Invasion from Inner Earth

Director - Bill Rebane (Rana: The Legend of Shadow Lake, The Giant Spider Invasion)

Starring - Paul Bentzen (The Alpha Incident, The Demons of Ludlow), Debbi Pick, and Nick Holt (Bigfoot and Wildboy, The Next Step Beyond)

Release Date - 1974

Genre - Sci-Fi/Horror

Tagline - "They've been waiting millions of years for this moment"

Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     It looks like I may or may not have my work cut out for me as I dig through this Bill Rebane Weird Wisconsin box set that was sent my way from MVD and Arrow Video.  I started my Rebane movie marathon with Monster a Go-Go which wasn't too bad but wasn't what I was expecting.  When it was over I immediately hit play on the second film in the second set which was 1974's Invasion from Inner Earth.  What a contrast to the first film this one was.  Honestly, I loved it and this really got my hopes up for the following films.

      The film follows a group traveling by plane when they encounter some strange sites like the air traffic controller telling them that everyone is dead.  They are able to land and make it to a cabin which is remote and located deep in the snow covered mountains.  While they try to peice together what is going on one of them suspects that aliens are responsible but they soon discover that the attack on mankind came from within the Earth and not from space.

      I didn't know what to expect from Invasion from Inner Earth but this one really surprised me.  I grew up on post-apocalyptic horror and sci-fi tales and this one was one of the better ones.  It had a Dawn of the Dead look while having a deep dive sci-fi basis.  I loved it and could see myself digging into it again.  It's the atmosphere that made this one so much fun.  The acting in this one is surprisingly well done.  The characters do feel a little cheesy and cliched for the most part but the cast does a surprisingly solid job in their performances.  It's the characters that make this one so enjoyable.  Though the characters are generic and cliched they still fit with the story very well which makes it that more entertaining.  The story for this one is one we haven't seen before but it does have a unique spin to it.  Decades before the 70s we had horror and sci-fi flicks where the worlds population was wiped out by disease, aliens, comets, and so forth.  However, there wasn't many horror tales before then that featured the hollowed Earth theory.  Though this was just a tiny part of the story it was still the basis for the entire film and I enjoyed that aspect.  I loved the set up of the film following the survivors as they were secluded in the woods surrounded by snow with no food.  It created a very claustrophobic setting that made the film work in my opinion.  I enjoyed it and even though it was simple it was still very story rich.  Finally, the film has some deaths but they are mostly off screen with no blood or gore.  The movie has a made for television quality about it which would explain the lack of blood and gore.  Overall, Invasion from Inner Earth was very enjoyable.  It was cheap and far from perfect but I really liked this one.  Fans of 70s post-apocalyptic sci-fi tales will enjoy this one.  It's well worth it.