This early color spectacular directed by superdesigner William Cameron Menzies is a classic period piece not only of science fiction design but of Fifties thinking; the parallel between Martians and Communists is as pronounced as the zippers on the Martians' jumpsuits. A young boy has the misfortune of discovering that Martians are kidnapping selected earthlings and implanting crystals in their brains which drive them to commit acts of treason. Slaves to the giant will of a disembodied head enclosed in a plastic ball, these Martians use quicksand as the medium for their message, sucking their victims into an underground lair. A climactic battle pits the U.S. Army against their infrared ray-guns, but not before a revealing melodrama has been played out in which an extreme of paranoia emanates from the very heart of America--the family. Nora Sayre notes:
“The child's role in science fiction is to alert others to the perils that prowl among us. However, as in the family melodramas of the period, children have great difficulty in being heard or understood by their parents: most adults refuse to realize that a crisis exists, and disbelief is rampant when the voice of reason is that of a child. In that respect, Invaders from Mars has a nightmarish quality...the camera tilts upward to make the adults look enormous and threatening, and the movie raises the question that recurs throughout science fiction: who can be trusted? Parents who mustn't be trusted and should be feared are even more horrifying to the boy than the Martians....” --“Running Time: Films of the Cold War”