cutting each other short."[6]
Kine Weekly wrote: "The eeriness of the opening scene when the invaders land and cause widespread electrical failures is well done, but the mystery is sustained too long while nothing much of consequence happens. ...The space craft, by the way, fly impressively."[7]
Andrew Roberts at BFI Screenonline wrote: "Alan Bridges' background in television plays and B-films allowed him to create a wholly believable cottage hospital based on what was virtually a single set, while the screenplay ... manages to evoke some unusually plausible alien 'invaders'."[8]
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction praised Alan Bridges' direction, saying that he "creates a powerfully strange atmosphere despite a very small budget."[9]
References[edit]
- ^ 'On the Screen Next Week', Liverpool Echo 13 May 1966, page 5.
- ^ "Invasion". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
- ^ The Television Companion: The Unofficial & Unauthorised Guide to Doctor Who by David J Howe & Stephen James Walker
- ^ 'On the Screen Next Week', Liverpool Echo 13 May 1966, page 5.
- ^ "Network ON AIR > Invasion". networkonair.com.
- ^ "Invasion". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 33 (384): 87. 1 January 1966 – via ProQuest.
- ^ "Invasion". Kine Weekly. 587 (3058): 18. 12 May 1966 – via ProQuest.
- ^ Roberts, Andrew. "Invasion". BFI Screenonline. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
- ^ "Invasion [film]". The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. 30 March 2015. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
External links[edit]
- Invasion at IMDb
- Invasion at British Horror Films Archived 1 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine
- Invasion then-and-now location photographs at ReelStreets
