Invasion

This slow-burning and low-budget British Sci-fi inspired the 1970 Doctor Who adventure ‘Spearhead from Space’. INVASION concerns the crash-landing of an alien spacecraft in the English countryside and the consequent danger which the staff in a nearby secluded hospital encounter following the event.

When an alien spaceship crashes in a forest some humanoids descend from the extra-terrestrial aircraft. Although they hail from the planet Lysteria these aliens look very Japanese, hmmm… At a round the same time of the crash Lawrence Blackburn (Anthony Sharp) and his mistress drive along a country road at night time when their car hits an object. The ‘object’ in question turns out to be a young male Lysterian (Malaysian actor Ric Young) dressed in a tight-fitting latex outfit. The couple panic, in particular Mr. Blackburn who doesn’t wish to compromise his female partner and would like to keep his dalliance a secret. An alternative plan needs to be put into action to get the injured man into the nearest hospital…

At the remote countryside clinic Dr. Mike Vernon (Edward Judd) and Nurse Lim (Tsai Chin, of the FU MANCHU movies) are intrigued by the strange patient who can speak their language but otherwise behaves is an odd manner. Things get weirder still when a blood test points to the fact that the stranger is not human! Dr. Vernon calls his colleague Dr. Claire Harland (Valerie Gearon) for her opinion. Soon both Dr. Vernon and Dr. Harlan have to acknowledge sinister forces are at work when the temperature in the building keeps on rising and the source of heat seems to come from the patient. At the same time the countryside is being stalked by two female Lysterians - one of them being their leader (Yoko Tani). They too are dressed in skin-tight latex outfits – a fact which should please ‘fetishistas’ up and down the country. It soon emerges that the alien patient is an extra-terrestrial criminal and the two females are extra-terrestrial law enforcers (or is it the other way around)? After they manage to bump off poor Blackburn they infiltrate the hospital with Yoko stealing Nurse Lim’s identity… what’s more, the female aliens create an impenetrable force-shield around the building and investigator Brian Carter (Lyndon Brook), who had been called to the hospital following the admission of the alien patient, is the first person to die when his car smashes against the invisible wall while Major Muncaster (Barrie Ingham) gets stabbed by our fleeing alien patient with a scalpel.
Meanwhile, the temperature inside the hospital becomes intolerable and the situation grows ever more dangerous for the hospital staff who feel a sense of duty towards their patient who in turn has no intention to give himself up to the Lysterian law-enforcers – leading up to a climax which finally sees much needed pace and action plus some inserted stock footage of missiles and space rockets.

Although cinematographer James Wilson does his best to turn a somewhat lacklustre directed film into something more menacing the fact remains that INVASION is a missed opportunity. All the ingredients are there and even the acting is convincing but the overall result suffers from a slow pace which hampers any attempts of menace or threat. Nonetheless, fans of low-budget British Sci-Fi flicks will be pleased with this restored Blu-ray release. The b/w film was shot at Merton Park Studios based on a story by screenwriter Robert Holmes (it was he who later used elements of ‘Invasion’ for the 1970 Dr. Who episode). As for director Alan Bridges, he went on to greater things with his films like THE HIRELING (1973), OUT OF SEASON (1975) and THE SHOOTING PARTY (1985).