• Wide Release
• Director: Bill Rebane
• Written by: Barbara J. Rebane
• Running Time: 94 minutes
• Language: English
• MPAA Rating: UNRATED
• Cast: Paul Bentzen, Debbi Pick, Nick Holt, Karl Wallace, Robert Arkens, Arnold Didrickson, James Steadman, David Pray, Mary O'Keefe, William Reetz, Robert Filiatreaux, Warren McPherson, Thomas Nick, Tim Gillett, Eldred Kahn, Stanley L. Naze

Imagine being stuck miles from civilzation, with dwindling food supplies and the knowledge that maybe, just maybe, the world is in the midst of the apocalypse. That’s exactly the situation that befalls the five characters in Bill Rebane’s minor cult-classic "Invasion From Inner Earth", a taut science fiction thriller that dared to explore isolation and seclusion like few films before it. Considered the pre-cursor to such mainstream films as M. Night Shyamalan’s "Signs" and the low-budget Polonia brothers actioner "Dweller", and, most notably “Knowing”, this film ranks as one of those undiscovered treasures of b-cinema.

Bill Rebane, an obscure Wisonsin filmmaker who made his directorial debut in 1965 with "Monster A Go-Go", had become immersed in the subversive culture of the 1970‘s when he set out to make "Invasion From Inner Earth" in 74. A paranoid, drug-fuelled culture born out of the cyncism and mistrust of all things authoritarian, political and religious. This suspicion was based primarily on a failed war that saw thousands of Americans shipped off to die on foreign soil in order to appease a corrupt governing body (and their equally shady corporate sponsors) and a looming cold war with the soviets, which promised an atomic catastrophe the likes that no one could, or would want to, imagine. "Invasion From Inner Earth" was born of those times; an angry, unsettling and seditious film that suggests that aliens, not god, were humankind’s original architects, and that those architects, who have been biding their time inside the earth’s core, have grown disillusioned with their design. Surreptitiously emerging from their hollow interior, these creators release a deadly gaseous plague upon the earth and in one fell swoop, manage to eradicate all of humankind thus halting the looming industrial/atomic age in its tracks.

Curiously, in the final seconds of the picture, two children, a boy and a girl, clearly representative of Adam and Eve, are shown holding hands and calmly walking towards a strange metallic disc-shaped craft sitting peacefully off in a tranquil open field. It is unclear what exactly Rebane had in mind with this ending, but it seems to suggest that humans were being primed to, as it says in Genesis 1:27-31, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it." It is questionable, however, whether or not Rebane intended for the last scene to represent the characters in the film, or was it meant as a reflection of the real Adam and Eve.

"Invasion From Inner Earth" opens with a government official announcing to a conference of other political executives that some kind of strange disease has suddenly sprouted up in various cities around the globe and that millions of people have died. Chilling images of people; men, women and children, laying dead on city streets is quickly replaced by an overhead shot of the earth. A faint light can be seen emerging from somewhere on spinning planet, as the earth pulls up to the camera. The faint light draws closer, eventually hurtling itself directly at the camera. It's outline suddenly reveals itself to be a disc-shaped object. Boo!

Elsewhere, a brother and sister, Jake and Sarah Anderson, are busy operating a piloting business called Bear Creek Charters, situated in a extremely remote region of the Canadian wilderness (somewhere in Manitoba). They earn a living by running charter flights up into the woods. Jake (Nick Holt), is preparing to pilot the most recent group, comprised of three science students, Eric (Karl Wallace) and Andy (Robert Arkens) and Stan (Paul Bentzen), back to civilization after a month-long ecological research project. Due to a mid-November snowstorm, Jake‘s twin-engine plane is low on fuel and will most assuredly not sustain them for the long journey back into town. He decides to make a quick pit stop at the local fuel station run by a fellow named Sam, played by Arnold Didrickson. The depot is also located way out in the deep woods. The character of Sam is shown staggering to his radio, urgently demanding that Jake turn around and go back. Sam’s speech is disjointed, but his pleas and his strange message, "All dead… A plague!" causes the group in the plane to shudder in disbelief. Jake assumes that Sam’s been drinking and readies himself to land regardless. Hobbling and obviously weak, Sam staggers out onto the tarmac and lays down, halting Jake's descent. Confused and upset, Jake has no choice but to turn the plane around and head back.

A few miles away, Jake lands his twin-engine at an old abandoned lodge, where he attempts to call for help, and maybe find some extra fuel that might just get them back to the city. They are unable to raise anybody on the lodge's two-way radio, except a strange voice that hints that people are dying off in record numbers. Two of the passengers, Stan and Andy, wander off to an old shack in search of fuel and come face to face with a strange hovering red light somewhere off in the woods. "Things are beginning to get spooky," Stan mutters. The group suddenly spot a small plane flying awkwardly over the treetops off in the distance. It eventually crashes down into the forest and explodes. Elsewhere, a radio announcer, played by James Steadman, reports that massive blackouts have occured across the globe, and that a lethal plague has gripped whole cities leaving millions dead. Things are indeed, starting to get spooky.

