A sci-fi movie from the early 50's--scared the crap out of me then.

What was it? My girlfriend remembers the exact same movie and it scared the crap out of her too then. We are both now in our 60’s. Neither of us can remember the title of the movie.

All I remember now after about 50 years was it was about some kind of alien invasian—probably from Mars.

And it had something to do with swallowing people up from underground sand.

Would like to rent it to see if it is still as scary as I remember it at about 8-10 years of age.

But I need a title.

Were there giant ants? It could be Them!

Invaders from Mars? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045917/

It wasn’t “Them”

I remember that one very well. It was about ants, giant ants. -----not about an alien invasion.

Invaders from Mars? Maybe that was it. I’ll rent it and see.

Damn, I think I know the one you’re talking about, but I can’t remember the title either. Guy goes out on his own to investigate some strange lights or something and gets sucked into the ground. He reappears later, but his personality has changed and the classic dialogue occurs:
“Dad, what’s that on the back of your neck?”
“There…Is…Nothing…On…The…Back…Of…My…Neck”

My experience with seeing movies that scared me as a kid has been disappointing. The scariest movie I ever saw as a kid, the one that gave me the most nighmares, was House on Haunted Hill with Vincent Price. I saw it again in my forties and it was a yawner.

I hope you enjoy your movie, though. I haven’t seen it.

BrainGlutton is right.

It’s definitely the original Invaders From Mars. It has the sucking sand pits and the things on the back of people’s necks.

It scared the heck out of me too, even though you can see the zipper on the back of the alien costumes.

It was a pretty movie though, especially the scenes up on the hill.

“Invaders from Mars” sounds like the one.

Will rent it.

“How . . . Goes . . . The . . . Revolution . . . Comrade?”

Definitely, definitely, positively, it was that original. In black & white. The drill-thingine that was used to implant the devices in back of people’s heads still gives me the willies!

It is. It scared the crap out of me also, especially because when I saw it on TV my back yard was covered with sand. :eek:

Could it be It Came From Outer Space? People were being held in a cave near an meteor (spacecraft) crash and replaced (temporarily) by dopplegangers. Kind of scary in a very cheezy way, and featuring a young Russell Johnson (“The Professor”).

It’s not the film you’re looking for, but The Day The Earth Stood Still* was quite scary when I was but a lad. “Klaatu barada nikto!”

Stranger

It Came From Outer Space didn’t have the sandpits. That’s the clincher for this one – the freakin’ sandpits. :slight_smile:

It Came From Outer Space was nicely creepy too. Weren’t there some scenes in a desert, and in a cave, or near a cave?

It Came From Outer Space was in the desert, and with scenes in a cave. It was also originally filmed in 3-D – if you get the chance, watch it that way.

And one of the best things about it is the twist in the end, something that’s practically unique in SF “alien takeover” films of the 50s.

The aliens were good guys, and just took over people so they could unobtrusively gather materials to repair their ship. The originals were not hurt, either.

If it had that creepy looking little Octopus-humanoid thing (gave me the creeps…) it was probably IfM…

Weird synchronicity: the actress who played the “creepy looking little Octopus-humanoid thing” just died:

The original Invaders From Mars (1953) was in Super Cinecolor.

There was a rather respectable remake made in the 90s or 80s.

Walloon, thanks for posting those links, especially the second one. That’s a totally fascinating analysis of the movie. And I’m using the picture of the hill for desktop wallpaper.

So apparently there’s not a decent version of the movie on DVD? That’s what I got from the article. What a shame.