No de este mundo

I remember, back when I first rented this, that a made-for-TV sci-fi/horror flick starring a SANTA BARBARA soap-actor (A. Martinez) just couldn't be good. Not in a million years, right? Yet still I rented it, because of the photo of a very weird, rather grotesque-looking alien creature on the back.

I got pretty much what I expected. It wasn't very good. But the creature and one particular death-scene stuck with me all those years. So I couldn't resist re-watching it again last week.

While technically, it's not badly made or anything. It's the made-for-TV vibe and the completely unoriginal (seen-a-dozen-times-before) script that kills it. It's just another take on the story of an alien creature invading and terrorizing a small American town. But I know that premise alone, might just be an excuse for some of you to watch it. By now, it has become an excuse for me too.

And considering what it is, the movie does actually deliver what you may expect (or want to see): No nudity (made-for-TV, folks) and all kinds of inhabitants in the town (from a kid & his grandpa, over the mom who's a scientist and has some love interest running around, to random people who serve the sole purpose of being killed off). But also, you get a meteor crashing, containing a larva that soon mutates into some slimy, rubbery, bug-like alien-thingie and eventually evolves into a larger, pretty darn weird-looking creature (bigger than a car, hard to describe and with jaws that open sideways). The only slightly original element that was added, is that it feeds on electricity (enter cheesy animated lightning effects) and when it gets its "suckies" on you, your bodily functions will shortly after start to malfunction and you'll basically explode, with the results being both bloody messy and electrifying... or something like that, 'cause it's hard to tell (this was the one cool death-scene I mentioned previously).

And of course, there's the obligatory, climactic battle with the creature at the end, in which mommy-scientist comes up with a way to kill it... and then the movie still tries to make its tail twitch, with a very predictable end-shot.

In a way, this does sound good, doesn't it? Too bad all this is being poured into a flat and unimaginative made-for-TV production. And I just can't help being a bit forgiving for such productions.

After a meteor shower in the countryside, a destructive alien bio-mechanic form arrives together with the meteors feeding of electricity. The engineer Linda Fletcher (Lisa Hartman) has returned from New York with her son Billy Fletcher (Michael Greene) to the farm of her father, the local doctor Avery (Pat Hingle), to be responsible for the construction of a power plant with Japanese investment. Her friend Walt Tressie (Luke Edwards) has indicated her to the Japanese representative Mr. Shikido (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) and she is pressed by the mayor Bruce MacNamara (Xander Berkeley) to accomplish the tight schedule to the commission of the power plant. Meanwhile Linda is seeing her former sweetheart and baseball player, Sheriff Tom Conway (A Martinez). After a couple of deaths, they learn that the creature must be destroyed to protect other towns. Will they succeed in their intent?

"Not of This World" is one of those B-movies made for television that recalls a sci-fi from the 50´s in colors. There is a poor character development, lame special effects but entertains. Maybe the most irritating is the conclusion, with Linda, Tom, Shikido, Doc and Billy happy together, forgetting that Gerry gave his life trying to stop the alien creature and not reporting the event to the National Security Agency. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Semente do Terror" ("Seed of the Terror")

I got this movie confused with the similar sounding titled that starred Traci Lords . I noticed Ms Lords name was missing in the credits but I noticed someone called Ivory Ocean . I`m not being disrespectful but Ivory Ocean sounds like a revisionary porn name - Instead of using your first pets name and mother`s maiden name you use your favourite gem followed by your fave geographical feature , mine would be " Sapphire Forest " . So I sat back thinking this film might be a little bit naughty , but it`s not

NOT OF THIS WORLD is a B movie produced for television about a meteor shower bringing some wanted visitors to middle America . Okay it`s not like it was written by someone of the calibre of Nigel Kneale but considering it was produced for television it is entertaining in a B movie sort of way and there`s a scene set in some dark woods that reminded me of THE DUNWICH HORROR .

I give it 4 out of 10

Horror Movie for kids just decent. There is nothing that strikes the eye, not the special effects, not the acting, not the story, not the characters. It is a lukewarm experience that leaves no required memory behind.

This modest but practically forgotten made-for-TV Sci-Fi/horror flick from the early 90s can be categorized under "small-town USA alien invasions", but with a few notable peculiarities! The hostile alien life form arrives on earth via a meteor shower, which is initially seen as a breathtaking spectacle, and grows stronger by feeding itself on electricity! When it's still relatively small and weak, the creature attacks medium-sized animals like pigs and dogs, but when it becomes more developed, the entire population of the sleepy town is in danger. The alien also crash-landed in the right geographical location because the construction of a nuclear power plant is nearly finalized!

"Not of this World" is not highly memorable or particularly special, but entertaining enough while it lasts. The script is full of clichés and follows the typical structure of old-fashioned alien-invasion movies from the 1950s. There was a revival of those during the mid-80s (with "Strange Invaders", "Lifeforce", "Invaders from Mars" ...) and I guess "Not of this World" joined the retro-party a little bit too late. Since it's a television flick, the gore and disturbing images are not too excessive, but there are nevertheless a couple of nicely gruesome moments and a neato monster-design. Most of the lead characters are endurable, except for the whiny kid and his grampa, and perhaps also the stereotypical Asian business executive.

PS - if you confuse this with the similarly titled but much naughtier "Not of this Earth", starring Traci Lords in various states of undress, you risk being sorely disappointed.