Sunday, October 4, 2009

Day 4 - Alien Trespass



One thing I love to do during October is revisit the films I grew up with as a kid - the Universal monsters, Hammer, classic 50's sci-fi, the AI Vincent Price/Roger Corman movies.... these films will always be my favorites. Contemporary movies just don't bring out the warm and fuzzy for me the way these films do. But every once in a while, someone makes a film that tries to evoke the past - to recreate the look and feel and good memories of those films that we loved in the first place.

Alien Trespass is NOT a satirical look at classic sci-fi, even though I laughed out loud (in a good way) when I first saw the monster, it's apparent that the people who made this film are very fond of the films that inspired it. Even the monster (as cheap and goofy as he is) is made that way on purpose.

We've got the earnest scientist (Eric McCormack from Will and Grace') who witnesses the 'falling star' and is first on the scene, the teenagers who know the truth but who nobody will believe; the cops who keep getting call after call about 'monsters', and the piles of goo that our monster reduces people to when they get too close. Everyone does a great job, especially McCormack.


I especially thought this scene in the kitchen was delicious - the characters, the clothes and the set made me want to sink my teeth into it:



Why watch a tribute to 50's Sci-fi when we can just watch the movies that inspired it? Because when we watch a movie like Alien Trespass - it illuminates details and aspects of the originals that we might not have noticed before. It allows us to appreciate the movies that inspired it - and then notice those details when we re-watch them.
It's not a terribly exciting film, but it moves along well and it's a good way to to spend a weekend afternoon.

Website HERE.

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