Alien Trespass

If you love sci-fi films from the 1950's -especially IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE or THE BLOB- and / or homages to or parodies thereof, then ALIEN TRESPASS should hit the spot!

It's a tribute to those alien invasion movies, usually involving a misunderstood E. T., or some hideous monster causing mayhem.

When a UFO crashes into a mountainside releasing a deadly creature, the otherworldly pilot of the craft must track it down. Eric McCormack is dead-on as both the intrepid scientist investigating the situation and the alien. Robert Patrick co-stars as the jaded, mean cop.

This movie is a delightful diversion...

First, this is not a comedy. It's clear that the filmmakers were sincere in making this movie and tried to recreate a movie with the feel of a 1950's sci-fi, including the same kind of humor (for the most part). Sure, a comment that Edsels would be around forever, but there's not even a whole lot of that.

This film was made for people who enjoy watching the monster movies made 50 years ago. This has it all; small town in the desert, unusual goings-on in the hills; teenagers that adults won't believe; even the local scientist. It's an homage in the finest tradition.

As such, if you can't stand watching old '50's sci-fi, then don't bother with this. But if you catch yourself at the video store looking for some forgotten red-scare flying saucer thriller, or if your copy of This Island Earth is in regular viewing rotation, then Alien Trespass is intended for you, and you should see it.

For a moment I thought I was really back in my teen-age 1957, the big-finned cars, the flouncy dresses, the sci-fi saturated drive-ins. Okay, I'm nostalgic, but it really is a good flick, well acted, produced and written; plus, entertaining all the way through. So how will space-ranger Urp defeat the man-eating Ghota whose flying saucer has crashed into the North American desert. Good thing Urp borrows Dr. Lewis's body if not his hormones. At the same time, the village towns-people have to overcome their disbelief in alien space craft and shape-shifting monsters. What with all those vulnerable blonde cuties, I was really worried.

There are touches of satirical humor trading on 50's sci-fi, but the flick's too well rounded to qualify as just a spoof. In many ways, however, it does suggest a version of 1951's The Day The Earth Stood Still, from the latter's metal clad Gort to Klaatu's cosmic police force. However that may be, I was grabbed by that suburban house and its grassy yard sitting alone and in the middle of the immense desert, like a surrealist illusion. Actually, it's likely meant to show Lewis and wife's middle-class status among the town's backwoods types. And how about the parallel theatre scene with the panicked audience from 57's The Blob. It's an imaginative touch tying in with both AT's plot and the time period. Sure, the movie's gangly monsters are on the silly looking side, at least before they reduce you to goo. Still, it's an imaginative and well-done sci-fi, and a tribute to its 50's predecessors.

Let's be clear right from the start -- "Alien Trespass" is not a spoof. Nor is it a parody, satire, sendup, lampoon, or pastiche. It may be presented as a spoof and most ticket buyers will likely go in expecting one, and the makers of the film may even have set out to produce a spoof.

But what they achieved instead is a meticulous recreation of a film from the 1950s, earnest and straightforward. The period detail is truly impressive, with costuming, sets, and locations all note-perfect. Even the casting is to be commended, especially for the younger actors -- it is actually difficult to find actors who can convincingly portray people outside their era, but these folks do a great job. There are a few minor anachronisms, but overall the period recreation is staggering, right down to the feel of the film stock and even the lighting.

The film's accuracy is actually its greatest problem, in terms of success. Instead of the "Airplane" type treatment many will expect, the film instead gives us just what it pretends to: a film made in the 50s but only recently unearthed. But this means it has only the camp factor inherent in those films; the audience with which I shared the preview screening wanted it to be a spoof, laughed at some parts, but the things they were laughing about were accurately rendered from that time -- they were laughing at period "quaintnesses" only gently exaggerated. The film is too straight-faced and sincere to get the average viewer laughing.

I am surprised this movie got made, but near-astounded that it is getting a theatrical release. The production values are high, and Eric McCormack has some name draw, but I am still not sure how they sold it for distribution.

Let's put it this way: If you know who Wade Williams is, if you and your friends trade dialogue from "Forbidden Planet" and "The Day the Earth Stood Still", or if you ever saw the original Blob in an actual theater, this movie will give you a warm feeling and a nostalgic smile as a love letter to the movies from that time. Just about everyone else, I am afraid, will feel perplexed and disappointed.

I enjoyed "Alien Trespass", and I feel like they made it just for me. But really, how many of me are there out there?

This Movie does not Make Fun of Itself. The Movie Itself is Fun. A Completely Straight Rendition of a 1950's Sci-Fi Movie that is a Loving Homage. There is some Inherent Humor Culled from the Zeitgeist of the Time and it Looks Gorgeous.

A Film that Time-Travels to a Distant and by Now a Completely Foreign Land, that of America Circa 1957 where Wives Wear Pearls while Cooking Breakfast. It is a Smart Movie that is Hardly Witty or Clever it just goes about its Business of Making a Movie as it might have been made when things like this were being Made for the Matinée Crowd and Drive-Ins.

It's Entertaining and a Love for the Fifties Sci-Fi, the Very Good Ones along with the Cheapies and the Utterly Exploitive, will Benefit the Viewing Experience. All the Cast Hits the Right Note and the SFX are Impressive at Recreating the Limitations of the Era.

Overall, a Must See for Movie Buffs with Wide Appeal Unlikely. But if You Love this Stuff there is Much to Love in this Little Take on a Time and Place that will Never Again Exist Except in Nostalgic Memories and for that this One Deserves Applause.