Benutzerrezensionen

I agree with a lot of the posters aside from one thing. The movie itself was good, they did a lot with limited budget. Nothing seemed cheap and the "gore" was well done. Blood looked like blood and not the usual red kool-aide on low budge movies.

The acting was good. Even the unheard of actors, maybe first film all did a bang up job.

Directing was good, aside from a little over use of the choppy action scene I had no problems.

The script was well written, it didn't leave you any big hole that for some reason most movie do not seem to care about.

The only and BIG problem was the ending. So cliché. One slight change and this would have been an 8 and not a 6.

A group of former rocket scientists (presumably, as they worked for jet propulsion laboratories) takes over a small town supermarket in order to find and stop the spread of an evil alien menace. Things go a bit off track when their spotter dies and they have to resort to secondary methods in order to determine who is or isn't an alien.

There is a message board thread for this film that bears the title, "Ruined by a Bad Name". I could not agree with this more. I was aware of the film's existence for months and was hesitant to see a film called "Alien Raiders", because it's frankly a really stupid name. Even when my review copy arrived, I was reluctant to give it a fair chance simply because I figured that creative people would be able to find a better name...

But judging a book by its cover or a movie by its title can be unfair. And this falls in that category, as "Alien Raiders" really isn't all that bad. It's certainly not great -- it went straight to DVD for a reason -- but nothing that's going to cause you to go brain dead or regret hanging out with your friends and enjoying some tasty Scotch and beer whilst the film rolls.

The special effects were pretty decent and should be highlighted. There were aspects I hated (such as the night vision, which isn't a shock if you realize how close the director was to "The Blair Witch Project"). There were aspects I disliked, such as the alien thrashing back in forth in strobe-o-vision. But other parts, such as the regeneration and the alien makeup, were quite good. Not as good as, say, John Carpenter's "The Thing", but few films are.

We are also treated to the high and low end of acting and character development. We are given two actors/characters who are polar opposites on the scale of enjoyability. Samantha Streets brings us "Whitney", the female protagonist. She's an important part of the film, and I suspect this may open some doors for Streets. But, we also have Rockmund Dunbar as "Kane", a gun-toting loudmouth who plays a very stereotypical "angry black man", and even pushes it a bit far. He's got no depth at all. I enjoyed Dunbar on "Prison Break", but if this is the sort of role he's going to choose for movies, just stay home.

I don't know that this is the sort of film you should run out and see right away. There are other fine options to choose from, including Raw Feed's "Otis" if you haven't seen that yet. "Alien Raiders" offers a nice "body snatcher" story, and held my attention firmly for its duration, so that's a plus. I'm torn -- don't go out of your way to avoid it, but don't add it to the top of your Netflix queue. This is more of a backup plan.

In Buck Lake, Arizona, the Hastings Supermarket is apparently assaulted by a group of terrorists leaded by Ritter (Carlos Bernard) that takes clients and employees in a hostage situation. One of the team members, Spooky (Philip Newby), examines the hostages detecting who should be executed and releasing the others. When Spooky is killed by the security cop, the six last shoppers and employees are kept tied and submitted to a test in one finger. Sooner the abductors reveal that they are a team of scientists containing an alien outbreak and avoid an invasion.

The tense and claustrophobic "Alien Raiders" has a great concept and good story. The screenplay could have a better development of characters and situation, since the identity of the king was very predictable for me; but considering the simplicity of the plot associated to the low-budget, the result was a remarkable movie with a great make-up and few special effects that exceeded my best expectations. The cast has magnificent performances and it was great to see Rockmond "C-Note" Dunbar and Mathew "Keith Charles" St. Patrick again on the screen. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Refém do Desconhecido" ("Hostage of the Unknown")

not horrible, but definitely nowhere near what everybody else is saying it is. I really thought i was gonna like it because of the positive reviews and such, but truth is, if this was a big budget movie with a theatrical release, everybody would be giving it the rating it really deserves, and people would be talking about how boring and..below average, that this movie is.. I do not understand how this movie has a 6.9 rating right now, to me, i think it should be around 5 or maybe a little less.. the actings okay and the people in it are fairly likable and believable, but its just a boring movie, with very little action, and when there is action, its ridiculously..lame i don't write a lot of reviews, but i had to for this film.. i watch a LOT of movies, and this has to be one of the worse ones I've seen recently..and i just saw vacancy 2 last night..and even that was better than this

