Film
Nightmare Face much?
The movie's tone is more comedic and intentionally campy compared to the trading cards that inspired it, but it's nevertheless a Black Comedy that is very heavy on the Black.- The opening scene with the herd of burning cows. A horrifying and sadistic Establishing Character Moment for the coming invaders.
- The expression the Martian Leader gives when he's excited about whatever atrocity he wants to do to Nathalie (pictured).
- The Martians just by themselves can be very creepy, unsettling little bastards, especially with their bulging, big, red eyes inside skull-like faces. They also kill people simply For the Evulz. Have fun!
- Something about those Martians is really freaky. They were obviously intended to be goofy and silly more then anything, but something between the way their faces look, those "ACK ACK!" noises they make, and the way they're just unstoppable sends a chill up the spine every time. You try to Nuke them, they just turn it into a bong. Further, they seem to just show up everywhere, without warning. You could turn the light on, and there it is, and it's all you see before it shoots you.
- Every time somebody gets disintegrated by the Martians; not helping is the fact that victims die screaming horrifically, implying the overwhelming pain of their deaths, and we are always treated to the sight of their charred skeletons afterward colored either red or green depending on which color ray was used. Not even the President's dog was spared.
- One of the first examples we see of this is Nathalie's husband, who is still clutching her hand.
- The severed, but still alive, heads of Donald (Pierce Brosnan) and Nathalie (Sarah Jessica Parker) with blood dripping from under Donald's neck.
- Additionally, when we first see Donald's severed head, the camera trucks back to reveal his various dismembered body parts suspended around him including his still-beating heart.
- When the Martians show Nathalie's head that they placed her chihuahua's head on Nathalie's body. Though it makes for a kind of funny moment, it's still some bizarre imagery. Maybe done for research and experimentation or maybe just for fun to torture Nathalie, surely very unsettling.
- The thought of people inside any building the Martians destroy as they rampage across the globe.
- A flying saucer tries to kill a group of boy scouts by toppling the Washington Monument towards them, which they succeed.
- It's also heavily implied that they killed the children that were on the White House field trip except for Byron's sons when they opened fire on the Tour Guide, thankfully this was Censored Child Death.
- The Martian spy bites off Jerry Ross's finger. It lands in the fish tank, and the fish starts nibbling on it.
- When General Decker is shrunk down to the size of a small action figure...and the Martian Leader crushes him with his foot with blood spewing from under.
- The Martians experimenting on the dead, fried pigeon they shot down earlier, electrifying its corpse as well as reanimating Jason Stone's severed hand.
- The Martians terrorizing the retirement home. Just the idea of very old, frail, brittle, helpless people being vaporized is disturbing. Imagine them attacking your grandparents.
- When Richie is trying to find his grandmother, he has to dodge a skeleton in a wheelchair on fire that rolls past him.
- The Super Laser the Martians were about to use on Richie's grandmother, Florence. You can only wonder what that could've done to someone. Thankfully, Richie managed to get to her...just in time to discover the Martians' weakness.
- Near the start of the invasion, Sharona and her sexual partner are vaporized by two Martians. The Norris family hear Sharona's screams as she and her lover meet their fate.
- The scene where a robotic hand is used to kill the president.
- Though certainly Awesome Music, there are moments in Danny Elfman's score that, even without the visuals the film provides, sound frightening and ominous, as if each note was a Last Note Nightmare.
Trading Card Series
- Practically every card shows a devastating and horrific act made by the Martians. At least until the Earthlings start fighting back, then it becomes Awesome.
