“Strange Visitor”
Anthony Ricardi‘s review of…
“Alien Trespass”
In a nutshell: In 1957 an alien lawman crashes on Earth and must hunt down a deadly extraterrestrial monster.
Often in the arts (and lest we forget, motion pictures can be classified as art… as long as Uwe Boll isn’t involved, that is) a well intentioned homage can end up as little more than an inferior copy. Thus we have our flick this time, which is nothing more, and a bit less, than a slavish recreation of one of those goofy B-grade science fiction sagas from the 50′s that are either reviled or revered, depending on who you ask about them. In the spirit of complete disclosure, this critic will state right up front that he falls into the “camp” of those that cherish these drive-in darlings, for any number of reasons. So, obviously, did the filmmakers (Director R.W.Goodwin, writer Stephen Fisher et al) … so much so, in fact, that they chose to combine many quintessential elements of those low budget fantasies into one film in an attempt to make their own Ultimate B. But simply performing a perfunctory cut and paste job does not an original effort make…
Let’s tick off the clichés assembled, shall we?
Flying saucer… check.
Silver-suited alien emissary… check.
Ray gun… check.
Rubbery space monster… check.
Human taken over by alien consciousness… check.
Brainiac scientist… check.
Misunderstood teens desperately attempting to get someone to believe them… check.
Skeptical cops… check.
Goofy townies… check.
Weird old hermit… check.
Loner hero (in this case, heroine)… check.
Robot… WHAT, NO ROBOT?!! How can you possibly do a flick of this type and not have a boxy robot in it? Tragic…
At any rate, as the above checklist indicates, most of the essential bases were covered, giving ample opportunity in the script stage (and even the on-set ad lib stage) to have a lot of fun with the genre. Opportunity missed, folks… big time.
Nicely shot (in fact TOO nicely shot), well costumed and cast (again, too well cast for what it is supposed to be), this film is a colorful, nostalgic treat in some ways, but plays it so close to the vest, so deadpan, that the gloss grows dull very quickly. What we are left with, then, is a wan, largely lifeless ’50′s tableau belonging more in a wax museum or theme park (several of the cast members do play their roles as if audioanimatronic) than on the screen. Kick ‘em around if you will, but those mid-century movie marvels were rarely dull, for even in the time-chewing talky segments (or padding, as we like to say) the flicks were perversely fascinating in their general hamminess, factual incorrectness and often, lunacy. If only “Alien Trespass” had hooked into that vibe and accentuated it just slightly, giving us some truly memorable “howler” dialog exchanges. Try as they might (and at least one of this reviewer’s fellow critics was straining mightily to squeeze out a laugh or two where there absolutely were none) even the most faithful fans of so-bad-they’re-good movies (we all miss Mystery Science Theater 3000) will find precious few moments here to quote or tell their online pals about. No, this is one isn’t funny, truthfully. Not even unintentionally, for everything in it was obviously meticulously planned (and over-thought) and proceeds forward perfunctorily, inexorably, like the somewhat interesting but ultimately boring ambulatory upright pickle monster featured as the movie’s extraterrestrial antagonist. The eponymous alien trespasser, the Ghota, almost fits in terms of being a tribute to that storied heritage of cheesy rubber/latex beasties that filled the pages of the late, great Forrest J. Ackerman’s Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine for decades (it’s just, like the rest of the picture, a little too slick for its own good). We first see the creature escape the confines of a crashed saucer in the opening minutes of the film, and then follow its gruesome progress throughout the picture as it consumes many of the inhabitants of the small California desert town of Mojave. Astronomer Ted Lewis (Eric McCormack) observed the crash of the spaceship, thinking it a meteor, and sneaks away from his sexy, sleeping wife Lana (Jody Thompson) to investigate. Meanwhile an alien in a space suit steps out of his vehicle, looking around for the missing Ghota. In the hills outside town Ted finds the surprisingly intact non-flying saucer, pokes his head inside and disappears…
What follows is a race/search for the Ghota by what turns out to be a Space Marshall, the alien Urp (Marshall Urp for those of you into ’50′s TV Westerns) utilizing the camouflage of Ted’s possessed body. As the one-eyed, tentacled monster happily eats its way through the residents of Mojave (leaving only a gross, gooey puddle behind) Urp seeks information and an ally in the form of Tammy (Jenni Baird) a waitress at the local greasy spoon. Here the emphasis shifts from the titular hero Urp to Tammy, giving the story a modern, grrl-powered spin. To say this isn’t true to the ’50′s time period is putting it mildly, and is the greatest of several tonal missteps that compromise the verisimilitude of this so-called “lost” film (there is a brief newsreel intro to the pic that attempts to establish that “Alien Trespass” was shelved and lost, but, miraculously, a copy had surfaced and now we could all share in its “greatness”). The performance of Robert Patrick also stands out as something better suited to a grizzled LA cop in a current episode of “CSI” than as a small town cop in 1957. On the other hand, veteran character actor Dan Luria gets much closer to the right period take as Chief Dawson, with a couple of his strident, frustrated outbursts scoring bull’s eyes. In terms of the other supporting roles, the townspeople (mostly diner patrons) and the hapless group of teenagers that really should have been the heart of the story (“The Blob” anyone?) are obviously fairly competent and attempting to ape unskilled acting chops. Better to have cast non-actors and friends (as true, terrible B-movie producers often did), THEN you would have had some scenes of exquisite, jaw-dropping awfulness that could have truly been appreciated by the cult movie fan. As is, with the writing being bland and unexceptional, combined with performances on that same level, all you are left to hope for are some wonderfully cheesy not-so-special effects to keep you interested… Again, no such luck.
The Ghota, as bizarre as it is, is just too well made to have been cobbled together on an ultra-low budget. But at least the monster is in the ballpark,,, unlike the flying saucer that brings both the Ghota and Urp to Earth. Instead of a couple of pie tins hanging from a length of fishing line, we have a CGI saucer that looks as good as anything generated for a made-for-Sci-fi Channel TV movie. The craft is shiny, detailed, festooned with rippling lights and almost beautiful in a Deco manner. It belongs in another movie and has absolutely no resemblance to an iconic ’50′s version flying saucer (most of whom were smooth, featureless disks).
Finally, even with the above problems an overall “feel” of being from the 1950′s could have been more closely achieved by one simple act: shoot the thing in black and white (or leech the color away in post production). Only the rarest of B-pictures in the 50′s was shot in color for the practical reason that it was much, much more expensive to do so! Color was reserved for major, blockbuster releases (Think “Forbidden Planet”). This critic might have recommended an eventual rental and potting down the color on your home set, if he had cared more.
Another option would have been to present this in 3-D… Another opportunity squandered.
Frankly, if you want ’50′s cheese, go back to the source, the reel deal. Don’t waste your time (unless you have an inordinate amount of it) on this color Xerox. There is a charm and guilelessness inherent in those great old flicks that can’t, and won’t be able to be recaptured… Were that the folks behind this film had realized that and never embarked on this inexplicably unfocused, unnecessary project.
So kids, don’t forget to replace your speakers on their stands, turn on your lights, drive safely, keep watching the skies… and avoid watching flawed, phony rip-offs of beloved B’s like this.
Bottom Line: Too faithful and at the same time not faithful enough to its B-movie sci-fi heritage, this odd effort fails at being a parody, thus becoming an unneeded, by-the-numbers reproduction of the real thing.
Critic’s Rating: C- (for Copy)
Rated PG (for sci-fi action, and brief historical smoking)
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