Those ever-sneaky Martians are at it again in this sci-fi horror outing that closely resembles Invasion of the Body Snatchers. This time, the crafty invaders are in the process of making exact doubles of an entire town and then killing the original models. The terrifying facts are discovered by a scientist working at Cape Canaveral who is trying to figure out why a recent Martian probe simply exploded after landing on the Red Planet. The fellow has been in Florida working on the project for so long that his wife in California is about to divorce him. Wanting to save his marriage and see his family, he goes home and suddenly ends up fighting for not only his own life, but for all Humanity. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Review by All Movie Guide
All Movie Guide
lost interest.
The premise of The Day Mars Invaded the Earth is not bad, even though it borrows liberally from
Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It also starts off promisingly and the ending is quite good; but in the middle, it coasts along on its premise without really exploring it and expanding upon it. As a result, even at 70 minutes, it feels padded; indeed, had it been an episode of
The Twilight Zone or
The Outer Limits, it would have been quite entertaining. And there is something to be said for a sci-fi film that is a bit "quieter," that does try to create tension and menace by suggestion rather than by showing or demonstrating. However, just because
Mars makes the effort doesn't mean it succeeds, and too often the middle section just drags. The dialogue, as is often the case in such films, is poor, which certainly doesn't help. The cast, made up of stalwarts such as
Marie Windsor and
Kent Taylor, try very hard, but there's only so much they can do. Still, even with all its negatives,
Mars is somewhat engaging, especially for sci-fi completists. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide