3 stars out of 10 is just about right for this low budget 80s release which features dodgy performances, a drunken walk of a screenplay, cheaper than cheap special effects and an overall low resolution vibe that makes you wish you'd queued up the next movie in the Public Domain DVD collection you found this in instead of this one.But "Galaxy Invader" isn't evil or vile or nasty or anything. Without knowing anything about Don Dohler other than that he made a lot of these things, I'd guess that he really WANTED to make sci fi and horror movies and did the best he could with the resources and budget he could get.If only he'd found a real writer to polish his dialog and plots, "Galaxy Invader" might have been a "5" or a "6". If he'd known how to actually direct his cast, "GI" might have even scored a "7". So anyway...this movie won't make you retch or throw the DVD away in disgust or anything. It'll give you something to look at for 80+ minutes and give you an excuse to sit in front of the TV drinking beer. If that's what you really want, you should go for it.

OK so you read most of the others reviews for Galaxy Invader. I took a chance and pulled out one of ten disks on a Sci fi anthology set (with such sci fi titles as Hercules Unchained...?OK, the first question that needs to be asked is, what does Galaxy Invader contribute to the alien invasion genera? in truth, not much. The landing of the spacecraft at the opening of the film. (meteor effect) was a bit more elaborate than some other low budget films, the ball of light actually does a bit of twisting and turning double played before disappearing behind the tree line, and in fact adds up to the most impressive effect that will be seen in this film. The young teen witness to the landing calls his college professor, who even though he lives six hours away, jumps out of bed to investigate. The first indications of this alien, are wisely done as POV shots, walking around in the dense Maryland underbrush. The director however plays his hand early on, and reveals the Rubber suited alien. The mask is about par with some Outer limit shows, the body suit is usable, if not overshot. Unfortunaltely in this production it is on screen way too long. They say it is green, but my monitor never picked that detail up. Corman knew how to make a monster suit frightening, as in "The Day the World Ended" you keep the creature in shadows, using musical cues, and partial body shots,only revealing the full creature at the last moments. Here the director shows everything in the first minutes, and after wards, has nowhere to go. The most interesting part of this movie is the bad guy, the drunk father named Joe, He and his grown son JJ, and his slutty daughter and long suffering wife, live in the backwoods. Joe is suppose to be painted as a stereotypical backwoods bumpkin, we are told in the beginning that he is a liar, a cheat, a drunkard, and one who goes after his sassing daughter with a rifle. My problem is that the writers could not convey the villainy with the lame script, and for reasons of either "good" bad acting, or just inability to capture the fathers wicked nature, Joe played by Richard Ruxton, comes off as mildly offsetting at best.A secondary character Frank Custor, a friend of Joe's also comes off as a small town, shady con man with connections! it is his idea to capture the space creature and sell it for a profit to the highest bidder. Custors part is overacted, and is enjoyable to watch, played by Don Liefert. JJ the oldest son played by George Stover, comes across as a young Lon Chaney Jr. not much acting to be done, but a interesting presence. Logic has no part of this story, The alien is neither malevolent nor intelligent, its main job is to lumber around, loosing and finding and then re-losing its space blaster. The night shots call for evocative lighting, that never happens. The musical score is a one song all purpose musical phrase. The sound effects that warn of the creature are sometimes effective, but the lack of suspense has long ago dulled any anticipation. I think the fact that this was done in earnest, gives the production any meager merit it has, and that raises it above it's cheap and amateurish script and production values.

I usually get a kick out of cheesy sci-fi movies. I couldn't even find humor in this. There was very little technical quality. Many of the scenes were too dark. The background noise in the quiet outdoor scenes was distracting.The worst thing about the movie was the staging of the fight scenes. I wonder if the actors had any contact with each other during a fight scene. Reaction times were so slow. Each actor was at his or her own level, and these levels never changed. There was no range. Most of the delivery was either yelling or very quiet. There was no build-up. It was totally flat. This movie was a waste of time. It was painful to watch it.

ET crash lands, but he's not in Roswell any more. It's Hicksville, USA, and the locals are, well; try to imagine a bunch of King of the Hill characters who hang out at a abandoned gas station in the backwoods: talking in phony forced hillbilly accents, forever slurping beer, all with village-idiot personalities. The lead freak chases his daughter with a shot-gun, and commits other random weird acts. About the only thing he doesn't do in this film is change his T-shirt, a ripped up rag that hangs off his belly in about five places. Capture the alien and sell it to the circus, or take delight in blasting it full of buck-shot, this nut doesn't care.Enter ET the misunderstood alien, except this nice visitor (who accidentally croaks the fist two people he meets) doesn't have a long neck, big eyes, and mumble "Home!" to himself. This one's green, rubber suited, has a mean looking face, and growls. He's also equipped with a toy laser that sets off firecrackers, and a Nerf bowling ball that glows occasionally.Further analysis is unnecessary; just kick back with popcorn and watch General Tornshirt Beerguzzler, Lieutenant Smokes-an-unlit Cigar, and their gang of stooges occasionally fight the creature while they laugh a lot in the process. The movie obviously puts on no pretenses; it's all-out silly chaos and knows it. Except for an offbeat "Who's the real monster?" premise, most of this is just an infomercial for Hick Beer Co., and people running around in a forest. Riotous fun that probably showed as a second feature at drive-in's.