Invaders from Mars
A boy wages a desperate battle against brainwashing aliens whose takeover turns his town into a surreal, campy nightmare.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Mild
- campy
- absurd
- eerie
- 1980s movie night
- camp horror marathon
What critics said
Critics broadly found the remake visually inventive and intermittently fun but overlong, overproduced, and weakened by an inferior screenplay and inconsistent balance between horror and comedy.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The film turns alien invasion horror into an oddball, self-aware blend of scares, comic rhythms, and oversized effects.
Aliens take over the town and use brainwashing to transform its inhabitants, including people close to David.
David is the first to recognize the alien takeover and tries to persuade others while his town is compromised.
The Martian technology, flying saucers, and alien environments are presented through conspicuous, overproduced science fiction designs.
Films like Invaders from Mars, and why
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
shared alien invasion premise, suburban paranoia, and science fiction horror
The Blob
shared campy extraterrestrial menace, colorful effects, and playful horror tone
The Gate
shared child-centered alien threat, family danger, and accessible science fiction suspense
The Fly
shared 1950s science fiction horror tradition reinterpreted through heightened genre spectacle
Movie Details
- Director
- Tobe Hooper
- Release Date
- 1986-06-06
- Runtime
- 100 min
- Rating
- 5.6 / 10 (294)
Cast
- Hunter Carson
- Karen Black
- Timothy Bottoms
- Laraine Newman
- James Karen
- Bud Cort
- Louise Fletcher
- Eric Pierpoint
- Christopher Allport
- Virginya Keehne
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Artiflix
- Rent
- Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Invaders from Mars about?
- A boy wages a desperate battle against brainwashing aliens whose takeover turns his town into a surreal, campy nightmare.
- What is Invaders from Mars like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Invaders from Mars as brisk, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is Invaders from Mars violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Invaders from Mars as mild.
- What did critics think of Invaders from Mars?
- Critics broadly found the remake visually inventive and intermittently fun but overlong, overproduced, and weakened by an inferior screenplay and inconsistent balance between horror and comedy.
- Which films are like Invaders from Mars?
- Films with a similar feel include Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Blob, The Gate, and The Fly.
- How long is Invaders from Mars?
- Invaders from Mars runs 100 minutes.
- Where can I watch Invaders from Mars?
- In United States, Invaders from Mars streams on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Artiflix.
