At the film review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 82% based on , with a weighted average rating of 6.9/10. Film historian Paul Meehan considered "Invaders from Mars" as "one of the best of the 50s invasion cycle", and "in hindsight", one of the most influential of the period, setting the scene for other "abduction films". Critic Patrick Legare wrote of the film, "Originating during the science-fiction/Red-Scare boom of the '50s, "Invaders From Mars" is an entertaining little picture that holds up reasonably well".