SPACED INVADERS (1990) **1/2 As if the dorf of Big Bean, Illinois isn't already having enough problems with the socio-political fallout resulting from the advent of their own interstate off-ramp, a bunch of Martians, who talk like various earth ethnic groups and Jack Nicholson, get confused by hearing the local radio station play "War of the Worlds" on Halloween and attack! Little kids (one in a most triumphant homemade duck suit) serve as the only sensible characters in the plot and fortunately most of the Martians settle for trick or treating rather than destruction. Their bad behavior is only satisfactorily explained to the yokels (one of whom is carried by his dog) when they're alleged to be "surfers from California." Sadly even their odd weapons and vernacular aren't quite enough to keep them from getting exiled from the Country Squire by the bilious fat lady. Tight and witty script chock full o' cinematic allusions, absurd costumes, and barely explicable situations probably make the acting look even better than it is but there's no question that this baby is firing on most tripods for at least the first half. It's either a tribute to or an indictment of Hollywood, of Western Civilization actually, that such clearly talented writers and actors and tech guys spent so much effort on an artwork like this. I'll go get the bucket.
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