This is a classic period piece of science fiction film design, originally released in 3-D, by superdesigner Menzies. It is also a film of surprising depth which, much less self-consciously than Forbidden Planet, reaches beyond a casual Cold War interpretation for the psychological heart of the matter in a keenly observed family melodrama. The parallel between Martians and Communists is as pronounced as the zippers on the Martians' jumpsuits in the story of aliens who kidnap selected earthlings and implant crystals in their brains which drive them to commit acts of treason. Slaves to the giant will of a disembodied head encased in a plastic ball, these Martians use quicksand as the medium for their message, sucking their victims into an underground lair. But for the young boy who has the misfortune of discovering all of this going on in a field outside his window, the real nightmare begins when both his parents and the police refuse to take him seriously. And his nightmare is ours, thanks to low-angle lensing that makes these authority figures loom large. So perhaps the emotional core of this very frightening film lies less in a paranoia about visitors from the Red planet, than in the politics of American family life, and the trauma of a young boy becoming a stranger to his parents as adolescence sucks him in and his own intelligence descends upon him.