I really love it when an independent film is made well. I'm all for the underdog rising above the corporate giants with their millions and billions. A film doesn't always need expensive special effects (yes sometimes they do blow u away, but the use of CGI is getting ridiculous now), and a worthy script with good actors and some creative low budget FX can be enough to keep you entertained....if you haven't been brainwashed yet that is. Getting to my point, Alien Raiders delivers because you don't expect it too (I think they chose the name because of that reason). The name sucks, the beginning with the dodgy camcording makes you think 'is this what it's gonna be like', and then wallop you become absorbed in this little gem. It may be because I love alien movies, and people's interpretations on the whole alien invasion, including what they look like and what power they possess. Yes the film is pretty much all in a supermarket and yes the protectors of the universe do some really stupid things, but we're all human. You have to look at Alien Raiders for what it is and appreciate how well it was delivered for it's small budget. The actors did a great job, they we're very convincing, and the raiders we're relentless throughout which was great. If they think you're an alien well you're in big trouble, coz they don't like aliens not one bit. The twist was mildly obvious but still it could only be one of the 5 or 6 hostages so what do you expect. Those that have been hating on this are not fans of indie flicks obviously, and probably watch Die Hard 4.0 (which I loved by the way) and think that if a car doesn't take out a helicopter then it ain't worth watching. I've seen many bad indie horror flicks and thats why this gets positive comments from me. It stands out from the crowd and except for the supermarket setting has no similarities, and is not a copy of 'The Mist' (which again I loved). Give it a go...if you don't like it....well tough I did.

"Alien Raiders" is as straight-forward and aware as its name, not a very memorable, original or cult-potential horror flick, but what it does - it does good. Like a typical Syfy horror, just with more added heart, humor and effort. Old set of rules, but with fun along the way.

It's Christmastime in the small town of Buck Lake, Arizona, and a group of soldiers without a known cause enters the town's only supermarket at closing time, taking hostages and looking for something. As we soon understand, they are the ones who protect us from aliens, and the last of them evil organisms is among the people in the supermarket... And so, with jokes, drama and action along the way, It all threads down into the expected.

The story is simple, the lore behind the mercenaries and aliens are mostly left blank. Don't know how, but there are aliens inhabiting humans around, and someone does need to stop them, right? "Alien Raiders" reminded me of "Feast", which is a similar movie plot-wise, perhaps with more dark comedy and a lot more of what "Alien Raiders" lacked a little - gore. The FX really got shown only towards the end. Visually though, it is quite fine from start to end, and never feels less than a B flick.

This film knows what it is inside-out, and so, even though on cliché terms, it's a well-rounded adventure, where the cast and just about everyone seem to enjoy what's at play. Simple kind of horror entertainment. My rating: 5/10.

That old story. A group of people in a closed environment trying to figure out who has been infected with an Alien virus. Does that ring a bell? That's right, it's another "The Thing" rip off. Only this movie had a very restricted budget.

Still, what "Alien Raiders" lacks in financial resources, original plot points or creative ideas for a better title, it makes up with a lot of heart blood. The makers at least try to make this interesting and thrilling and for the most part they succeed.

There are a few flaws, however: Firstly, the Alien Raiders operate like amateurs, which is annoying but forgivable. What's worse is that the monster, once it rears its ugly head, doesn't look menacing or frightening. It's just a guy running around to bad sound effects. That kills a lot of tension. Finally, the twist ending is totally predictable. They could have at least realized it in a more appealing way, but the way the movie ends just makes you shrug your shoulder and wonder why you didn't spend the last one and a half hours re-watching "The Thing".

This low budget but impressive little sci fi horror flick from Warner home video is a radical take on the body snatchers model. Most of the movie takes place in a supermarket where thugs take the staff and customers hostage. But as the film moves on we discover they are hunting aliens who are taken over people and one of the leaders us there. The movie is gory and fun with impressive practical effects and confident direction. It's also surprisingly creative given how many times the treatment has been done. There are some light pacing issues but all in all it's a surprisingly good watch.

3.5/5

I think another reviewer got it right when he said a lot of these positive reviews sound like they were written by cast and crew. Many of these enthusiastic reviews sounded like the boilerplate you would read on the back of the DVD box when checking out the movie at the local video store.

Anyway, the movie seems promising at first and has good suspense and mystery to begin with. I agree with previous reviewers that the beginning and set up of the plot is the best thing this movie has to offer. Once the movie gets completely underway, it loses a lot of appeal and slowly becomes more and more mediocre. Eventually the movie becomes a total bore and then is ruined by an ending that is super unoriginal and dumb. The ending also makes you wonder why you watched this movie in the first place, yes, its that bad.

I'll be generous like the previous reviewer and give it a middling 5 score, and only because the first part is pretty good.

I basically went into "Alien Raiders" knowing two things: It was for Raw Feed (The makers of the classics "Rest Stop" and…. "Rest Stop 2: The Revenge of George Michael") and it had a horrible title. Seriously, visions of Sci-Fi Channel Original Movies danced through my head, and not the good kind with Bruce Campbell either. Already I was thinking about just missing it. Get some rest. Save up my energy for some other movies. It's day four, after all.

But my friend already had tickets for both of us, so I figured at the very least if it was boring I could just catch a nap.

Well… the nap never happened. Alien Raiders rises up above its horrible title and executes a tense and exciting low-budget action/sci-fi tale. Proof of this is the fact that out of all the movies I saw (Zack and Miri, which was great; Feast 2 which was... all right; couple more... can't think straight right now), this is the only one I'm bothering to write a review for. I think it's because since it's a straight-to-DVD movie, it probably won't get it's fair share of publicity. So allow me to put on my publicity gloves (And matching pants).... ahem...

The movie is about a small supermarket in Arizona that, one night while closing up, is over- run by a group of armed terrorists. The men claim that they have to "check" the remaining people, mentioning that "the king" is there and they have to find him/her/it. Now… obviously the title ruins any hope for keeping the movie's twist secret SPOILERthere are aliens that are in need of raidingSPOILER, but this movie still does a pretty good job at keeping the viewer engaged and wondering what the hell is going on, without ever confusing them.

The thing I liked the most about the movie was how it ended up being a few different kind of movies in one. It's a mystery when the cops are trying to unravel the reason for the hostage situation, it's an action film (The opening shoot-out is pretty friggin' intense), it's a sci-fi movie (Aliens… being raided), and it's even got a dash of monster movie in there for good measure. The atmosphere of the movie is pretty tense throughout. And the pacing was great as well. The movie's just under 90 minutes and no part of it really lags.

Acting-wise, TV fans are gonna' be pretty happy. The main character is played by Carlos Bernard, who we all know and love as Tony "F'ing" Almeda on "24". The character he's playing here isn't that much different from Tony, but it fits the character who, as the movie progresses, goes from being a quiet and almost creepy presence, to being a very sympathetic character. Also good was Rockmond Dunbar (C-Note from the first two seasons of "Prison Break" and one of the hit men in "Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang") as the heavy of the group... The guy who is all business and no non-sense... You know… the asshole. He could have easily been a one-note character, but is given a few instances to add a little flavor to his performances that help flesh the character out a little. There's another character that… I don't really want to give anything away, but he dies pretty early on and that kind of bummed me out. I would have liked to seen more of him. The rest of the cast did a great job as well, with only a few weak points here and there.

I got to hand it to first-time feature director Ben Rock. The dude took a really tiny budget (I've heard it was anywhere from $1.5-3 million) and turned out one of the slicker movies I've seen. He and his cinematographer's use of lighting and different styles of shooting really makes this movie rise above their financial limitations. Although, it is a shame that, towards the end, they have to resort to some old tricks (Stuttery-looking action scenes, anyone?). But at least it looks better than "Automaton Transfusion", which looks like it was shot by a hyperactive kid with a camera strapped to his head while he tried to stand still.

Overall this movie was a pleasant surprise. I'd have to give it at least an 8 out of 10. I heard this is going straight to DVD, so I definitely say give it a shot when it comes out. Hope you use this review.

Judging by the title, the DVD-cover and the year of release, I would normally never even bother to watch this "Alien Raiders"… I'm a huge fan of old alien invasion movies, more particularly from the fifties and the eighties, because they feature crazy chaotic plots, outrageously cheesy special effects and a cast full of washed up B- movie stars. I don't like "new" alien invasion movies because they usually feature imbecilic plots and lousy computer-engineered effects. But a friend advised me to nevertheless check out "Alien Raiders", and I can understand why, because this is definitely one of the more inspired and entertaining low-budget Sci-Fi movies of the past two decades. The film is arguably derivative of the previous year's hit film "The Mist", as it copies the setting as well as a handful of other ideas, but there are plenty of aspects to guarantee an hour and a half of good old-fashioned and action packed Sci-Fi/horror fun. Two days before Christmas, in the sleepy little time of Buck Lake – Arizona, a troop of heavily armed militants invade the cozy Hasting Supermarket shortly before closing time. Everyone assumes they are robbers or terrorists, but in fact they are some kind of violent scientists in search for extraterrestrial parasites that are allegedly present here. The group's well-planned routing goes awry when their paranormal medium (a big-eyed freak that scans people's brains) gets shot and they have to conduct their alien identification tests via old-fashioned and unorthodox methods. Meanwhile, police forces and hostage negotiators gather outside the supermarket. What I like most about "Alien Raiders" is that it's 100% unpretentious and straightforward. It's clear that director Ben Rock and his crew don't aim to win any originality prices or cinematography Oscars, but at least everyone who was involved in this production does their job professionally. The acting performances are more than decent, without any big names in the cast list, and there are a couple of nicely gooey make-up effects and nasty slaughters. The last 10-15 minutes are rather dull, predictable and disappointing

Alien Raiders, a low-budget horror flick revolving around paranormal mystery, is a key example of the genre's most common faults. Despite starting off in a strong vein, building momentum and establishing character, the movie doesn't take long to reach a point of stagnancy. The second half, which succumbs to the now cliché structural devices of having characters be popped off one by one whilst running around the dark, belittles what promise is shown in earlier moments. What results from this is a disappointing experience that titillates but never fulfils. Horror die-hards may want to give it a shot simply because it does have its fair share of scares and tense atmospheres, but for everyone else, this is simply a case of too little stretched out for too long; a tired exploitation of a strong premise.

Taking place during the holiday season, Alien Raiders centres around a supermarket which is promptly taken under siege with all people inside as hostages. From here the movie divulges into a series of intrigue-building scenes which prompt us to believe that this simply isn't a robbery; in fact, it might just be from out of this world, literally speaking. At this point the feature is fluid, interesting and engaging, not just from its expertly paced structure, but through its construction of characters. Sure enough, these aren't the most compelling of personalities to spend ninety minutes with, but they at least show promise of going somewhere. Disappointingly however, it isn't long before we realise that no, this really isn't going anywhere at all.

The remainder of the movie's runtime is devoted largely to killing off the main cast, very slowly. All the while, we are given overt hints as to special plot twists and turns to come later on- not only are they made too obvious to the point that when they happen we feel underwhelmed, but the twists themselves are largely inconsequential. So what the movie essentially boils down to during its middle and later acts is a lazy excuse for delivering drawn-out scares. Granted, there are moments when Alien Raiders achieves a real sense of foreboding atmosphere and horror, but such moments are so far and few between long, inane dialogue scenes that they irrevocably lose much of their visceral impact. A contrasting of the movie's opening shots and those that end it reveal obvious differences in tension and pacing- Alien Raiders is a movie that relies on its audience members being confused, so when things begin unravel, a distinct lack of development from there on in hurts its ability to grasp the attention of the viewer.

Aesthetically speaking however, the feature is remarkably solid for such a small production. Performances from the main cast are strong; even if their characters are too often found spouting cliché lines from the book of scares and thrills 101. Visual effects and production values too are impressive in their concise simplicity that do well not to draw attention to themselves. In this sense Alien Raiders often reminded me of this year's similarly shot (and located) Stephen King adaptation The Mist, combining simple photography and effects with interesting ideas and passable performances. Yet burdened with the fact that a lot of the characters inevitably meet their demise in untimely fashions, a distinct lack of interesting qualities outside of its aesthetics too often means that such elements go to waste.

