Disc Details
Special Features:	Widescreen format. Chapter selection. Commentary track by Director Michael Laughlin and co-writer William Condon. Theatrical trailer.
Video Format:	Anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1) [SS-DL]
Languages:	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
Subtitles:	Spanish, French.
Closed Caption:	Yes
Sides:	1-Disc Keep Case

Aliens land in a Centerville, Illinois in 1958. They take over and time, from a pop-culture point of view, stands still. Flash forward 25 years. Professor Charles Bigelow (Paul LeMat: American Graffiti, Melvin and Howard) is puzzled when his wife Margaret (Diana Scarwid: Mommie Dearest) leaves to return to her hometown of Centerville. Charles follows her only to find a living museum where a town should be.

Centerville looks and acts as if Ike is still the president. Well, they act like aliens pretending to be humans who think Ike is still in the White House. Needless to say, Charles is going to get to the bottom of his wife's mysterious disappearance. This will lead him to a tabloid newspaper writer (Nancy Allen), a mysterious government agent (Louise Fletcher), and an institutionalized mental patient (Michael Lerner) all of whom will fill in pieces of the puzzle.

The cast is great, although it is hard to picture Paul LeMat as a university professor. What makes the cast so good is that this is a tongue in cheek genre movie which is well suited to their particular talents. Nancy Allen may not be the best actress for a Meryl Streep type role, but she is in her element in "Strange Invaders." There are also a host of character actors to liven things up. Ken Tobey is on hand as an alien leader. Mark Goddard of TV's "Lost in Space" makes a cameo appearance. Goddard's TV co-star June Lockhart appears in a substantial role as LeMat's mother. The highly recognizable Charles Lane also appears. (You'll know him when you see him.) Loom fast for Joel Cohen and Bobby "Boris" Picket (The Monster Mash singer) as Nancy Allen's tabloid colleagues. While I couldn't find any listing for Russell Johnson in the credits, someone who looks just like him appears as an alien professor toward the end of the movie in a cameo.

The photography looks back fondly to the big widescreen movies of the 50s. Filmed at times through filters, the film's composition and look stands up well to the beautiful panavision movies of the 50s. The special effects also recall the films of the 50s which inspired them. The alien creatures are revealed to be a cross between the Gill man from "Creature from the Black Lagoon" and countless other bug-eyed monsters from the era. There is a great shot toward the end in which the alien mother ship arrives. Rather than have the ship look like a modern interpretation of a UFO, the filmmakers returned to a stylized look from the past. It is a spectacular shot. Trivia note, R.E.M. received their first movie credit in "Strange Invaders" for the song "1,000,000."

"Strange Invaders" isn't an important movie ALA "Saving Private Ryan" or "Schindler's List" but it is highly entertaining and enjoyable on repeated viewings.

Picture Quality: 8/10
Even though it was remastered, I did notice a few artifacts and scratches. For the most part, the picture was excellent. There were just a few rough spots which were noticeable.

Sound Quality: 7/10
Mono sound. It gets the job done, but it is nothing special.

Menu: 10/10
Fun design. Easy to navigate.

Extra Features: 10/10
This rating is relative. Were "Strange Invaders" priced in the mid $20 range, then the rating would be lower. "Strange Invaders" is priced as a vanilla DVD. Therefore, one doesn't expect any extras. The fact that you have a very cool commentary track. Director Laughlin seems like a very bizarre person toward the beginning of the track, but her turns out to be very knowledgeable and informative as well as entertaining. After interviewing Curtis Harrington, I was excited to hear his good friend William Condon's commentary track. Those interested in learning how to make a slick movie on a budget should listen to this track.

The Final Word:
"Strange Invaders" is part of MGM's new "Midnight Movies" collection. Loads of fun for fans of the genre. At the price, you can't go wrong. More than worth the price of admission.

Rusty White