Strange Invaders

Strange Invaders

Company type	Film
Industry	Film
Founded	1983
Founder	Michael Laughlin (director and co-writer)
Products	Science fiction film
Parent	Orion Pictures, EMI Films

Strange Invaders is a 1983 American science fiction film directed and co-written by Michael Laughlin, featuring performances by Paul Le Mat, Nancy Allen, and Diana Scarwid.

Conceived as an homage to 1950s sci-fi classics such as The Invasion of the Body Snatchers, it was planned to be the second entry in the uncompleted Strange Trilogy, following Strange Behavior (1981). Nevertheless, due to its inability to garner a substantial audience, the trilogy was discontinued after this film. Scarwid earned a Razzie Award nomination for Worst Supporting Actress.

Plot

Set in 1958, the small town of Centreville, Illinois falls under attack by alien beings who convert residents into crystalline blue spheres. These extraterrestrials disguise themselves by wearing synthetic skin and hair, impersonating their victims to mask the invasion.

Fast forward twenty-five years, Charles Bigelow, a lecturer at Columbia University, investigates the disappearance of his former wife Margaret in Centreville. He uncovers that the town remains frozen in time since 1958, maintained by the aliens who attempt to apprehend him once their secrecy is jeopardized. Charles manages to flee but loses his dog Louie in the process.

With assistance from journalist Betty Walker, Charles locates Margaret, who is now revealed to be an alien. She urges him to escape with their daughter Elizabeth, a human-alien hybrid, before the aliens depart Earth. As the extraterrestrials shed their human disguises and leave, the town’s original inhabitants are restored. Ultimately, Charles, Elizabeth, and Betty reunite with Louie and leave Centreville together.

Development

Director Michael Laughlin teamed up again with co-writer and associate producer Bill Condon, continuing their collaboration from Strange Behavior. Laughlin imagined opening the film with a depiction of a Midwestern landscape accompanied by an "old-fashioned mothership sliding in." The screenplay was written in two segments without any production commitment, driven by their confidence that the project would proceed. During this period, they independently handled budgeting, location scouting, casting decisions, and production design.

The film serves as a satire of 1950s science fiction, capturing an era when America viewed itself as a global superpower and its primary fear was alien invasion. To aid production efforts, Laughlin brought on Walter Coblenz—assistant director on Two-Lane Blacktop—as co-producer and actively promoted the script within Hollywood circles.

Financing

After completing Strange Behavior, Laughlin pursued distribution through major studios. The $5.5 million budget was split between Orion Pictures, which financed half and secured North American distribution rights, and England’s EMI Films, which covered the remainder and handled international distribution. Both companies required script alterations that limited the film’s scope—eliminating a major Air Force base sequence and softening government antagonism—which Laughlin believed diluted the story’s middle section.

Casting decisions were also influenced by Orion and EMI. Although originally intended for Michael Murphy, EMI vetoed his involvement without explanation. Alternatives like Mel Gibson and Powers Boothe were proposed; however, Laughlin ultimately chose Paul Le Mat for his suitability to the role. Nancy Allen was cast to authentically represent a New Yorker, reflecting Condon’s appreciation for her performances in Brian De Palma’s films. Louise Fletcher replaced a male bureaucrat character with a female agent to maintain continuity with Strange Behavior.

Previsualization techniques facilitated an efficient five-week shooting schedule. Visual effects were provided by Private Stock Effects, leveraging their experience from projects such as Battle Beyond the Stars and Escape from New York. James Cummins—known for his work on The Thing—led prosthetic effects; however, creative differences necessitated reshoots of pivotal alien transformation sequences.

Laughlin envisioned creating a "Strange Trilogy," with plans for a third film titled The Adventures of Philip Strange, blending World War II espionage themes with science fiction elements while retaining much of the existing cast and crew.

Reception

Vincent Canby of The New York Times characterized the film as "an elegant monster movie harboring a dreadful secret: it consumes other films." David Ansen from Newsweek remarked that it "exists ambiguously between homage and parody," emphasizing Laughlin's distinct, albeit modest, directorial style. Conversely, Jay Scott of The Globe and Mail dismissed it as a collage that falls short of delivering the cleverness it aims for.

In Imagine magazine, Colin Greenland noted that Strange Invaders "struggles to decide whether it is a parody or an authentic tribute" to vintage science fiction cinema, calling it "too innocent to be believable and too aware to function as an allegory."

Box office

Financially, the movie did not meet expectations, resulting in a commercial failure.

External links

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• Strange Invaders at The 80s Movie Rewind