One in a series of low budgeted, virtually forgotten science fiction thrillers released in the UK in the mid 1960s, including THE EARTH DIES SCREAMING, this is a sombre, intellectual look at an extraterrestrial visit upon earth. Set in one location, a small village, the action is played out slowly and eerily over the short running time, with the emphasis on a creepy atmosphere instead of special effects. In fact, there are virtually no SFX in the film, apart from a wobbly rocket take off at the end. The budget was obviously the reason for this, but it forced the writers to deliver a more literate script than we might have had otherwise (just take a look at films today like VOLCANO, where the writers don't really bother anymore).

The cast is full of virtual unknowns, with only a couple of familiar faces. Saying that, the acting is still all to a high standard. Edward Judd (ISLAND OF TERROR) is the big name, and once again he plays the square-jawed action hero who spends most of the time running around in the sewers and basically being an all round pillar of the community. Cult fans will also notice Fu Manchu's daughter, Tsai Chin, in the film as a nurse. There is little action in the film, but instead a strange kind of siege, in which the doctors and nurses discover they are surrounded by an impenetrable force field (shown in one clever moment where a guy's car runs into an invisible brick wall and smashes up),with the alien visitors closing in. The tension here is quite high, and the film uses NIGHT OF THE BIG HEAT's trick of having the temperature constantly increasing, both an ominous sign and a factor which quickly affects tempers and makes it difficult to think.

The eeriest moments are of aliens wandering around in the forests, watching and waiting, or when a man has a heart attack after two alien girls approach him. There is some fun to be had from the conflict between the doctors and the local military (always an ongoing conflict of interests in these films),and the scenes involving the alien at the hospital, which can only speak after touching a human. Quite clever when you think about it. The only bad thing about the film I would say is the rushed twist ending, which leaves the viewer a bit confused and should have been slowed down a bit. Still, this doesn't detract from a nicely engaging tale.

Invasion stars Edward Judd (The Day the Earth Caught Fire, First Men In The Moon) as Mike Vernon, the doctor in charge of treating a mysterious young man brought to hospital after being accidentally struck by a car. The man's blood tests prove puzzling, and, after questioning his patient, Mike learns that the stranger (Ric Young) is an extraterrestrial -- a Lystrian -- in pursuit of two escaped criminals. However, the Lystrian later reveals that he is actually the escapee, having absconded en route to a penal colony after being wrongfully found guilty of murder.

While Mike is tending to his otherworldly patient, the temperature rises rapidly inside the hospital, and the staff discover that they are trapped inside a force field, placed around the building by two other aliens, who claim that the Lystrian being treated inside is lying: he really is a dangerous killer and they must take him back into custody. Who is telling the truth?

A plodding pace, overwrought acting and the obvious low budget work against the film, but the intriguing 'who is telling the truth?' premise means that those viewers who stay the distance should find their patience rewarded, the final act resolving matters satisfactorily, with just enough left in the coffers for a few 'spaceship' special effects. Bridges struggles at times to make good with the very talky script, but he provides plenty of atmosphere and a couple of genuinely shocking moments: a car crashing into the force field, the driver catapulted through the windscreen, makes an impact (pun intended),and an incident with a pair of scissors is surprisingly nasty.

And, as is often the case with such films, there are a couple of things about Invasion that will elicit unintentional laughs, making this forgotten flick even more enjoyable for those who like their sci-fi a little schlocky: Yôko Tani, as leader of the Lystrians (all of whom are, inexplicably, Japanese),takes the place of the hospital's Asian nurse, and no-one notices (because they all look the same to us, don't they?),and despite the temperature being raised in and around the hospital, it is possible to see the actor's breath in the obviously cold night air.

5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.

This low-budget British sci-fi outing is so rare that I have had to make do with a copy sporting forced French subtitles for this first viewing! I was glad to confirm that the film's solid reputation was well-deserved; plot-wise, it is not dissimilar from two other notable genre entries from this country which I caught quite recently – namely UNEARTHLY STRANGER (1963) and THE NIGHT CALLER (1965). I recall being particularly impressed with the former and, actually, I feel that INVASION is very much on a par with it; incidentally, the title is a misnomer since the aliens here are actually stranded on earth and their mission is to recapture an escaped prisoner they were escorting rather than occupation! Even so, we do get a show of their (typically advanced) technology and, needless to say, there are human casualties involved; to be fair, though, we never learn of their true intent until quite late into the game and, consequently, the carefully-built suspense and smart handling throughout (this was director Bridges' feature-film debut) makes for consistently satisfying viewing. One rather clever notion has the aliens requiring to physically touch an Earthling before they can speak our language…though, of course, no explanation is given as to why they happen to have an Oriental complexion! In the long run, the modest scale of the production (the setting is largely confined to a hospital and the woods nearby, with events unfolding over just one night) works in its favor, making the central concept both gripping and persuasive. Hero Edward Judd was something of a fixture in British sci-fi around this time: his rugged good looks and evident intelligence were always good value for money in these fantastic surroundings; leading lady Valerie Gearon does well by her role too, familiar character actor Anthony Sharp has a prominent (if rather unlikely) role early on in the proceedings and, obviously, the intervention by the military is a requisite in this type of film. Among the more visually striking moments are a shot where a door opening leads into a doll-house, with the camera then panning up to reveal the actual room, and a car very realistically crashing (into the invisible barrier created by the aliens in order to isolate the area) with its driver spurting out of the windscreen. As to flaws, these are indeed negligible – but I suppose I should mention the fact that one of the alien women unaccountably disappears during the film's last third, while the climax is a bit rushed (if still quite unique: the pursuing alien deliberately crashes her spaceship into a fleeing rocket bearing her quarry!).