Disc Reviews
Alien Trespass | DVD Review
That director R.W. Goodwin can pull some of these scenes off, regardless of how predictable they may be, without playing it as satire or parody shows how much of an honest homage Alien Trespass is to the monster and sci-fi films of the 1950s.
Fans of ’50s-era monster- and B-movies who’ve had to content themselves with watching their old favorites over and over again can now enjoy a new offering to the pantheon with noted “X-Files” director R.W. Goodwin’s feature debut Alien Trespass, a film that pays loving tribute to the so-called bad sci-fi movies of the post-war decade.
In 1957, in a small desert town, noted astronomer Ted Lewis (Eric McCormack, “Will and Grace“) and his bubbly wife (Jody Thompson , “The 4400“) are about to have a barbecue dinner when a spaceship crash-lands in the nearby mountains. Curious, Lewis heads out to see what he can find and ends up being possessed by a benevolent alien named Urp who is trying to capture an evil alien called the Ghota. With the help of a diner waitress (Jenni Baird, also of “The 4400“) and a few more stock B-movie characters, Urp must find the Ghota and stop it from consuming every human it sees and eventually conquering Earth.
Alien Trespass is chock full of references – some subtle, some not-so-subtle – to films like It Came From Outer Space and Earth vs. the Flying Saucers. The sceenplay by Steven P. Fisher, from a story by Fisher and producer James Swift (who also has a small role as a TV reporter), features characters that B-movie fans will be familiar with: the young teenage couple who just want to make out in their car, their rebellious friend (who in this day and age would seem quaint), the mean police officer (Robert Patrick, “The Unit“) who doesn’t believe a word these young troublemakers are saying, and the frustrated police chief (Dan Lauria, “The Wonder Years“) whose retirement is two days away and can’t come soon enough. But it’s Goodwin’s little stylistic nods to the past, such as the absurdly changing scenery outside the car in the driving scenes, that make Alien Trespass seem like an authentic ’50s movie. In fact, if you watch it with the included introduction, it’s explained that this is a long-lost film that has just recently been discovered. There’s even some newsreel footage before the feature presentation. A little cheesy, perhaps, but an honest homage to a certain type of film that is as well loved today as it was back then.
The bonus features on the DVD release are interesting, to say the least. They have taken the concept that Alien Trespass is a recently-discovered long lost film and have run with it, creating featurettes and interview segments that perpetuate the myth.
“Watch the Skies” goes into detail as to how the film was unearthed and why it was not released in 1957, even explaining how Eric McCormack is actually the star’s grandson. McCormick himself even says how his grandfather M. Eric McCormack (Merrick to his friends) felt that Alien Trespass was his best work as an actor.
“Meet the Person” with Edwin R. Burroughs is a series of interviews “from 1957” with some of the actors from the film, including Robert Patrick and Dan Lauria, who play along and discuss their experieces filming the movie.
Breaking News and Live News Update are short news segments (some of which is included in “Watch the Skies”) about the discovery of the lost film at a construction site on a Hollywood studio lot. The two construction workes who discovered it are interviewed, as is Eric McCormick, who freaks out that they’ve finally found his grandfather’s finest performance.
Also included are interviews with R.W. Goodwin and Eric McCormick. Goodwin discusses his love of the sci-fi movies of that era and how he wanted to pay tribute to the genre without coming off as satire or parody. McCormick’s portion is too short to really make anything of, clocking in at just under two minutes.
Rounding out the bonus features on the DVD are two very different but equally entertaining trailers for Alien Trespass.
There’s a scene in Alien Trespass where the teenagers decide to take in a film – The Blob, of course. Just at the point in that film where the blob enters a movie theater and sends people outside in a screaming frenzy, the Ghota enters the theater and does the same thing to the people watching The Blob. That Goodwin can pull that scene off, regardless of how predictable it may be, without playing it as satire or parody shows how much of an honest homage Alien Trespass is to the monster and sci-fi films of the 1950s. Fans of those films can’t miss with this one. And if you’re a Robert Patrick fan (who isn’t, right?), his death scene alone is worth the cost of a rental, if not an actual purchase, of the DVD.
Movie rating – 3.5
Disc Rating – 3.5
