I was very young when I saw Invasion on TV many, many years ago. The dead man lying on floor, fire poker beside him, two rather attractive female aliens standing impassively over him, somehow stayed in my mind (for some reason) for a long time. Shortly afterwards, there Invasion was referenced in a beloved compendium of B Movie sci-fi I bought in a church jumble sale. Childhood, eh?

Anyway, I watched Invasion again a few weeks ago on a cable channel. It is a product of British science fiction period from the late Fifties to mid Sixties, taking its cue from the likes of Quatermass or Village of Damned; maybe not in the same league as those classics, but still enjoyably effective nonetheless.

I don't think I need to repeat the plot and, yes, there are a few holes (what happend to the second alien? Did they kill the nurse?), and rushed ending, but when most of today's low budget sci-fi and horror revolves around CGI, found footage, gore and zombies rehashing, Invasion is a reminder of the quiet powers of understatement.