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Alien Apocalypse
DVD/APPROX. 88 MINS/2005/USA MA15+
DVD/APPROX. 88 MINS/2005/USA MA15+
4
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Stop me if you've heard this one. There's these astronauts up in space see, and they've been up there a long time. And then they come back to
Earth right, but something horrible has happened. No it hasn't been blown up by World War 3. No the apes haven't taken over either. It's the
termites.
Yes, giant termites from space have invaded and colonized Earth in order to steal all our wood. And you thought deforestation was bad now. So
what can our heroes do except escape and track down the surviving members of he government and lead a revolt against our new alien overlords.
This of course leads to fights, chases, less than surprising surprises and a little bit of gore.
Such is the plot of Alien Apocalypse, out on DVD from Madman's Via Vision label. When you consider that this stars cult icon Bruce Campbell, was
written and directed by Josh Becker, (Thou Shalt Not Kill...Except, Lunatics: A Love Story and the great short Torro, Torro, Torro) and David
Worth, (everything from Warrior of the Lost World to Van Damme's Kickboxer) as cinematographer this should have been a surefire cult classic.
Unfortunately it falls pretty flat. The script tries to play the plot's cliches for laughs but it's never as funny as it thinks it is. It's like the kid who tries
to hard to be funny and just ends up feeling fake and forced.
The other big letdown is the effects. The aliens are never convincing, being either very stiff puppets or horrible CGI. It really ruins any effectiveness
the film manages to build up every time you see them. The one or two gore scenes are fairly effective, especially the scene where one unfortunate
gets his head bitten off. Oh and then there's the beards, the fakest hairpieces in history, even worse than Shatner's toupee.
Shot in Bulgaria, (doubling for the American Northwest) the film suffers the usual blessing and curse of filming there. Beautiful scenery and
locations available on a low budget offset by lots of badly dubbed performances from local actors and actresses.
As is usual with Madman they add in a good batch of extras. The commentary track with Campbell and Becker is fairly animated and full of
interesting stories about low budget film making, both on the set of this film and others they've worked on over the years. On the other hand the
behind the scenes featurette is a very short look at how the alien puppets were animated and some bloopers.
Maybe with a few more beers this would have been funnier but as it stands this was a big disappointment.
Earth right, but something horrible has happened. No it hasn't been blown up by World War 3. No the apes haven't taken over either. It's the
termites.
Yes, giant termites from space have invaded and colonized Earth in order to steal all our wood. And you thought deforestation was bad now. So
what can our heroes do except escape and track down the surviving members of he government and lead a revolt against our new alien overlords.
This of course leads to fights, chases, less than surprising surprises and a little bit of gore.
Such is the plot of Alien Apocalypse, out on DVD from Madman's Via Vision label. When you consider that this stars cult icon Bruce Campbell, was
written and directed by Josh Becker, (Thou Shalt Not Kill...Except, Lunatics: A Love Story and the great short Torro, Torro, Torro) and David
Worth, (everything from Warrior of the Lost World to Van Damme's Kickboxer) as cinematographer this should have been a surefire cult classic.
Unfortunately it falls pretty flat. The script tries to play the plot's cliches for laughs but it's never as funny as it thinks it is. It's like the kid who tries
to hard to be funny and just ends up feeling fake and forced.
The other big letdown is the effects. The aliens are never convincing, being either very stiff puppets or horrible CGI. It really ruins any effectiveness
the film manages to build up every time you see them. The one or two gore scenes are fairly effective, especially the scene where one unfortunate
gets his head bitten off. Oh and then there's the beards, the fakest hairpieces in history, even worse than Shatner's toupee.
Shot in Bulgaria, (doubling for the American Northwest) the film suffers the usual blessing and curse of filming there. Beautiful scenery and
locations available on a low budget offset by lots of badly dubbed performances from local actors and actresses.
As is usual with Madman they add in a good batch of extras. The commentary track with Campbell and Becker is fairly animated and full of
interesting stories about low budget film making, both on the set of this film and others they've worked on over the years. On the other hand the
behind the scenes featurette is a very short look at how the alien puppets were animated and some bloopers.
Maybe with a few more beers this would have been funnier but as it stands this was a big disappointment.
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