The Sci-Fi Classic That Influenced One of Steven Spielberg’s Biggest Movies Is a Free Streaming Hit

This winter, a science fiction classic is invading the streaming charts. Invaders From Mars, the 1953 film that brought extraterrestrial terror to Technicolor, is a free streaming hit. It recently hit #3 on the free, ad-supported streamer Tubi. Invaders From Mars was rushed into production to make it to theaters before George Pal‘s blockbuster adaptation of H.G. Wells‘ The War of the Worlds; it succeeded, becoming the first movie to depict an alien invasion of Earth in full color. However, despite its origins as a cash-grab, this was no mere B-movie.

It was directed by legendary production designer William Cameron Menzies, the man who burned Atlanta in Gone With the Wind and sent Phileas Fogg Around the World in 80 Days. Menzies made use of every dollar of the film’s meager budget, using color, lighting, and the film’s eerie props, costumes, and sets to create a surreal vision of alien life unlike anything audiences had seen in 1953. It made a strong impression on many of the future filmmakers who saw it, including John Landis, Joe Dante, and Don Coscarelli. Steven Spielberg saw the film five times in the theater, and later said, “It really turned my world around. It certainly touched a nerve in all the kids like myself who saw the film at a very young age.” Its influence can be strongly felt in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Martin Scorsese, meanwhile, may not be a great admirer of genre films, but even he cited Invaders From Mars as a film that makes exquisite use of light and color.

What Is ‘Invaders From Mars’ About?

The central character of the film is David MacLean (Jimmy Hunt), a young boy who sees a flying saucer from his bedroom window one night. His father (Leif Erickson, The High Chaparral) goes to investigate, and returns a changed man; cold and remote, with a strange puncture wound on his neck. Soon, more townspeople begin acting like David’s father, until he convinces Dr. Pat Blake (Helena Carter, Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye) that something’s amiss. They consult a local astronomer (Arthur Franz, The Caine Mutiny), who determines that the aliens are a vanguard of invaders from Mars. Can the three of them convince the military to strike at the aliens’ lair…and even if they do, will it be too late?

Another director who considered Invaders From Mars an influence was The Texas Chainsaw Massacre‘s Tobe Hooper, who directed a remake of the film in 1986. Produced by Cannon Pictures, the film starred Karen Black, Laraine Newman, and Louise Fletcher, and featured special effects by Stan Winston and John Dykstra.

Invaders From Mars is now streaming for free on Tubi. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.