In the last six months we have had three films that have left their mark on the minds of the generations they were released in. 
First came TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. The small town nightmare. Then BLACK CHRISTMAS. The at school nightmare. Now comes INVADERS FROM MARS. The at home nightmare. A film that scared a generation…and inspired it even more so. Of course it is a Red Scare film and one that is well documented as (the extras here bravely avoid a lot of this.) It is also a great sci fi thriller that has been wiped clean and granted a 4K restoration. Screened at the Turner Classics Movies Festival in Hollywood, Il Cinema Ritrovato in Italy, and the Fine Arts Film Festival in Venice, CA. Winning the inaugural Hollywood Professional Association award for Restoration and Preservation.
First came TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. The small town nightmare. Then BLACK CHRISTMAS. The at school nightmare. Now comes INVADERS FROM MARS. The at home nightmare. A film that scared a generation…and inspired it even more so. Of course it is a Red Scare film and one that is well documented as (the extras here bravely avoid a lot of this.) It is also a great sci fi thriller that has been wiped clean and granted a 4K restoration. Screened at the Turner Classics Movies Festival in Hollywood, Il Cinema Ritrovato in Italy, and the Fine Arts Film Festival in Venice, CA. Winning the inaugural Hollywood Professional Association award for Restoration and Preservation.David (Jimmy Hunt), is a young boy with a passion for science and space. In his bedroom is a telescope and on his walls are the constellations and the planets. 
He gets up early to watch the stars and dreams late into the night about emulating his hero Dr Stuart Kelson (Arthur Franz). His father George MacLean (Leif Erickson) joins him for some of this fun but one night it all goes a little wrong. He witnesses a spaceship crash into the fields by his back garden and he soon realises that aliens from Mars are invading. They are taking over the minds of people and forcing them to do their bidding. The problem is, very few people believe him…except Dr. Patricia Blake (Helena Carter) an eminent child psychologist.
The fearful memories of INVADERS FROM MARS still haunted my mother when I watched the film in the late 1980s.
She remembered the green blob, the staggering Martians and those neck wounds. She also remembered the claustrophobic sets. What she didnt know then ( and neither did I) was that this was all thanks to William Cameron Menzies, whose work on many a film, GONE WITH THE WIND is a fine example, who crafted sets akin to those of THE CABINET OF DR CALIGARI. The interview with his biographer James Curtis, is a brief but filled catalogue of his varied and talented work. Now thanks to the 4K restoration, we can all sit and salivate over it, without the standard definition TV VHS, draining and dulling them to death. Its not all wonderful but it is a remarkable resurrecting of a masterpiece that is long overdue.
She remembered the green blob, the staggering Martians and those neck wounds. She also remembered the claustrophobic sets. What she didnt know then ( and neither did I) was that this was all thanks to William Cameron Menzies, whose work on many a film, GONE WITH THE WIND is a fine example, who crafted sets akin to those of THE CABINET OF DR CALIGARI. The interview with his biographer James Curtis, is a brief but filled catalogue of his varied and talented work. Now thanks to the 4K restoration, we can all sit and salivate over it, without the standard definition TV VHS, draining and dulling them to death. Its not all wonderful but it is a remarkable resurrecting of a masterpiece that is long overdue.For film students and those like me, remembering the past, the Featurette shows how household names, return back to the film regularly. 
They also reflect on how it creeps (sic) into their own work on a number of very clever occasions. Scott MacQueen before and after clips is illuminating and should be watched by anyone who loves film, to understand the work put in and pulled off. The best thing here however, for me at least, was those European extended scenes that are lifeless, inconsistent and really dull. They rob the film of its menace (which the US version delivers) and also are a study in why the films leaner version is a masterpiece and question why the hell padding was required….
They also reflect on how it creeps (sic) into their own work on a number of very clever occasions. Scott MacQueen before and after clips is illuminating and should be watched by anyone who loves film, to understand the work put in and pulled off. The best thing here however, for me at least, was those European extended scenes that are lifeless, inconsistent and really dull. They rob the film of its menace (which the US version delivers) and also are a study in why the films leaner version is a masterpiece and question why the hell padding was required….Bonus Features
Note: Bonus Features are not included with the DVD release. 4K UHD and Blu-ray releases only.
- Restored 4K original 1953 trailer and a newly commissioned trailer 2022
- Interviews with star Jimmy Hunt, William Cameron Menzies’ biographer James Curtis and recollections of Menzies’ eldest granddaughter Pamela Lauesen
- Featurette with acclaimed film directors John Landis, Joe Dante, editor Mark Goldblatt, special visual effects artist and two time Oscar Winner Robert Skotak (foremost expert on Invaders from Mars), and enthusiast and film preservationist Scott MacQueen
- John Sayles’ introduction at Turner Classic Movies Festival in Hollywood, April 2022
- Before/after clips of restoration – original negative and archival film elements – with film restoration supervisor Scott MacQueen
- Restored segments in 2K of the Alternate International Version — alternative ending and extended Planetarium scene
- Gallery with original Press Book pages, behind the scenes photos from the restoration process
- 20 page extensive essay on the restoration process: “Invaders From Mars: A Nightmare of Restoration” by Scott MacQueen