By the time you inevitably reach the end of Alien Raiders (that is, if you indeed make it that far), you will no doubt be left with a sour and bitter aftertaste. Despite starting off on extremely good footing, the movie deteriorates into a sloppy mess, wasting characters, performers and a solid premise in favour of trying to be like every other Hollywood horror out there. Rather fittingly, the movie's final note is one of bewildering inconsequentiality- it's one of those twists that are more or less pointed out fifteen minutes into the movie and then restated every other ten; the only mystery then is guessing just when in the third act the proverbial carpet will be pulled. If there's any reason to put yourself through the experience, it's simply to see the promise that those involved so obviously have. Perhaps with a little more focus and development, a project such as this could have been made into something of much greater value but this sadly isn't the case. In conclusion I must reiterate that Alien Raiders isn't a horrible movie; it's just a really disappointing one.

• A review by Jamie Robert Ward (http://www.invocus.net)

While the idea behind the storyline was interesting, the movie just wasn't outstanding. Why? Well, because there is not much of any alien in the movie, and when you do get to see the parasitic entity, everything was just too dark. Personally, then I don't like it when film makers have to shoot it in a near pitch-black environment. I pay money to see the movie, not to speculate about what it would be.

The movie was fast paced, and sort of had a whole "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" thing going on. Director Ben Rock did manage to set up the movie in a way that was great for building up suspense.

It should be said that the acting was quite good, and it was interesting to have the entire movie take place in a supermarket. Such a decision does add pressure to the director and actors, as it somewhat imposes a limitation. But they all pulled it off quite nicely.

But the movie was dragged down by a lack of showing off the creature, and there was just something extraordinary missing to make the movie unique. But all in all, an entertaining movie if you like Sci-Fi action movies that require little or no thinking at all.

ALIEN RAIDERS is a low budget alien-busting B-movie, set in a shopping mall of all places. It's an entirely derivative film that proudly wears various influences on its sleeve: the dark and shadowy after-hours aisles of INTRUDER; the single-location-under-siege set-up of ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13; the mutating creature from SPLINTER; plus, most notably, the monsters and scenario from THE THING, of which a crucial set-piece or two are borrowed directly.

Still, this turns out to be an enjoyable little movie thanks to some strong writing and direction. Director Ben Rock makes a shadowy and atmospheric moment with some unsettling and in-your-face frightening moments when the aliens are exposed, all down to some creepy soundtrack noises. The choreography isn't quite as good, but the film does benefit from a crisp realism and some well-drawn characters. If you're a fan of the genre you might just consider this to be a little-seen gem.

when i was trying to decide whether or not to see this movie i figured, 'see what imdbers have to say...' but there were only two comments and they were a bit too positive for me not to be suspicious. as in, 'they're probably connected to the movie somehow...'. but i took a chance anyways b/c i recognized one of the actors on the cover... now i know they were telling the truth...surPRIsingly good... even though the actor i recognized AND another one i recognize(though i'm too lazy to research their names ;-) were both on EXcellent TV shows... i guess 'six feet under' could be considered 'tv'. even though it's cable... the character from this show that's in the movie is the black gay cop/security person/lover of one of the brothers...David. now 'dexter', actually... the other that i first recognized was on '24'. he's the actor that plays the character 'tony almeida'. both good actors... but it's not just THEM that carry the movie...the big surprise for me is how well written it is... if i can guess too many times what dialogue will be before the characters open their mouths, i'm usually not going to watch for too long... i noticed fairly quickly that this wasn't going to be the case with this movie... and it wasn't JUST the dialogue...it was well paced, camera-work helped tell the story instead of amateurishly getting distractingly in the way... in case this isn't obvious yet, this is a recommendation... nuff said...

When i thought of watching it, i read the IMDb basic story line first. It was OK. The beginning few minutes of the movie was alright. But, what followed is totally lame. The script makes you ask so many questions on why the hell are they doing stupid things. Just for going on they act stupidly. It gets so boring after wards. I never fast forward any movie. God! I did it in this movie. And the ending, as expected. Such a waste of time.There are many low-budget movies which are taken so well. This is definitely not one of those. I don't know what to say, don't watch it.

