Alien Apocalypse

I found this movie new for 3 bucks so I figured good or bad, that's a good price. I'll start out by pointing out the obvious: Alien Apocalypse is not a good movie, it's a very poorly done movie. However, I thought it was a lot of fun. It's good for a Sci-fi original, though I know that's not saying much.

We can never go wrong with a starring role by Bruce Campbell, especially in a B-movie. The story is ridiculous and plays out kind of like a bad video game, but some of the lines made me laugh out loud. So-bad-it's-good is definitely relevant here.

Overall, I think this movie is terrible as an actual movie, but great as something to throw in the DVD player and laugh at. You be the judge.

'Tis true that this one has Grade-Z effects, a dreadful script, and some of the worst acting imaginable, but I kind of suspect that the makers knew this, and a great deal of the cheesiness was intentional. If you love shockingly bad sci-fi movies, then there is a whole heap to enjoy about Alien Apocalypse. It's not a 'great' movie (and I'm not about to give it a ridiculously high rating), but it is a fun film that should ideally be enjoyed with like-minded friends (and plenty of alcohol).

An astronaut/doctor, Ivan Hood (Bruce Campbell), returns to Earth after 40 years in suspended animation, to find that the planet has been overrun by insectoid aliens who are stripping the planet of its wood (which they eat). Together with fellow astronaut, Kelly (Renée O'Connor), and a small group of plucky slaves, he leads a revolt against the alien invaders.

With dreadful support from a multitude of badly bewigged Eastern Europeans (and a leggy babe in a fur bikini), Campbell mugs his way through the lousy script with his usual aplomb. The special effects are rather poor, with the aliens being a mixture of animatronics and rather cheap looking CGI. However, there is a smatter of well conceived gore to compensate a little: the bugs chew off the heads of troublemakers and devour the severed fingers of those who attempt to escape. There are also several juicy shots of the aliens being killed, with green goop squirting from the wounds.

Unpretentious, very silly and worth a go if trash sci-fi is your thang!

Now, let's look at the plot line - astronauts come back to earth after stasis and find humans enslaved and the planet being ruled by giant alien cockroaches. To some of us, it just doesn't get any better than this!

Nobody in their right mind is going to take Alien Apocalypse seriously, and those who want to watch it will do so regardless of reviews that deplore plot holes, bad effects, and poor acting. Get a life! It's supposed to be this way!

I thought the effects hilarious (the alien Cockroaches are too much!), and the acting suitably over the top. The film editing is excellent, and the Cockroaches' decapitation of victims as hors d'oeuvres has got to be seen to be believed. This movie doesn't try to be campy, but just silly. It's Larry, Curley and Moe for the boomers!

So grab some pretzels, a brew or two, a couple of good friends and just howl. Hey, it's got Bruce Campbell in it, and it's a hoot! Enjoy! :-)

Movie is low budget, but fun. Predictable, yes....but hey, it's a fun, silly little movie.

Bruce does movies like this and this is another example of his style. They shot the thing in like 2 weeks. All in all I had fun with this movie and enjoyed it.

I liked Renee in her spacesuit, the native babe in rags that thought she knew the good doctor, HOT HOT HOT.

Sure alittle blood in the movie and a few guys get their heads bitten off, but it's not done in a really messy, gory sort of way. Hec I'd let my 10yr old and 2 yr old watch it. There is enuf in this movie to keep everyone happy......as long as you don't think of it as a SERIOUS movie.

All in all thumbs up! :)

Tarl

Okay, first of all, this movie isn't good. The script is nothing special, the acting is pretty horrid (with the exception of the two leads), the effects are pretty atrocious, the weapons silly and the direction poor.

But hey, it's a Sci-Fi original movie. And a pretty damn good one at that. It must be expected that this film will have plenty of flaws about it just because it is a Sci-Fi channel movie. After all, this is the same studio responsible for Sharknado, Sharktopus, Boa Vs. Python, Lake Placid 2, Lake Placid 3 and more atrocious films. However, they have made decent movies before. Kaw wasn't terrible, The Insatiable was pretty creative and Sabretooth is a guilty pleasure of mine. There have only been a few of these Sci-Fi Channel original movies that have been decent. I mean, they're all so horrid only a few are remotely enjoyable. I think all of these movies were filmed in Bulgaria (which is only famous for producing bad movies), so all of them have bad acting because the actors are foreign and don't know English so their lines had to be dubbed over in post-production. This explains most of the bad acting in this movie. The effects are obviously bad because of the small budget but as bad as they are, trust me, they could have been WAY worse or even CGI, which is as bad as it gets when Sci-Fi gets involved.

The plot of this film is fairly unique, and Bruce Campbell absolutely steals the show. It's certainly fun to watch and even though it is no masterpiece, this film works as a fun way to spend an evening mainly because it doesn't take itself too seriously but also wants to tell an entertaining and enjoyable story. It's worth a watch, or maybe even a few. Like I said, just don't expect a masterpiece like The Godfather or Citizen Kane. For what Alien Apocalypse is, a Sci-Fi Channel original movie, it's not half bad.