Movies That Time Forgot: Invasion of the Star Creatures

Invasion of the Star Creatures is a 1962 Sci-Fi/Comedy from Samuel Z. Arkoff's infamous American International Pictures studio.  Written by actor Jonathan Haze (The Little Shop of Horrors) and directed by Bruno VeSota, Invasion of the Star Creatures stars Bob Ball and Frankie Ray, as well as Gloria Victor and Dolores Reed.

Ball and Ray play soldiers, Privates Philbrick and Penn, respectively, who find themselves separated from their unit while investigating a crater in the desert.  The two hapless chumps get captured by aliens that look like giant carrots ("Wow, that's the first time a salad ever tossed me!") and are taken to a ship where they are held prisoner by two amazonian space vixens called Dr. Poona (Dolores Reed) and Professor Tanga (Gloria Victor).

Yup.  I'm not even gonna say anything.

Poona and Tanga.

Yup.

The guys decide that if they're ever going to escape and warn their commanding officer, they have to use their basic, dumb-ass maleness to bond with the aliens and bring peace to the galaxy.  They also spend an awful lot of the movie getting drunk and stoned with some offensive native American stereotypes.

This film is pretty dumb.  Astonishingly so.  Ball and Ray are like a poor man's Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, the costumes for the alien carrot creatures are poorly constructed, and there are so many cringe worthy moments in the film, you'd be tempted to ask "why am I watching this?"  But thing is, it's really really funny, too.  I'm not saying it's good, but it's funny, and I try to watch it whenever it comes on Comet.  I don't even know if it's on DVD or anything.  It's a surprisingly amusing flick with some actual laugh out loud moments, perfect for a lazy Saturday afternoon.  The film received horrendous reviews when it came out, and it sunk into obscurity for decades.  The Sci-Fi channel Comet (a free sci-fi/horror channel you might get on your tv without cable, I watch it on 10.3 out of Providence, Rhode Island)  revived this weird little gem, and I've watched it a bunch of times.  I don't have much to say about it other than it's just fun.  Lots of stupid dialogue, some well endowed space babes, two shlumpy guys who save the earth, and some mild, raunchy humor.

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