The Incredible Invasion

{{Infobox film | name = The Incredible Invasion | image = The Incredible Invasion.jpg | caption = Theatrical release poster | director = Luis Enrique Vergara<br>Jack Hill | writer = | narrator = | starring = Boris Karloff | music = | cinematography = | editing = | distributor = Columbia Pictures | released = {{Film date|1971|4||df=yes}}<ref name="ReferenceA">Nollen, Scott Allen. Boris Karloff: A Gentleman's Life. Pg. 307. Midnight Marquee & BearManor Media.</ref> | runtime = 90 minutes | country = Mexico | language = English | budget = | gross = }} '''''The Incredible Invasion''''' (''Invasion siniestra''/ ''The Sinister Invasion''), also known as '''''Alien Terror''''', is a 1971 Mexican science fiction film directed by Luis Enrique Vergara. It stars Boris Karloff, Yerye Beirute and Enrique Guzmán.<ref name="AllMovie">{{cite web |title=Alien Terror (1971) |url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/la-invasion-siniestra-v44883 |publisher=AllMovie}}</ref> It is the last film Karloff worked on before his death in 1969. It was filmed in May 1968, but was only released theatrically in 1971, 2 years after Karloff had died.<ref name="ReferenceA">Nollen, Scott Allen. Boris Karloff: A Gentleman's Life. Pg. 307. Midnight Marquee & BearManor Media.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Booker |first1=Keith M. |title=Historical Dictionary of American Cinema |year=2011 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=9780810874596 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y04MQEgHbZsC&pg=PA200 |page=200}}</ref>

''Incredible Invasion'' is one of four low-budget Mexican horror films Karloff made in a package deal with Mexican producer Luis Enrique Vergara. The others are ''Isle of the Snake People'', ''Fear Chamber'', and ''House of Evil''. Karloff's scenes for all four films were directed by Jack Hill in Los Angeles in the spring of 1968. The films were then completed in Mexico.<ref>Stephen Jacobs, ''Boris Karloff: More Than a Monster'', Tomahawk Press 2011 p 503</ref>

==Plot== Gudenberg, 1890: Professor John Mayer has invented a ray gun which runs on nuclear power. During testing, a ray is shot into space and attracts the attention of a flying saucer. The aliens decide to come to Earth to destroy the weapon...

==Cast== *Boris Karloff as Prof. John Mayer *Enrique Guzmán as Dr. Paul Rosten *Christa Linder as Laura *Maura Monti as Dr. Isabel Reed *Yerye Beirute as Thomas *Tere Valez as Nancy *Sergio Kleiner as Alien *Tito Novaro as Gen. Nord

==Production== Karloff's advanced age was noticeable on the film; regarding his health status, Michael J. Weldon in ''The Encyclopedia of Film'' noted, "The ill, 81-year-old horror star is always shown sitting down or leaning against a support of some kind."<ref name="Pitts"/>

== Reception == AllMovie's synopsis of the film states, "The filmmakers barely had enough talent to adhere to the simplest of storylines, much less this hodgepodge of cut-rate H. G. Wells posturing and sleazy exploitation."<ref name="AllMovie"/> James O'Neil in ''Terror on Tape'' called ''The Incredible Invasion'' "one of the four awful low-budget U.S.-Mexican co-productions the great actor [Boris Karloff] filmed a few months prior to his death in 1969." Michael R. Pitts in ''Columbia Pictures Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy Films, 1928–1982'' said that "While Karloff is quite good as the scientist and Christa Linder is strikingly beautiful as his niece, the overall production is labored", and that "[w]hile not as bad as ''Fear Chamber'' or ''House of Evil'', ''The Incredible Invasion'' must rank as one of Karloff's worst cinema outings."<ref name="Pitts">{{cite book |last1=Pitts |first1=Michael R. |title=Columbia Pictures Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy Films, 1928–1982 |date=2014 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=9780786457663 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PKxN1as8XOMC&pg=PA112 |pages=112–113}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{IMDb title|id=0063132|title=The Incredible Invasion}} *{{Rotten Tomatoes|alien_terror}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Incredible Invasion}} Category:1971 films Category:1971 horror films Category:1971 science fiction films Category:Films about alien invasions Category:Mexican science fiction horror films Category:English-language Mexican films Category:1970s science fiction horror films Category:Films directed by Jack Hill Category:Columbia Pictures films Category:1971 English-language films Category:1971 Mexican films Category:English-language science fiction horror films