Invasion of the Star Creatures (1962)

Space pals to the end!

Two army officers attempt to thwart the ‘Invasion of the Star Creatures (1962) by tussling with two Amazonian women from outer space and their deadly Vegetable Men.

This is a really painful attempt at a wacky comedy and a satire of cheap Science Fiction movies. The smartest gag is that one tiny set represents the entire series of tunnels in which the alien’s spaceship is hidden and so our heroes walk backwards and forwards across it while the camera remains fixed. This made me smile the first time that it happened but by the 20^th occasion I was somewhat less amused. 

Our two heroes are so stupid they make Jerry Lewis look like Einstein and one of them has the thickest eyebrows since the days when prehistoric man stumbled across a strange monolith in the rocks. Quite why our well-stacked space babes should fall for these two losers is beyond ridiculous but I guess the Vegetable Men aren’t much competition. They look like blokes with pillowcases on their heads and bits of plant stuck on them, which is exactly what they are. But, of course, this is a comedy (apparently) so perhaps the effects are meant to be that rubbish.

Things had gone downhill at Studio 54 since its heyday…

By far the most interesting thing about the film is its depiction of the army. It’s only 1962 after all, less than a decade after flag-wavers were movie house staples, recruiting posters as much as entertainment and always ‘made with the co-operation of the U.S. Army/Navy….’ etc, etc. Sure, there was a tradition of military comedies – good natured boobs like Abbot and Costello as ‘Buck Privates’ (1941),  Francis the talking mule joining the Navy (with Clint Eastwood!) but, all those movies had one thing in common: the military itself was never the butt of the humour. 

But this film is different. Not only is there a ‘hepcat’ Sergeant who talks like a beatnik but the commanding officer is an incompetent halfwit. Actually, he’s even stupider than our hapless heroes. So, at a stretch, you could argue that this is pretty subversive stuff for its time and a nod to ‘Catch 22’ which was published that year.

Or you could chose to believe that it’s a stupid, infantile mess with some casual stereotyping about Native Americans thrown in for good measure. Although, I do have to admit that the Chief’s tribal dancing is probably the funniest thing in the film… sorry about that.