This fusion of episodes 3 and 4 of "Space Giant" finds the Japan's man of steel, in his see-through and suggestively padded costume, battling Salamander Men from the Planet Kulimon in the Moffit galaxy (I kid you not). The invaders have the ability to change their appearance (or, sometimes, most of their appearance) and are spreading a deadly contagion by disguising themselves as an avant-garde dance troupe. Weird beyond belief, the film is full of acrobatic 'fight' scenes in which none of the kicks or punches seem to make contact but that include lots of back flips and cart wheels. At one point children are pursued by a Kulimonian disguised as a nurse (a creepy scene) who then seems to turn into a cackling witch. While much more lively than the leaden Atomic Rulers (the first Starman movie), there are some tedious moments (e.g. the flying saucer chase scene) and the special effects are laughable. I don't know how much has been lost in translation, but apparently the 'Salamander Men' were actually 'kappa', a Japanese mythological water sprite (which fits their look but not the Moffit Galaxy backstory). There may be other cultural tropes that I am missing (at times the Salamander Men make-up resembles 'slit-mouth', a motif that occurs in Japanese horror). The film is hard-to-rate, being a definite 10 for fans of weird cinema but probably unwatchable for most everyone else.

This movie is so corny that its fun, watching starman beat the shait out of every salamender man (i am going to call them that) is pretty fun, the story is, meh, but the action is well paced and pretty good to be honest, a must watch if you are intrested in corny action

More butt-kicking action from Japanese superhero Starman, once again cobbled together from two episodes (three and four) of the 1950s television series SUPERGIANT. This time around the super-fast paced antics involve the invasion of Earth by a race of evil salamander men (!) who use cool-looking UFOs to send sound waves down to Earth and kill people, spread a deadly disease capable of destroying the human race within days, and of course go around kidnapping kids and scientists. Starman spends the film rescuing those kidnapped and fighting off the Salamander Men by using some acrobatic manoeuvres! It appears that the producers had hired a troupe of acrobatics for filming of this material, as lengthy scenes are set in a theatre showing a kooky dance routine (mind-boggling, it really is) and later many of the fight scenes involve silly flips and jumps through the air for no other reason. Is this really how aliens fight?Any plot exposition seems to have been wiped out other than cursory introductions, leaving a movie that brims over with action, action, and more action. Sadly, the fight scenes seem more like dancing than fighting and are of a lesser quality than in the previous ATOMIC RULERS OF THE WORLD. Still, Starman packs a wallop, and the aliens themselves are a well-designed menace with imaginative-looking and creative makeup, turnip-headed demons if they indeed are! The supporting characters are the usual stiff moustachioed scientists and the obnoxiously annoying children, including the resident child with pigtails and glasses. Why do they never die in these films? Action is what INVADERS FROM SPACE offers and, even if the special effects are not quite up to the task, it certainly entertains on this front. Highlights include kids hanging from ropes over pits of burning acid; Starman chasing a killer UFO through the skies and kicking the reptile backsides of those inside; genuinely disturbing laughing human/alien hybrids, looking like the Joker; an alien exploding underwater (!); dozens of fight scenes, weirdo alien bases in the swamps, even some extraterrestrial action is thrown in to keep things fresh and exciting. Watch out for the wacky High Council at the beginning of the film, complete with bizarro aliens and weirdo robots, and watch in amazement as Starman spends most of the film flying through the air – his feet barely touch the ground in this adventure. Senseless fun the way we like it – and a production designed just so that you can say "they don't make 'em like this anymore".

Starman is kind of like Doctor Who, only Japanese, I'd say. He's like him because he's an extra-terrestrial being whose job is to protect the human race from alien invaders, only Starman's a little more hands on than the Doctor. Which is to say, he's not averse to giving the invaders a good kicking for their trouble. In fact, in this film, he actually kicks an alien spaceship's head in not once, not twice, but three times! From the inside! These aliens are the Salamander men and they've started their invasion the usual way, by spreading a deadly disease to anyone who attends their surreal dance routine they perform on stage. They also go out their way to track down various scientists who are working on cures for the disease, or know where all the Earth's secret weapons are stashed. As with Starman's Evil Brain from Outer Space, almost everyone encountered on Earth is a scientist, doctor, or a small child.These salamander dudes are pretty creepy when in disguise as humans (and appear like ghosts when they feel like it). They also breathe radioactive mist that can control humans. While trying to steal some scientists, Starman thinks he'll take in a show and gets drawn into a teleporting fight with the Salamanders, which results in an even bigger fight in a swamp. This is only the first half of the film! The latter half goes all Ju-On on us as an especially creepy Salamander turns up to take care of kids who have stumbled upon the alien's plan to follow a scientist to the secret Earth weapon stash (and when I say stumbled, I mean the aliens just told the kids about it). This leads to a half salamander lady chasing kids about for ages and the kids stumbling on the alien's weakness.All this of course leads to a big showdown, where the aliens have a weapons that disrupts Earth's orbit (causing random objects to float in the air), a battle where Starman takes on loads of Salamanders and even stops mid air for a punch up with a guy (closely followed by an underwater punch up)…aw man.Starting with the surreal good alien committee meeting at the start, and fill with crazy imagery from start to finish, Invaders From Space is yet another utterly bonkers entry into the Starman series. Crazy rubber suits for the Salamanders, Joker-like grins on the half-aliens, dance routines, people melting, aliens causing water to explode, time running backwards, alien spaceships where the controls seem to be shadows on the wall. This film has it all. Fast paced and mental. I love these films.And RIP Starman. I'm just discovering your films now. Your vibrations will live on.