Invasion of the Saucer Men

Invasion of the Saucer Men (a.k.a. Invasion of the Hell Creatures, with the working title Spacemen Saturday Night), is a 1957 black-and-white comic science fiction horror film produced by James H. Nicholson for release by American International Pictures. The film was directed by Edward L. Cahn and stars Steven Terrell and Gloria Castillo. The screenplay by Robert J. Gurney Jr. and Al Martin was based on the 1955 short story "The Cosmic Frame" by Paul W. Fairman. Invasion of the Saucer Men was released as a double feature with I Was a Teenage Werewolf.

Plot
A flying saucer lands in the woods. A teenage couple, Johnny Carter (Terrell) and Joan Hayden (Castillo), while driving to their local lover's lane without the headlights on, accidentally run down one of the saucer's large-headed occupants.

Joe Gruen (Frank Gorshin), a drunken opportunist, stumbles across the alien's corpse after the teenagers have left to report the incident. Imagining future riches and fame, he plans to keep the body, storing it for now in his refrigerator. After failing to convince his buddy Artie Burns (Lyn Osborn) to help him retrieve the alien body, Joe decides to head for home. Other aliens soon arrive, however, and quickly inject alcohol into his veins via their retractable needle fingernails. Joe, already intoxicated, soon dies from alcohol poisoning.

Having reported the accident and the deceased alien to the police, Johnny and Joan return with the sheriff, only to find Joe's dead body instead of the alien's. The police then decide to charge both teenagers with vehicular manslaughter.

Meanwhile, the dead alien's hand detaches itself from its host and runs amok, causing trouble. The military, following up an earlier UFO report, soon get involved, eventually surrounding the alien's saucer. In the end, it is the teenagers, not the military, who defeat the aliens when they discover that the saucer's occupants cannot stand the glare from their car's bright headlights.

Cast

 * Steven Terrell - Johnny Carter
 * Gloria Castillo - Joan Hayden
 * Frank Gorshin - Joe Gruen
 * Lyn Osborn - Artie Burns
 * Raymond Hatton - Farmer Larkin

Production
The film was made by Malibu Productions Film rights to Fairman's short story were purchased through Forrest J Ackerman's Ackerman Science Fiction Agency. Special effects technician Paul Blaisdell, who provided the alien make-up and flying saucer, recalled that Invasion of the Saucer Men was originally intended as a serious film but gradually developed into a comedy. The entire film takes place during the period of one night, with 98% of it filmed on a studio sound stage.

Release
Invasion of the Saucer Men was released by AIP on June 19, 1957, as part of a double feature with I Was a Teenage Werewolf.

Legacy
In 1965, self-professed "schlockmeister" Larry Buchanan cheaply remade Invasion of the Saucer Men in color as The Eye Creatures, a made-for-television feature for AIP-TV.

The Lillingtons featured a song called "Invasion of the Saucermen" on their 1999 album Death by Television.

Reception
Variety called the film "a minor entry for the science-fiction trade", noting that it "suffers from poor use of attempted comedy, and is further handicapped by a haphazard sort of yarn which makes film's 69-minutes' running time seem much more". Harrison's Reports called it "an ordinary program melodrama ... The action on the whole is rather unbelievable, but it does have its horrific moments, particularly in the scenes where severed hands are shown creeping about to touch human beings". In the UK (where the film went under the title Invasion of the Hell Creatures), The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The moments of burlesque of horror melodrama traditions, whether intentional or not, are at least curious. The trickeries are quite convincingly staged, but the film is juvenile in approach and treatment".

On his website Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings, Dave Sindelar gave the film a mixed review, saying, "Though it maintains a light atmosphere, it is very lacking in the basic element of a comedy, and that's good jokes. Nonetheless, it's directed with a certain energy, features some truly memorable aliens courtesy of Paul Blaisdell, juggles its three storylines with ease, and in its own way, it may be THE quintessential aliens vs. teenagers movie". Hans J. Wollstein from AllMovie gave the film a negative review, calling it "claustrophobic at best", and stating that the film "simply isn't funny but is clearly meant to be".

Cultural references
The film was featured in "Place of Dreams", a short story by writer John Roman Baker in his book Brighton Darkness.