Decoys

Genre-blending is a timeless art where regaining the interest of a jaded or exhausted audience is concerned. Unfortunately, it is also a tricky act to pull off thanks in no small part to the delicate balance between the two disparate elements. So while the blending of the sex comedy genre that has been bludgeoned to death in Hollywood with the monster mash genre that seems to have overridden science fiction looks good on paper, it requires a few things at the execution stage in order to work. The first, and definitely most important element to put in place is a clever script that blends the best of the prospective genres whilst shedding most of the worst. A good example would be Aliens, in which science fiction, horror, and action conjoin into a gripping story of human beings fighting their own worst natures. Once a good script is in place, good direction and good actors are really needed to follow. In fact, some attempts to blend genres that lack a good script can even be saved by a good director or a good cast.

The problem with Decoys, in a nutshell, is that it has absolutely none of these things. The director seems content to set his camera in front of his subjects and leave it running whilst they run through their lines. The actors, in turn, seem to be merely reciting lines and going through the motions. This, not unnaturally, leaves the audience standing on the outside of the film's reality rather than entering it. Of course, one could recover from this by making a film that is bad or oddball enough to be funny. This is not even attempted in Decoys. The concept of aliens landing on Earth with the mission of mating with the locals in order to facilitate some sort of continuation of their species is one rife for comedy. Granted, making a credible horror out of this concept is a difficult task, as Species proved in 1995, but the problem in Decoys is that nobody even seems to be trying. The film gives us little in the way of clues as to how to respond.

Furthering the problem is the cast. Meghan Ory steals the show as a potential girlfriend for Corey Sevier's protagonist, but when she is not in the frame, the weakness of the rest of the cast shines through like a desk lamp before the face. Nicole Eggert and Richard Burgi cannot act their way out of wet paper bags, and the latter's attempts to portray a hard-nosed detective who is convinced he is pursuing a new Ted Bundy shatter the reality of every scene he is in. Canada certainly has a better pool of talent available than this rot would have you believe. Every time one watches Bryan Singer's adaptations of the X-Men, one can see that much. The problem is that for every major talent in any sector of the industry, there has to be a dozen or so dregs. The cast of Decoys would appear to be a collection of every dreg that Canada has on offer. Sevier barely possesses the skill to appear in a menswear commercial, and aside from Ory, he is the best element of the cast. Thankfully, this problem was addressed somewhat in the sequel.

Another strike against Decoys would be the terrible writing. At one point, we are given a scene in which one of the aliens tells the human male she is about to attempt to mate with exactly why she and her fellow aliens are there. In the hands of a great director like Bryan Singer or Kenneth Johnson, this could have turned into a plot subthread that would hook the audience as the alien in question struggles with her own nature. Instead, we are simply given more scenes in which sex and death are equated, while a level of misogyny rarely seen outside of America is on display. Granted, a motive for the actions of the characters is provided, but a good motive is like a good engine. If you do not maintain it adequately throughout the time in which you are using it, it will begin to fall apart. Characters begin to follow the protagonist's plan of action without needing to be adequately convinced, motivations change at the drop of a hat, and twists commit the ultimate sin. They are telegraphed in advance whilst making no real sense in light of the rest of the film at all.

As I have hinted earlier, some of the problems with Decoys were corrected in Decoys 2. Aside from the addition of better cast members, better humour, and a more developed story, Decoys 2 also delivers a bit of mild suspense. Another problem in the original Decoys is that any suspense or interest is destroyed for storytelling convenience. The susceptibility of the alien race to heat above room temperature is probably the biggest problem that these characters suffer. While it is not as idiotic as making the aliens in Signs fatally vulnerable to water, it does beg a few questions. Granted, I am not familiar with Canada in any sense, but surely they must have days when one does not require an ice pick to breathe out. Even Norway has those from time to time. But by now, you might have noticed I am picking all sorts of myriad details apart regarding Decoys. And that is the biggest point I wish to make here. A good film has plot holes, but manages to distract the viewer from them. A bad film displays its plot holes and even exaggerates them by force of numbers. Decoys is therefore a very bad film.

