Extraterrestrial

I scored the film quite highly because I genuinely enjoyed about 80% of, but I went into it knowing it wasn't exactly going to be a groundbreaker.

Without wanting to give too much away, it incorporates a lot of UFO mythology and people who are into that kind of thing will probably enjoy it, as I did. The special effects are very well done, for a film without a huge budget and the UFO's are genuinely ominous and 'other - worldly'.

The plot isn't too bad really, it ends in an interesting way that you probably won't expect and there are some scenes in the last 20 minutes that are actually quite spectacular.

It's bad points though - the actors are a bit annoying and not very endearing. The main couple are quite nice and their story plays out well, but everybody else in it seems to just be there to add filler to the plot. One of the guys in it is actually very annoying, from start to unfortunate end.

It's all a bit loud and flashy and over the top in parts as well. The musical score is definitely not up to a very high standard in my opinion.

I think it deserves a little more respect than some reviewers have given it - but not much. ;-)

I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into. Most alien films just show us crap, and deliver nothing. Nonetheless "Extraterrestrial" delivers and shows in a pleasing way.

First off the story of this flick. The story was straight forward. It cut right down to the point from start, to finish. In this case, the story was solid, tying together with the film, piecing together one, by one. The story, also, it quite clichéd; a pro, and con situation. A group of friends venture off into a cabin in the woods, and hell breaks loose, we've all seen it before, over, and over. But in the sense of this film, the clichéd mash actually follows out to the point of which we audience don't care anymore, or in this case, it follows through as entertaining. Which of course is nice. In conclusion, the story is a mash of clichés, at the same time it's solid, delivering a solid premise.

Next, the acting of the film, and how the characters execute. Once again, the film succeeds in the aspect of being entertaining as the characters, as well as the story plot are flawed, and clichéd. Here, you have your typical selection of horror movie characters that you've seen millions of times before. With that being said, there's not that much to explain. The acting of said characters was fine in my opinion. I felt some scenes were over acted at parts of the film. I also have to say, some of the characters lines were cheesy, and at points simply unnecessary. But other then that, the acting was solid, and simple for they're heavily clichéd character choices.

Finally the studio work of the movie; camera work, lighting, etc. I want to start out with the lighting. I really liked it. The movie decided to spice it up with various amounts of bright colors. Red's, greens, name it, the movie showed it. It was unique, and it was a pleasing surprise in terms of colors, and lights. Next, the cinematography. It was what it was. The movie did have some enjoyable shots, with some beautiful choices of select shots, and such. At the same time, there were some flawed shots, of which the camera had a crappy location, showing us little of what's going on. But over all solid. Finally, the sound / sound effects. I loved them, there were some awesomely legit choices of sound that were displayed. Instead of clichéd noises / sound effects heard over and over before; now we get actual noises unheard before. In conclusion, as well as the others, this element of the film works.

The film was a nice take on the Alien sub-genre of horror, giving us something to look forward to, from elements that build up the film, to visual effects that please surprisingly. For a highly clichéd story, it was carried out smoothly, and over all ended up as a pretty freaking awesome film. I recommend this to horror fans looking for a good time!

I felt the director missed an opportunity of the right protagonist to lead the way. Furthermore I hated the ending. Literally

Sheriff Murphy (Gil Bellows) of Echo Lake investigates the mysterious disappearance of Nancy McPherson from a seeming alien abduction as well as other strange occurrences. April (Brittany Allen) photographs the family cabin for her mother which is being sold. Her boyfriend Kyle (Freddie Stroma) joins her along with annoying friend Seth (Jesse Moss), Melanie (Melanie Papalia), and Lex (Anja Savcic). Melanie and April stumble upon their neighbor Travis (Michael Ironside)'s marijuana grow operation. Travis is a vet conspiracy nut. An alien spacecraft crashes in the woods.

This movie seems stuck in B-movie territory. It's definitely set up as such and never gets beyond that. The young actors are not that charismatic. Bellows and Ironside are the two named actors but they are mostly support. Ironside goes a little wacky but nothing is actually funny. The script is lacking. There are some functional special effects which border on respectable. However, there is something missing from the directions and camera work. This is not scary nor particularly thrilling. None of it is that good but it's not the worst thing in the world.

As I look through the IMDb scores for Extraterrestrial, I have a theory that the lower ones are coming from children of the 90's and aughts - those who have grown up to expect a particular bleak atmosphere from alien abduction movies such as that set by efforts like 'Dark Skies' or 'The Fourth Kind'.

I suspect the reviews giving it the higher scores are from kids who grew up in (or are just fans of) the older school 'adventure' horrors that became popular in the late 80's. Movies like The Lost Boys, Waxwork, Evil Dead 2, Night of the Creeps, Return of the Living Dead 2, Creepozoids, The Blob remake etc. - you know the ilk, movies whose subject matters varied wildly yet they always had the same sort of vibe - a fast-paced, popcorn-entertainment 'adventure' feeling.

That, I feel, is what the Vicious Brothers were purposefully going for in Extraterrestrial. Although they mixed in a generous dollop of the 90's cabin in the woods type characters and the 2000's abduction movie clichés, it's the late 80's vibe that rings clear throughout. If Extraterrestrial had been made 25-30 years ago, it would likely have starred the Two Corey's, or perhaps Zach Galligan and Brinke Stephens. The cop would have been Tom Atkins or Lance Henriksen; and the crazy Michael Ironside character would have been Dick Miller... or perhaps Michael Ironside, come to think of it.

Bottom line is, Extraterrestrial clearly has a primary intent of being fun rather than scary. There's a few creepy moments - most memorably the skeletal body of a dead alien vanishing into the murky waters of a swimming pool - and a few more serious turns towards the end, but overall, it's more of an adventure/survival flick than a psychological/terror flick. If we still had drive-ins, it would be playing in them right now to crowds of frisky teens instead of on Netflix.

Check your expectations before you turn it on. You're not going to get scared, or grossed out, or made to think too hard, or put on the edge of your seat with tension... but if willing, you are going to have a lot of fun. 7/10.