Final verdict : Ignore this. People who say that this movie is great, i don't know what to say about it. Watch it or Miss it? Definitely go for the latter option.

Easily a 7. Well written, good casting, an ending which I have not seen used in awhile but it was frequent some years ago. You will be wanting to know exactly what this movie is all about for quite some time, it is given to you a little at a time. But long before the movie ends you will know, only you won't know how it ends. It is simply well written.

I'll make a stew for you: Alien + The Thing + Hidden + Assault on Precinct 13.

The assault on precinct 13 I mention cause they are in one single location the whole time. Really, to do so much with so little ..... OK, it is near brilliant. Better than other movies that rely upon other effects to stay interesting.

But to rate it 8 and higher it need to be spiced up some more .... now I feel like giving it an 8, but I have to restrain myself. Nothing else to say, just go see the movie.

This movie has been cleared by me. ;)

I usually like darkly lit movies where you really can't tell what's going on. This is an exception, and immediately called to mind, "The Mist", Stephen King's baby, and much, much better.

With "The Mist" you have character development, and actually care about what happens with the actors populating the story.

I did watch "Alien Raiders" through to the end, but I felt robbed of part of my life.

Now some people like "Alien Raiders", and it even won a few obscure awards; I have to disagree.

If it was the only movie out there like it, you might want to watch it.

With "The Mist" available, I'd just skip this one altogether. "The Mist" has it own pretty obscure nominations and wins (more), and a bunch more fan upvotes than this one.

I agree with the popular thinking for once.

And, Merry Christmas, y'all!

This movie is definitely not going to win any awards. It's also not going to make any top 10 lists at the end of the year. It won't even make cult status.

What it will do is entertain you & keep you on the edge of your seat.

The premise is simple. A group of independent "alien hunters" have descended on a small town, and specifically a grocery store where they seem to have found the original infection. Do they do the best job securing the location?? No. Do they seem dis organized, and nervous?? Yes. But I think that adds to the plot. These are not trained police officers, or ex military men. They are regular Joe's that have found something that needs to be stopped.

What's most impressive is the way the tension is built throughout the film. You feel the same claustrophobic tension that you get in Splinter, and there's a similar feeling to the great Spanish film "rec" This movie isn't quite as good in quality as those two movies, but there's a good mix of "what the heck is going on" and "how is this whole thing going to end."

There are very limited special effects in this movie, and when used they add to the story, they don't take away. There's almost no CGI, and that's a good thing. The Sci Fi channel could really learn something about creating movies like this, where you have alien invasions without using incredibly cheap and campy CGI, just a little make up, and some cool camera tricks and hold back the pay off till the last minute. It's an easy formula that's been missing from science fiction films for quite some time. Directors have fallen in love with being able to create big creatures, but don't know how to build tension.

Now, the movie does have plot wholes, and relies on some clichés. The one cop that happens to be a hostage negotiator from "the big city." The ending isn't as surprising as they want it to be. Still, for a direct to DVD movie, this is about as good as it gets.

It's science fiction, so suspend disbelief a bit, and imagine how you would react if you were in the characters shoes. It's an enjoyable little trip.

Again, worst IMDb fluke of all time.

If the cast or crew are reading this, I am sorry for what you are about to read. Although it cannot match my misery after viewing "Alien Raiders".

Maybe I am in a bad mood today, nope not a chance. A top 10 finisher in my all-time worst films list.

The current IMDb rating of 7.4 is a mystery to me. This movie is B-rated at best. No pace, no plot, no acting, no set, no design, no special effects at all, no cast, no script, no writing, no soundtrack, no sound effects, no dialog... you name it, it doesn't have it. Apparently no forethought at all.

IMDb reviewers please watch as much as you can of this "borefest" and help out on this, because the only reason I saw this was due to IMDb rating of over 7.

Let's get this thing down to a deserved 3.5 or so.

Again, maybe the worst IMDb fluke of all time.

NOTE: If you ran out of bleach and gasoline to gargle, then do the next best thing and watch this flick.