Paul Andrews Invader starts in a restricted military zone somewhere deep in the Californian desert as the 'Viking 2' space-probe comes crashing down to Earth. What's so unusual about that you might ask? Well, Viking 2 was a probe sent to Mars & should still be there, scientist Dr. Cate Montgomery (Cotter Smith) & NASA man Michael Perkett (Leland Orser) are baffled as to how it ended up back on Earth. Montgomery calls in state biologist Dr. Gracia Scott (Deirdre O'Connell) to examine the probe to determine whether it was ever on Mars in the first place, taking samples from the probe Montgomery & Scott discover a strange circular object & an unidentified stringy slimy spiderweb type substance. The tests prove that Viking 2 has indeed come from Mars, then the military show up. Colonel Jessie Pratt (Robert Wisdom) takes total control on behalf of the military which displeases Mongomery & Scott, as they argue & try to outdo each other the strange pod like object on the probe breaks open & a slimy alien life-form emerges. Does it come in peace or does it have more sinister intentions...Written, co-produced & directed by Mark H. Baker I thought Invader was a decent film that with a few minor tweaks could have been so much more. The script at heart is basically Alien (1979) & Aliens (1986) on a much smaller budget. Having said that there are some really unusual ideas & it at least tries to do something a little bit different with the standard 'slimy alien on the loose' formula. For instance Invader gives us an intelligent alien rather than just a motiveless 'killing machine', it tries to leave the aliens motives to the viewers own interpretation, the scientific & military teams have conflicting opinions as the alien seems to have intelligence as it lays traps, takes parts of computers & gunpowder from bullets. Both sides have theories as to what the alien is up to & the filmmakers presumably leave it all pretty vague on purpose. The character's are decent, the dialogue is better than you would expect & it would appear that a fair amount of effort was put into Invader. Unfortunately it becomes bogged down in this dialogue which slows the pace down too much & begins to grow tiresome when we all want to see some alien action & the ending is terrible, as things are moving along nicely bang, that's it film over with a deeply unsatisfying conclusion & a clichéd 'something survived' final shot.Director Baker does his best on a low budget, the action scenes are reasonably well staged but there aren't enough of them. While he tries to give his audience something to think about he just doesn't give us enough to get excited about, it's a shame as Invader could have been a really neat sci-fi horror film in the Alien mould. The alien itself has an unusual design & I'm not sure about it, it's different & original but not that menacing or scary. There is a gooey alien autopsy, a makeshift appendix removal & a scene when a soldier is impaled with his own rifle but apart from that it's fairly tame.Technically Invader is pretty good, the abandoned military facility makes for a forgettable & bland location. The limited special effects are good & it's generally well made throughout. The acting was OK & soon to be star Ryan Phillippe makes an appearance.Invader had potential & some it fulfilled & some of it wasted. In the end the best way to describe it would be like a talkative Alien clone which does it a bit of a disservice as it's has certain credibility & intelligence about it. Hard to recommend because of the awful climax & a pace that is just too slow, definitely worth a watch but I couldn't help but feel disappointed by it overall.

Michael O'Keefe If you like smart Sci-Fi you will like INVADER aka LIFEFORM. A Viking probe satellite mysteriously returns from Mars and like a Trojan Horse has a surprise in tow. A strange pod resembling an armadillo spawns a creature with a taste for blood and the curiosity to gather intelligence of Earth's inhabitants. The curious visitor takes on the form of an armored ape... albeit angry and clever with the ability to transform its shape. The story line is well thought out, but too similar to most "alien" movies. Is the Martian hitchhicker trying to prevent an invasion of the red planet? An abrupt twist at the finale leaves a few questions unanswered. The cast includes: Deirdre O'Connell, Cotter Smith, Leland Orser and Ryan Phillippe.

dromasca 'Invader' is a decent aliens film, no more but no less either. It is done in the mid 90's, is is clearly a low budget film - so the effects are far from what big studios succeed in similar movies. Directing and acting are quite routine, nothing memorable above the usual TV series level. However, the script is quite decent, and despite some inconsistencies, it keeps somehow the interest high. The end is quite good, kind of justifying the viewer surviving the 90 minutes the movie lasts. Science fiction fans may like it, though we have seen much better. 6/10 on my personal scale.

Movie Nuttball Lifeform is really a fantastic movie with just about everything!The acting is good by the stars but the most miss looked one is Carlos Carrasco.The alien is really neat looking and the movie is scary with its build up and it has very different ending!This is a must see for all alien and sci-fi fans!