1957 - INVASION OF THE SAUCER MEN, short and sweet

American International Pictures at their wacky best even for them.  This drive-in feature is a mixture of science fiction, comedy and bad acting but it sure is fun.

Space aliens land on earth near a lover's lane filled with teenagers making out. Except the actors playing the teenagers are way way past their teenage years.  The aliens get the attention of the United States Army who are expected to keep the flying saucer invasion under wraps.  A couple of con men stumble onto to the flying saucer one of who is killed by a space alien who's hands are claws that inject alcohol into him thereby overdosing him with booze.  

There are a couple of young lovers and I use the term "young" very loosely.  They try to alert the police to this alien menace which in these types of movies is usually impossible since the police are typically clueless.  There's a cow that the aliens try to kill by filling it full of alcohol and the Army which is supposed to keep all of this secret has a public relations officer for some reason.

 

With a little research it's nice to find out that none of this stuff was taken seriously.  The acting is not very good but that only adds to the fun of this film.  These cheaply made movies with their quick running times were a staple of the drive-in market in the 1950's and 60's.  It's easy to sneer at the low production values on this film but you could argue that they are a lot more entertaining than some of the made for streaming movies floating around on the internet, I'm talking to you Brazen, Mother of the Bride, The Kissing Booth and The Kissing Booth 2.

 

The screenplay was by Robert J. Gurney Jr. and Al Martin, the running time is a zany 69 minutes.