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DALEKS INVASION EARTH: 2150 A.D.

During a jewelry store robbery an ambushed police officer locates what he presumes is a police box, but is actually the T.A.R.D.I.S., and steps into adventure! It's too late to let the Bobbie go and Dr. Who, his granddaughter Susan, his niece Louise and the cop are transported to London in the year 2150 A.D. (which bears a remarkable similarity to England 1965, including the same design on their Sugar Pops ads). In this oddly old-fashioned future (where the Dr. is impressed with tiny antennas on radio receivers), the Daleks have taken humanity hostage, turning a number of our own into ruthless zombies, and for what? Well that's a surprise, and a rather goofy one at that, but an even bigger surprise is that the Daleks have been rounding up non-converted humans to dig in a mineshaft in order to accomplish the surprise that I'm not going to tell you about. Why the Daleks can't use their zombies for this task is beyond me - perhaps their motorcycle helmets and reflective goggles aren't the best wear for digging, or maybe zombies are just too damn lazy. While all this is going on the Doctor and his companions manage to get separated from one another, run into an underground group of resistance fighters, meet sleazy opportunists, almost get converted into astro-zombies, discover just how backstabbing old ladies who live alone in the woods can be, and, let's not forget, see the first onscreen Dalek as it ominously rises out of the Thames only to sway in the current because some stagehand didn't properly secure it.

While the first film in the proposed never-ending series was more claustrophobic and obviously shot on set, this movie opens up on the landscape of devastated London circa 2150 A.D. - 148 years after this review was written! My God, how did they know what it was going to look like?! - and brother this is no set! Billions of dollars must have been spent dropping bombs on London killing millions to get the effect of what would happen if a bunch of killer pepper grinders decided to descend from the heavens and start using us for some insipid evil scheme. To this day orphans still talk of the day the Amicus production staff killed their mothers and fathers in order to achieve brutal cinematic reality! (Actually I lie, there was no murder here, except the wholesale slaughter of the original concept of the Doctor from the TV show, and his replacement with the Earth scientist known, literally, as Dr. Who, but that's another story.) Interestingly, along with the decision to do location shooting, came the artistic choice to mute the color scheme from the psychedelic, as in DR. WHO AND THE DALEKS, to more earth tones here in order to more appropriately convey the darker attitude of this piece.

Some might say that people backstabbing each other in a shameless way to look after number one (themselves, not me, sadly) is exactly the kind of content that the Dr. Who film franchise did not need in order to succeed, that it represented a descent into cynicism that was in direct odds with the wishes and expectations of its juvenile fan base. To them I say, "Hey, the film tanked, totally destroyed the producers' hopes that Dr. Who could continue in film form for years to come. You were spot on, but I still think this movie is balls cooler than the other, flakier one."

What makes it cooler, you may or may not have said to your inanimate computer screen? Well, first it doesn't have Roy Castle pratfalling his butt over everything; second, the tone is decidedly more horrific we're talking enslavement of our own here, not the oppression of a bunch of Glam rock groupies (the Thals, see DR. WHO AND THE DALEKS); third, Peter Cushing is less doddering and more serious possibly due to his illness during production, and a frown is always way cooler than a smile. Heck, even the action if more intense (Daleks being hit by cars, guys in wheelchairs being crushed by bricks, black market entrepreneurs getting their just deserts) and there's a huge spaceship that only looks like it's on wires some of the time. Whereas the first movie was a quaint, simpering children's story of right, wrong and nuclear devastation, this is an all-out war, with double-crosses, ambushes and a sexier niece sidekick (Jill Curzon, SMOKESCREEN). It's rather obvious that the film was making leaps and bounds in mature content and director Gordon Flemyng's work is far more assured and punchy, but the decision to sell to the kiddies was a big mistake. Perhaps if this was the first film, establishing the tone, we'd still be catching the yearly Dr. Who films today, but alas that was not to be.

Anchor Bay kicks the ass with this release, restoring the film to its 2.35:1 widescreen ratio and releasing it anamorphic. The print is practically perfect where the hell do they get such wonderful source material? and the color dynamic has been restored to its original subdued splendor; it looks beautiful. Audio is available in mono with both English and French language tracks sounding fine.

Two of the extras are carryovers from the DR. WHO AND THE DALEKS DVD: a photo essay, "A History of DOCTOR WHO," clues the curious into the phenomena of the character, and a Peter Cushing bio provides a nice background on one of Britain's greatest character actors and unlikely leading men.

Rounding out the extras are a poster and still gallery and the theatrical trailer, which is best viewed after the movie as far too much information is revealed.

Whereas the previous movie promised action and hardly delivered, this movie puts its money where its mouth is and blows the town down. For fans and non-fans alike, a rocking good time, even if it is a Sour Patch take.

(Note: Fans of the popular DOCTOR WHO theme should know that it has been replaced by a more loungey tune here, great for sipping your martini to.)

For more information on DOCTOR WHO you should check out the website for HOWE'S TRANSCENDENTAL TOYBOX at www.tardis.tv.