Invader

Invader (1992)

A crashed UFO and its reverse-engineered computer system take over the minds of soldiers at an air force base. The alien entity (in the guise of A.S.M.O.D.S., (Asmodeus), a strategic flight defense systems program for fighter jets) is discovered by tabloid reporter Frank McCall and D.O.D. Captain Harry Anders. They escape the base in a stolen F-19 and are taken to the Pentagon, where their story is met with understandable scepticism. An attempt by Asmodeus' minions to capture Frank & Harry for brainwashing convinces General Anheiser of their sincerity, and they return to the base and eventually face Asmodeus and its army of brainwashed soldiers. Written by Dave Foster

Date of release
1992-01-01
TMDB
5.0 / 10 (8)
Runtime
1h 35m
Genres
Science Fiction
Director
Philip J. Cook

Casting

Interesting facts

Invader is a 1992 direct-to-video science fiction film by Philip J. Cook, starring Hans Bachmann, A. Thomas Smith and Rick Foucheux. It is the story of a journalist who uncovers an extraterrestrial entity taking over an air force base in Washington, D.C., and must foil its plans of world domination.

Production

After finishing the space adventure film Beyond the Rising Moon in 1987, director Philip Cook and producer John Ellis decided their next picture should be more grounded so they would not need to build sets from scratch. Cook wrote the screenplay for Invader, then known as The Killing edge, in two weeks.

Cook wrote the parts of Mccall and Faraday with Hans Bachmann and Rick Foucheux from Moon already in mind; the actor originally chosen for the role of Anders declined after having a falling out with the producer. Foucheux introduced Cook to John Cooke, who played General Anheiser; they knew each other through Washington's theater scene.

Cook and Ellis could not raise enough money for the entire film at the time, so in winter of 1989 they shot $50,000's worth of live-action footage—hoping to later convince investors to finance the more effects-intensive scenes. Due to the limited budget, the production ran on a skeleton crew: Cook, Ellis, a camera assistant and a sound recordist. Cook was the film's director, cinematographer, special effects supervisor and editor.

They took the film to the American Film Market, and Menahem Golan agreed to front the $125,000 required to finish. The remaining scenes were shot between the fall of 1990 and 1991. As in Moon, most special effects were achieved using miniatures—Cook credits Gerry Anderson's shows as a creative influence. The helicopter ridden by the heroes never left the ground: the shots of flight were accomplished with remote control models.

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