This film came and went so fast that most people didn't even see it. Donald Sutherland stars as Andrew Nivens, a top man in the US Government who is called in to investigate a spaceship landing in a small Iowa town.
Andrew and his son Sam (Eric Thal) and assistant Mary Sefton (Julie Warner) travel to the scene and notice something is very wrong with both the spaceship and the people who are charging money to see it.
Turns out that the people in the area are being slowly possessed by aliens "slugs" that attach themselves to a person's back and take control of their entire body.
This is a good throwback to 50's sci-fi thrillers and it is, of course, based on Robert Heinlein's novel of the same name. The cast does a very good job with their roles and there are a lot of interesting set pieces.
The film does lose a little momentum about 2/3 of the way thru, but all in all, this is a good little film. The effects aren't bad at all and the aliens are repulsive enough. The rest of the cast includes Keith David and Yaphet Kotto.
On a personal note, I will never understand why this film failed so badly. It's sharp, on point and well done for the most part. I have seen plenty of worse films. If you haven't seen this, then I recommend you do and if you want let me know what you think of it. The first filmed adaptation of Heinlein's novel was back in 1958 and was called "The Brain Eaters".
The disc also includes interviews with Warner, David and a nice documentary on Heinlein.
Yes! This is a very good movie. I did not catch it at the theater but I remember buying the laser disc when it came out.
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked it. I haven't met many that have even seen the damn thing.
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