Unable to explain the series of events that are transpiring around them, Jake decides the best bet is to head back to the cabin and endeavor to figure out what is going on. The passengers agree. Back at home base, the group quickly realize that they are quite literally cut off from the world, unable to reach anybody back in town. They can barely pick up any radio feeds, and when they do they are jumbled, strange reports about a lethal plague which is ravishing the planet. Making sense of the reports, the group deems that it has to be some kind of joke, not unlike the one Orson Welles played back in the 1930s. Eventually, the radio feeds die off and they are left with one station that seems to play the same song over and over. They also pick up an ominous voice that occasionally makes, what sounds like, field reports over the short wave. When Sarah tries to respond, the menacing-metallic voice growls, "Where are you? What’s your location?" Later, the ominous voice asks, "Is this the Andersons?" When Jake solicits information from the voice, the feed suddenly goes dead.

As time ticks away, the group lingers around the small cabin, severed from the rest of the world and trying to survive in the middle of winter. As their food rations begin to dwindle, they begin to turn on each other, as I suspect people would in a similar circumstance. When Andy stumbles upon an old dilapidated snowmobile in the shed, he gets it going and then tries, unsuccessfully, to make it back to civilzation. Jake also tries on foot, and like Andy, he’s never heard from again. Eventually it comes down to the remaining three, Eric, Sarah and Stan. With virtually no food and heating resources at a minimum, they determine that they have to try and get back to the city. This means possibly a multi-week trek through the cold snow-covered forest. As evidenced in my earlier summary, only Stan and Sarah make it back to town and it is questionable if whether or not it's actually them. There is a curious emptiness in their eyes, and a certain uniformity to their walk when they return, that suggests that all is not as it seems. The last shot of the movie, as I mentioned previously, suggests that these two survivors were actually ‘selected’. Was the entire film an experiment? You'll have to watch and see. Interestingly, a special edition 'Director's Cut' of the film was released with the alternate title, "The Selected".

Bill Rebane intelligently designs the story around the hollow-earth theory, a very real hypothesis that has captured the imagination of thousands around the world, evidenced in the numerous websites devoted to the topic. One of the characters, Stan, speaks at great length about this theory, including one chilling story around a campfire, late in the film. This provides a sort-of explanation for the invasion, as Rebane can't hold up a sign and say, "this is what is going on". To those interested in ufology, the theory holds great interest.

A problem that critics have with "Invasion From Inner Earth" is that it relies too heavily on the characters conversing. Apparently, unless you have characters swinging baseball bats at glasses of water or running around willy-nilly in a cornfield, it can’t be interesting. As far as I’m concerned, I’ll take long dialogue scenes over silly contrived action anyday. When Rebane does resort to using action, as he does late in "Invasion From Inner Earth", sticking his camera in the middle of a panic stricken city as people run in terror as strange disc-shaped objects hover overhead, I believe it is designed to point out just how isolated the Bear Creek residents are from the nightmarish events transpiring around world. And, maybe, slyly offer the audience a look at the doom that awaits our heroes at the cabin if they ever do make it back to civilization. Rebane even tries to inject some humor into the film, by having an old-timer discuss his late-night run-in with a strange ufo on a deserted county road. Sadly, the joke falls flat, and getting back to cabin is really the only out.

To his credit, Rebane makes his characters as different as possible. Jake Anderson, played by Nick Holt, is strangely the most ambigious character in the movie, despite being one of the more prominent ones. Aside from being the caring older brother and level-headed survivalist, his relationship with his sister, which borders on incestuous, is a little distracting in the overall. Sarah Anderson, played by Debbi Pick, is great as the nurturing little sister (and only woman) in the group. Rebane seems to downplay sexualizing her, or making her the object in an emerging love story, as some other filmmakers might have done. Although, interesting to note that shy Stan does seem to have some interest, but it doesn’t play out in any kind of melodramatic way. Stan, played by Paul Bentzen (1975's "The Giant Spider Invasion"), is the frumpy, overweight and overly-shy scientist, whose carefree attitude and intelligence, proves to be the major factor in keeping the group cogent as they endeavour to survive. He’s clearly the most sensible person of the lot and his hushed but palpable crush on Sarah helps add an extra element to his characterization. Eric, played by Karl Wallace (1965's "The Plastic Dome of Norma Jean"), is the handsome, good-looking one of the group, who, at first, seems to be emerging as the hero of the piece, until it is deflated by his ever-increasing irrationality. Rebane plays with the formula here with overweight Stan and handsome Eric, something I greatly appreciated. Lastly, there‘s Andy, played by Robert Arkens, the spoiled rich kid, who whines and complains away the majority of the pitcure before racing off on a found snowmobile to his certain death. His character works to elevate the tension by constantly enforcing the sheer hopelessness of the situation. He is the least developed character and proves to a hindrance later on in the story.

Previously only available VHS, in a rough-looking print with mostly misleading boxart, "Invasion From Inner Earth" was only recently released as part of the "Invasion of Terror DVD 4-Pack". Alongside three other great titles, including another Bill Rebane's classic "The Giant Spider Invasion", this film is finally given the revamped digital treatment. This boxset is a must-own for fans of experimental b-movies. For hardened Bill Rebane fans, a Director's Cut of "Invasion From Inner Earth" was released sometime in the late 80's alternately titled "The Selected". This film has also been released under the alternate titles "Hellfire" and "They". I recommend picking up anyone that you can get your hands on as this is some truly enjoyable sci-fi cinema.

Since the film is now in the public domain, you can check the whole film out on Youtube by following this link.

To see more images from this film, follow this link.