Invaders from Mars

A young boy named David Gardner lives in a small American town and spends his nights watching the sky. One stormy night he sees a spacecraft land behind a hill near his home, but his parents dismiss the story. The next day his father and mother return from the hill changed: outwardly the same, yet oddly emotionless, with small marks on the backs of their necks. Other residents, including David's teacher and the school principal, are soon affected in the same way.

David realizes that beings from Mars have occupied the hill and are taking control of the townspeople, turning them into obedient servants. With few adults left untouched, he turns to Linda Magnusson, the school psychologist, and the two try to gather proof and warnings before the aliens and their controlled neighbors can stop them. The film is a remake of a 1953 science-fiction story about a child facing an invasion that has already reached his own family.

Tobe Hooper directed this entry in his filmography, the seventh of fifteen features and the one following The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2. Dan O'Bannon and Don Jakoby wrote the screenplay, and Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus produced it for Cannon Group. Hunter Carson and Karen Black lead a cast of twenty-eight credited performers. Made for about 12 million dollars, it returned roughly 5 million worldwide. On IMDb it holds 5.6 from 12,000 votes and on TMDB 5.6 from 291 votes, while critics rated it 4.7 from 16 reviews.