The Day Mars Invaded Earth (1963)

Directed by Maury Dexter. Starring Kent Taylor, Marie Windsor, Betty Beall, William Mims, Gregg Shank, Lowell Brown.

Indie-produced science fiction film depicting an invasion of pure-energy Martians has such a low budget, there are no Martians to be found(!), and nearly the entire movie is set in the mansion home of a NASA mission control specialist (Taylor) who’s been duplicated by the alien force. Shamelessly cribs story ideas from two 1950s sci-fi classics (The War of the Worlds, Invasion of the Body Snatchers) for its limp story, and what might have been a taut little thriller in limited space is simply plodding and ponderous. Similarly, what should have been a chilling finale has a frustrating sense of inevitability, visualized in a humdrum way. Dual-role-playing Taylor shares the screen with an obvious double (seen from behind only, the haircuts don’t even match), and B-movie adept Windsor is underused as the protagonist’s tense wife. A definite case of a title promising more than the movie can deliver.

39/100