Rating: 3/5
Hooptober | 13/31 | Terence Fisher 3/5
A runaway train careens off the rails. A car crashes into a wall, erupting in smoke. A biplane dives out of the sky and into the ground. All around the world, living things are suddenly dropping dead.
An American survivor drives a truck around an English village, looking for anyone else who may have survived. He takes his rifle and radio to a local hotel. There, he comes across a few other survivors.
One survivor, a woman named Vi, sees men in unrecognizable space suits outside and goes to greet them. When they turn around, Vi sees that they’re not human. They kill her and move along.
In just over one hour, this tightly-paced, low-budget British piece gives us a tense sci-fi story. The characters aren’t much, and the script has little to say. That said, the space suit creature designs are super cool and it never idles long enough to lose my interest.
Avant-garde composer Elisabeth Lutyens does the score. The film uses it sparingly, letting quiet moments of tension erupt.
Overall, this film is decent and mercifully short.