About 10 minutes in to this movie, I actually thought it might be a bit of fun. I was expecting a low-budget version of THE THING (1951), as an unseen (due to budget restrictions) alien menace stalks and offs the stupid people in the snowbound cabin, starting with the annoying rich guy. (They are killed eventually, but it takes FAR TOO LONG.) Or maybe a killer virus flick like THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN or the made for TV flick WHERE HAVE ALL THE PEOPLE GONE? Oh, how naive I am.<br /><br />First of all, the alien IS seen, but is a red flashlight beam shined on the wall. As another commentator said, ow. Better that NOTHING at all were seen; just ask anyone who saw THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. The disease IS represented by smoke bombs going off. So what's going on? Aliens or a killer virus? They decide after FAR too much sitting around and talking that aliens have launched the virus. Then more pseudo scientific theorizing and discussion about what they should do, with occasional acid flashback inserts. <br /><br />The most crazed part that no one else seemed to comment upon were the interludes at the local radio stations, where the announcers seem FAR TOO LAID BACK. "Oh well, hey a disease is killing thousands of people at once, oh well, back to the music..." Then the TV news segment which, unbelievably, offers what I believe to be intentional comic relief as two dopplegangers for Ma and Pa Kettle are interviewed on TV at 2 o'clock in the morning about their sighting of a UFO and subsequent abduction. Then the comic relief scene with the drunk guy at the bar?? Save me, please.<br /><br />As I said, I judged MANOS: THE HANDS OF FATE far too harshly. This sucker makes MANOS seem like a masterwork. And for that matter, director Bill Rebane's subsequent foray into Wisconsin film artistry, THE GIANT SPIDER INVASION, is a work of Eisenstein or Kurosawa compared to this lummage. At least GSI had real actors in it.<br /><br />Oh, yeah, the music: BLOWS HARD. Really awful analog synthesizer music. Now, I like early synthesizer music. Give me a Perrey and Kingsley record and I'm a happy man. But this was awful stuff. Really piercing. And I recognized some of the music recycled to/from Giant Spider Invasion. <br /><br />One more note: this plot could not be written today. "Oh my God, we're isolated and cut off from the world! What's going on? Are thousands of people really dying? We have no possible way of knowing!" "No problem, I'll just look on the CNN web site..."<br /><br />I can't give INVASION FROM INNER EARTH a 1 because I actually watched the whole movie. Like watching the aftermath of a brutal traffic accident, I JUST COULDN'T LOOK AWAY. But you may require the use of various liquid refreshments just to get through it. I warned ya.