Probably not the best time to watch a film in which the
majority of the Earth’s population gets killed off by an invisible enemy, but
then again there’s more to this film than meets the eye. Writer Harry Spalding –
here under the nom-de-plume of Henry Cross - had a fair track record in B-move exploitation
having already written must-see films such as The Day Mars Invaded Earth
(1962), House of the Damned (1963) and The Young Swingers (1963)
and yet, after suggesting it as a joke, he was seemingly not keen on this title
for his script.
There’s certainly not much screaming as the film opens
with a tour through a body-strewn English countryside in which seemingly almost
everyone has died on the spot. The film starts with a dead steam engine driver
as his locomotive smashes into another at high speed, a stock shot which I
think is from a silent film called The Wreckers (1929) which involved
the staging of a head-on crash, filmed by Hungarian Géza von Bolváry and twenty
two cameramen. Then a plane falls from the sky and we see two dead people outside
and estate agents… surely a sign of The End of Days?
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| Willard Parker finds the lights on but nobody home |
A Land Rover drives through deserted villages looking for
any sign of life. It’s driven by American aeronautical engineer Jeff Nolan (Willard
Parker a decent actor looking rather more than his 52 years) but still who soon
over looks a car containing a dead woman and Thorley Walters who, at this early
stage, surely can not be dead? Nothing doing, Jeff does the sensible thing and
heads to the village pub – and I think we can all agree that there’s very
little as compelling and comforting as a vintage sci-fi mystery based around a
public house.
In the pub Jeff’s attempts to get a signal on the TV are
rudely interrupted by a man holding a woman and, worse, a gun. It’s Quinn Taggart
(the excellent Dennis Price) and Peggy Hatten (Virginia Field) an over-cautious
couple who soon warm to the idea of another living person as, indeed, do Edgar
Otis (the aforementioned Thorley) and his lady companion, Violet Courtland (Vanda
Godsell) as Jeff finds them raiding a sweet shop. All five convene at the pub
and try to work out why they are the only ones left.
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| Dennis Price and Virginia Field |
Then things take a huge turn as the group spot two
mysterious figures walking outside, Violet thinks it’s men in hazard suits and
runs out to greet them as the rest hold back guns in hand – Jeff has a rifle –
watching in horror as one of the figures turns round and zaps the middle aged
woman dead. They are unearthly and look for all the world like early designs for
Cybermen who didn’t make their debut in Doctor Who until the Tenth Planet
in 1966. The figures walk off and the group have no desire to stop them.
A young couple drive up in a Vauxhall, a cocky young chap
in too-tight slacks, Mel (David Spenser) and his heavily pregnant girlfriend
Lorna (Anna Palk). Under Jeff’s instructions they head off to the nearest army base
and secure some more rifles and begin to hunker down to try and work out a plan
of action.
Terence Fisher directs a lot of tension into the film
through what is essentially a character play with added alien menace. The interplay
between the five is well handled as alphas Jeff and Peggy are drawn to each
other as Quinn looks more and more venal – could anyone ever convey the mix of
self-serving cowardice and self-loathing
as well as Dennis Price? Meanwhile the young couple bicker and Edgar turns
increasingly to drink.
There’s a close encounter as Lorna grabs a midnight milk
in the kitchen as one of the aliens appears at the window and Jeff narrowly
avoids getting zapped and then additional creepiness is added as Violet is
reanimated as a boggle-eyed zombie under the aliens’ control. Another tense scene
see Peggy hiding in wide-eyed terror in a wardrobe as two zombies search for
the living… More and more of the formerly deceased start appearing and it’s now
that Quinn makes his move, trying to get away in his smart MG with Peggy at
gunpoint. In spite of her tight dress and high heels Peggy is able to give him
the slip and as he tries to make good his escape one of the aliens applies the
microwave treatment.
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| The are worse places to hold up than a pub...as Edgar Wright knows full well. |
Jeff rams one of the aliens in his Land Rover – good car
casting in this picture – and they discover that they’re robots, an advance
recce for extra-terrestrials clearly far too advanced to get their hands dirty at
the early stages of an invasion. There must be some way to stop them… who is controlling
the robots and how? Did I mention that Jeff is an engineer?
Dusty verdict: A good cast and decent direction
make the most of this film and whilst it’s not quite a home counties Invasion of
the Body Snatchers there’s enough suspense and human interest to keep your
interest and it’s probably in the Top Ten Low Budget Alien Invasion Films Set
in Pubs in Surrey!
There’s also an interesting score from avant-garde composer
Elisabeth Lutyens which adds much to the atmosphere. She composed scores for many
Hammer horror movies as well as Amicus Productions and mostly took the work to
pay the bills famously saying; 'Do you want it good, or do you want it
Wednesday?'. She was the first woman to compose for British films and is a
thoroughly interesting character in her own right and if I take one thing from
this film it is to find out more about her. She apparently enjoyed being called
the “Horror Queen” and it went with a style that included green nail varnish and
the trappings of eccentric bohemia.
The main location is the lovely village of Shere in
Surrey and Elisabeth’s father father, Edwin Lutyens, designed Manor House Lodge
seen on a number of occasions, here as Dennis’ Price drives his MG. I can feel
a location visit coming on, if only that pub is still open…
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| The train crash from The Wrecker and above the scene featured in this film |
