Leif Erickson's '50s Sci-Fi Movie Is A Cult Classic That's Gotten Better With Time

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The Nuclear age was well known for fostering the kinds of fears and paranoia that allowed sci-fi horror films to enjoy the widespread popularity they did. Many 1950s movies have become renowned as some of the best alien invasion movies ever made. From "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" to the sci-fi movie that influenced Steven Spielberg, "Destination Moon," the 1950s were the heyday of extraterrestrial intervention on Earth. One film you don't hear quite as much about, however, is 1953's Leif Erickson-starring "Invaders from Mars," which is a shame because it's arguably as influential as any of those more well-known examples.

1953 was a big year for sci-fi horror, with Byron Haskin's "The War of the Worlds" and Jack Arnold's "It Came from Outer Space" both debuting. The first remains a touchstone of sci-fi cinema, while the second was the first sci-fi horror to be presented in 3D and the first movie to be based on a story idea by Ray Bradbury. "Invaders from Mars," however, hasn't enjoyed quite the same legacy — at least not among the general public. For those in the know, however, William Cameron Menzies' alien invasion flick is just as worthy of praise as its more recognizable 1953 counterparts.

Three people who are "in the know" are Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and John Landis. The latter expressed a "great affection" for the film (via BFI), while Spielberg recalled how the film "really turned my world around." According to a 2005 DVDTalk article, Scorsese also ranked "Invaders from Mars" as one of his top 10 movies for use of light and color. Clearly, then, Menzies' movie was a big influence on the filmmakers who came to define Hollywood filmmaking in the following decades. "Invaders from Mars" is a cult classic, but arguably deserves more.

Despite having worked since the 1930s, Leif Erickson remains best known for starring in the underrated Western series "The High Chaparral." But that David Dortort-created show didn't air until 1967. In the early 1950s, long before making a home on the Arizona frontier, Erickson became the victim of invaders from the Red Planet.

Fear of being replaced, depersonalized, or otherwise unmoored from your true self were widespread in 1950s America, propelled by the Red Scare, the looming threat of nuclear annihilation, and the general sense that there was something sinister to the conformity of the era. Alien invasion films allowed creators to express those anxieties, and while much of the resulting media was of the low-rent variety, many classics emerged.

With "It Came from Outer Space," for example, Jack Arnold took an interesting approach to the already well-worn alien invasion narrative by depicting the extraterrestrials as peaceful outsiders who only arrive on Earth inadvertently. "Invaders from Mars" takes a similarly interesting approach by telling its story from a child's point-of-view.

It follows young David MacLean (Jimmy Hunt), who awakens one night to a lurid green glow engulfing his room. He looks out the window to see an alien spacecraft landing behind his house. Like many similar films of the time, the aliens in this particular story are fond of turning people into stupefied husks, which is exactly what happens to David's father, George MacLean (Leif Erickson) when he goes to investigate. A similar fate befalls David's mother Mary MacLean (Hillary Brooke) and many others, before Dr. Pat Blake (Helena Carter) takes the youngster to astronomer Dr. Stuart Kelston (Arthur Franz). Together the trio do all they can to banish the aliens and their mind-control powers.

While "Invaders from Mars" remains underrated, director William Cameron Menzies does not. The man who literally invented production design and won an honorary Academy Award for his work on "Gone with the Wind" brought his distinct artistic sensibility to "Invaders from Mars," creating a film that's much more disturbing than you might imagine given its fairly straightforward alien invasion narrative. For one thing, the entire movie is, as "Keep Watching the Skies: American Science Fiction Movies of the Fifties" author Bill Warren puts it, a "nightmare" designed to "maximize the horror of the situation for children."

Beyond that, however, "Invaders from Mars" has an eeriness that anyone would find unnerving. Sure, the practical alien effects leave a lot to be desired, even if they did the job at the time. But there are plenty of moments in the film that remain effective today. The strange choral music that emerges when people venture close to the alien spacecraft, for example, is an incongruous motif for the aliens. In one scene, as Hillary Brooke wanders through the almost dream-like production design used for the countryside behind her home, in fades a choir accompanied by a sinister drone that culminates in a diabolical cacophony. A closeup on the actor as her fear sets in, scored by the increasingly hellish sound design is genuinely nightmarish, regardless of whether you're a kid or not.

As such, "Invaders from Mars" remains an underrated alien movie everyone should see. Not only was it hugely influential for some of the great directors of the late 20th Century, it's a well-made and often genuinely disturbing sci-fi horror that deserves more recognition than it gets. The whole thing can be seen for free over on Tubi.