yumatom

I live in Yuma, Arizona, where much of the movie was filmed. It was a thrill to have a production here, and the premier packed in a crowd (including myself) at an older downtown theater. A friend had a role as an extra, and enjoyed the experience. But the first scene contained unnecessary violence, and later came a very brief but equally unnecessary graphic sex episode. Although several notable locals including a former county sheriff had bit parts, it was very quiet after the premier showing. I think most people were embarrassed. That's what we get for living in a backwater, fit for the straight-to-video market. The title montage was well done, with the dramatic approach of a summer dust storm that captured local flavor.

This movie is a sincere Christian apology, but I couldn't identify much of a plot. ***SPOILER*** It would have been OK in Church, but not as paid entertainment. We never see UFOs, and few in the work-a-day world talk like these people. I can't imagine the actors not being devout Christians. Rebecca St. James is OK and the cast is serviceable, as are most of the characters. Significantly, the "UFO" demons happen at night, or induce night-like conditions. The idea of Hell is said by some to have originated with the contrast of day and night; night belonging to the Devil and chased by the Good Sun (Son). Consider also a probable root of Christianity reaching back into the obscure mists of child sacrifice. The "Unidentified" actors don't seem to have entertained such thoughts.

I saw this in 1971 Los Angeles. It was supposed to be a look at the problems of a returning Marine Corps Viet Nam veteran. Jud doesn't seem to dream or to have benefitted from his military tour as he improbably stays in a depressing environment, symbolized by a barrack-like apartment building and dead end people. Does he have to stay there? A panning reviewer in the Los Angeles Times mused: `If there was ever a city you could get lost in, it's Los Angeles.' Clinical depression might have been going on here, perhaps in the people who made this movie. Truthfully, I would have hurried to the re-enlistment office.