Wolff rating: MOSTLY HARMLESS
Plot summary: Aliens land in what looks to be State Center, Iowa, and start controlling people's brains.
Biased, pithy comments: The question, with a show like this, is why they made this show. I'd complain that the plot was recycled from the 50s, except it's from Heinlein's 50s book, so therefore, no, it's really not recycled in the least; it's fresh 50s Monster Movie with a 90s twist. It's just too bad that 50s monster films are such howlers. One is especially reminded of how ``The Thing'' was redone from its black-and-white days into a more modern, grotesque horror, and then you watch ``Puppet Masters'' and see how not to do it. The acting, music, and filmmaking is slicker than it should be for a low-brow plot and cliche-fest like this, and Donaldson is a true Heinlein anti-hero and pulling hard to make this memorable, but it's all just too weak a foundation for it to do any good. Skip it, and watch horror with more class, like ``Hellraiser'' or ``Evil Dead''.
How many times I have seen it: x1
Starring: Donald Sutherland, Eric Thal, Julie Warner
Directed by: Stuart Orme