I gave Decoys a four out of ten. Two of those points are for a touching scene in which Kim Poirier demonstrates a third dimension to her character, and Meghan Ory. The rest of the film is a damp squib.

Lilly (Stefanie von Pfetten) and Constance (Kim Poirier) are sexy cousins that are more than a couple of hot college girls. Luke (Corey Sevier) snuck into their room and sees something alien. Alex (Meghan Ory) is his best friend who just doesn't believe him.

The girls are aliens. It's not a spoiler because they show it in the first 10 minutes. There is absolutely no horror in this horror movie. The writing is all camp. Some intentional like punching a girl. But there is a lot of unintentional camp.

The odd thing is that Stefanie von Pfetten and Kim Poirier are probably the best actors in this movie. They have this frienermy competitiveness going on. All the guys are useless, both as characters and as actors. Meghan Ory is too distant.

This is a super cheesy TV movie. There is sometimes good fun to watch a little bit of camp. But the guys aren't good enough or funny enough or compelling enough. It's almost a funny watch, but it tries to be a serious horror.

Now, that being said, my expectations of this film were very low. It was a movie I had never heard of, that turned up in a box of movies I bought at a yard sale for a buck. But curiosity got the best of me and I watched it, and wasn't disappointed. There are quite a few scares and even a twist that make this 90 minute flick watchable. And for a horror flick, this has very minimal violence. But it doesn't need it. This film does well just with the suspense, and the acting isn't bad either. The special effects, though few and far in between, are quite convincing, considering how low-budget this film was. Worth picking up if you have a little time to kill. Not a waste of time, not Oscar material either. 5/10

I'll be the first to admit that this is by no means a great movie. I didn't like the special effects with the creatures themselves, but I did like the way they did the corpses. The plot could have used a little more work as well, seems like there wasn't much there.

With that being said, Decoys wasn't as bad as you are led to believe. I'd say this movie was pretty much in the middle of the road, with as much good as bad.

I didn't like the performances by Corey Sevier, Stefanie von Pfetten or Elias Toufexis (they came off as annoying, especially Elias) but thought that Meghan Ory and Kim Poirier did an excellent job. Meghan in particular stood out in this movie. I thought she looked much better than the girls who were supposed to be the best looking, and she probably had the strongest performance of the movie. While I'm at it, I have to say, Nicole Eggert is not aging well. Am I the only one who noticed this? Probably not.

The one thing I can say about this movie without hesitation, is that I didn't see the ending coming. Maybe others did, but it did surprise me, and I'm used to expecting the unexpected in movies like this. As far as that goes, the film makers here did an excellent job. Too bad the rest of the movie doesn't hold up.

Like I said, middle of the road. Maybe worth a rental or waiting for it to come on TV. I'd say around 6.5 out of 10.

Normally I would never watch a movie like Decoys. I am not a fan of this type of cinema and the description sounded like a big ripoff of the 80's cult flick Revenge of the Teenage Vixens From Outer Space. Since Decoys was given to me as a gift just recently I figured I would force myself to watch it...

Basically, the storyline is similar to that of Revenge of the Teenage Vixens From Outer Space, just the vixens aren't "teenagers" and they don't turn their victims into vegetables. Anyway, the movie takes place on a college campus. Luke is the star of the movie and he witnesses these two beautiful girls turning into aliens before his very eyes. The only problem is getting everyone else to believe his story. Meanwhile, the "vixens" are screwing guys to death, literally, by freezing them from the inside out. What will Luke do to stop this invasion?

Well, as much as this movie looked dreadful, it really isn't that bad. The acting was actually pretty decent and the special effects (for lame CGI) weren't as bad as I would have expected. My two main complaints were the cliché horny college kids and the absolutely awful music played throughout the movie. But, I guess this movie was aimed to more of an early 20's age group. I guess the makers figure that is what people listen to or how they act. Whatever...

Anyway, I got a few laughs out of this movie and it kept my interest throughout. So, I guess it did what it was aiming for. Check it out on a rainy day. 6/10