As a fan of B-movies, particularly creature features and alien flicks, I couldn't pass up the chance to see this one. In fine B-movie tradition it starts with a young couple necking in a car, and within seconds a monster shows up and offs the boyfriend. From there on in we're treated to many more movie clichés as the movie lurches to it's conclusion 80 minutes later, leaving a trail of dead yokels in it's wake. Fair enough.
First off, no one sets out to make a bad movie. Even with a nano-budget, the film makers clearly tried their best with what they had, and the cast members who have posted here confirm this. The premise of the movie had great potential; a UFO carrying a variety of deadly alien beasts crash lands in an autumnal forest outside Dullsville USA where they proceed to whack the locals in various setups. The local law are baffled until a two-fisted scientist shows up to set things right.
Unfortunately, it's the direction that does for this movie, not the plot, not the cardboard effects nor the plywood acting. Literally within a minute he has revealed the first monster in broad daylight, removing any possible suspense about either the identity of the killer or what the monster looks like. Rather than teasing us with the bad guys and hiding their badly made costumes, we are shown in detail how bad they are. The pacing is often glacial, the music choices baffling and grating, and many scenes are just padding which kill any momentum that might just have been built up.
Yes, the acting is amateurish and the dialogue is pretty stilted, but in the hands of a competent director this could have been another classic like Halloween, rather than a cult classic known only to a few fans of the genre. It's worth a look just to see how it should not be done, and is quite a good laugh if you're an MST3K fan.
First off, no one sets out to make a bad movie. Even with a nano-budget, the film makers clearly tried their best with what they had, and the cast members who have posted here confirm this. The premise of the movie had great potential; a UFO carrying a variety of deadly alien beasts crash lands in an autumnal forest outside Dullsville USA where they proceed to whack the locals in various setups. The local law are baffled until a two-fisted scientist shows up to set things right.
Unfortunately, it's the direction that does for this movie, not the plot, not the cardboard effects nor the plywood acting. Literally within a minute he has revealed the first monster in broad daylight, removing any possible suspense about either the identity of the killer or what the monster looks like. Rather than teasing us with the bad guys and hiding their badly made costumes, we are shown in detail how bad they are. The pacing is often glacial, the music choices baffling and grating, and many scenes are just padding which kill any momentum that might just have been built up.
Yes, the acting is amateurish and the dialogue is pretty stilted, but in the hands of a competent director this could have been another classic like Halloween, rather than a cult classic known only to a few fans of the genre. It's worth a look just to see how it should not be done, and is quite a good laugh if you're an MST3K fan.