Extra Terrestrial Visitors

The Pod People (original title Los nuevos extraterrestres, literally The New Extraterrestrials) is a 1983 French-Spanish science fiction film directed by Juan Piquer Simón. The film's original draft was meant to be a straightforward horror film about an evil alien on a murderous rampage, but the producers demanded script alterations in order to cash in on the success of Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial by featuring a child and a cute, lovable alien. Director Juan Piquer Simón was dissatisfied with the final result. The film was largely forgotten until 1991, when it was lampooned by the famed B movie-mocking television show Mystery Science Theater 3000. The opening and closing credits used footage from an unrelated film, The Galaxy Invader, apparently without permission. It is likely only in the re-released edition as The Galaxy Invader was released nearly two years after The Pod People.