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Friday, October 4, 2013

HMM '13: Spaced Invaders

It's October!  The doorway to not only the start of the greatest food season (early October to Christmas), but also to sexy nurses, zombies, and grown men dressing up like ponies.  That also means it is time once again for Halloween Movie Madness!  This year, I'll be taking a look back at the movies of my youth.  Every movie this year was released before I turned eighteen.  These are the Halloween movies that shaped me into the man I am today.  Some of them are scary.  Some are funny.  Some are fantastical.  Some are just weird.  And not all of them are good.  But to me, they are all Halloween movies.  Now, stand back, for your own safety! 

Spaced Invaders
1990


Spaced Invaders is a goofball comedy from the guy who unleashed Baby's Day Out upon the masses.  Seeing that while looking up information on the movie doesn't instill within me much hope, but I remember enjoying this movie when I was twelve, and that's enough for me.

Going from what I remember about this movie, it is a lot like Invader Zim, where hapless aliens are sent to conquer Earth.  As it turns out, they aren't very good at it.  And, much like Zim, they are not very big.

I also remember a particular scene where they are talking about getting the aliens off of Earth, and comparing the launch to a cherry bomb under a trash can.  Of course, being the stupid, impressionable mind that I was at the time, I thought it would be fun to try that myself.  It didn't do anything really cool, and I got grounded.

The other memory I have of this movie is where I was when I first saw it.  I was spending the night over at a family friend's house, and along with this movie, we rented Super Dodge Ball for the NES.  Lots of fun was had, mostly because I repeatedly whopped him in the game.  It was great, because the kid was kind of a jerk, and I was only there because I had to be.  Years later, when I met my future wife, I found out that she went to school with him.  She thought he was a jerk too.

Enough about the jerk, let's start the movie.

Okay, things are starting right out with the Imperial Atomic Space Navy flying around in the Martian Territorial Frontier, and aside from some fairly decent visual effects, we get a crappy knock-off of Mars, the Bringer of War.  Why they used a sound-alike version and not the real thing is beyond me.  Was Gustav asking for too much money?  Oy.  Okay, this is starting to grate on my nerves worse than Adele. 


We find out that the Admiral was releived of duty, and that the new Admiral is outfitting each ship with Enforcer Drones, so no one deviates from the battle plan.  One of the aliens disagreed.  He shouldn't have.


We then are transported to Big Bean, Illinois.  Seriously.  I couldn't make that up.


Here, we are introduced to the town's sheriff, who immediately has a confrontation with the town's crazy old coot.  And we meet the sleazy business man.  On top of that, we find out it's Halloween.


The alien attack squad lands on Earth, and attempts to begin their mission of total human annihilation.  Things don't go well, and plenty of hijinks ensue.

This movie is not the best, but it is far from the worst.  Plus, it's appropriate for kids.  And, they also intertwine The War of the Worlds, which leads to a fun scene with the aliens freaking out over a guy sneezing.  So, if you are looking for a alien invasion movie you can watch with the whole family, check out Spaced Invaders.

And now, a couple gifs without context.



Join me tomorrow for Castle Freak, and possibly a special treat.