Alien Raiders

A group of former rocket scientists (presumably, as they worked for jet propulsion laboratories) takes over a small town supermarket in order to find and stop the spread of an evil alien menace. Things go a bit off track when their spotter dies and they have to resort to secondary methods in order to determine who is or isn't an alien.

There is a message board thread for this film that bears the title, "Ruined by a Bad Name". I could not agree with this more. I was aware of the film's existence for months and was hesitant to see a film called "Alien Raiders", because it's frankly a really stupid name. Even when my review copy arrived, I was reluctant to give it a fair chance simply because I figured that creative people would be able to find a better name...

But judging a book by its cover or a movie by its title can be unfair. And this falls in that category, as "Alien Raiders" really isn't all that bad. It's certainly not great -- it went straight to DVD for a reason -- but nothing that's going to cause you to go brain dead or regret hanging out with your friends and enjoying some tasty Scotch and beer whilst the film rolls.

The special effects were pretty decent and should be highlighted. There were aspects I hated (such as the night vision, which isn't a shock if you realize how close the director was to "The Blair Witch Project"). There were aspects I disliked, such as the alien thrashing back in forth in strobe-o-vision. But other parts, such as the regeneration and the alien makeup, were quite good. Not as good as, say, John Carpenter's "The Thing", but few films are.

We are also treated to the high and low end of acting and character development. We are given two actors/characters who are polar opposites on the scale of enjoyability. Samantha Streets brings us "Whitney", the female protagonist. She's an important part of the film, and I suspect this may open some doors for Streets. But, we also have Rockmund Dunbar as "Kane", a gun-toting loudmouth who plays a very stereotypical "angry black man", and even pushes it a bit far. He's got no depth at all. I enjoyed Dunbar on "Prison Break", but if this is the sort of role he's going to choose for movies, just stay home.

I don't know that this is the sort of film you should run out and see right away. There are other fine options to choose from, including Raw Feed's "Otis" if you haven't seen that yet. "Alien Raiders" offers a nice "body snatcher" story, and held my attention firmly for its duration, so that's a plus. I'm torn -- don't go out of your way to avoid it, but don't add it to the top of your Netflix queue. This is more of a backup plan.

ALIEN RAIDERS is a low budget alien-busting B-movie, set in a shopping mall of all places. It's an entirely derivative film that proudly wears various influences on its sleeve: the dark and shadowy after-hours aisles of INTRUDER; the single-location-under-siege set-up of ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13; the mutating creature from SPLINTER; plus, most notably, the monsters and scenario from THE THING, of which a crucial set-piece or two are borrowed directly.

Still, this turns out to be an enjoyable little movie thanks to some strong writing and direction. Director Ben Rock makes a shadowy and atmospheric moment with some unsettling and in-your-face frightening moments when the aliens are exposed, all down to some creepy soundtrack noises. The choreography isn't quite as good, but the film does benefit from a crisp realism and some well-drawn characters. If you're a fan of the genre you might just consider this to be a little-seen gem.

In Buck Lake, Arizona, the Hastings Supermarket is apparently assaulted by a group of terrorists leaded by Ritter (Carlos Bernard) that takes clients and employees in a hostage situation. One of the team members, Spooky (Philip Newby), examines the hostages detecting who should be executed and releasing the others. When Spooky is killed by the security cop, the six last shoppers and employees are kept tied and submitted to a test in one finger. Sooner the abductors reveal that they are a team of scientists containing an alien outbreak and avoid an invasion.

The tense and claustrophobic "Alien Raiders" has a great concept and good story. The screenplay could have a better development of characters and situation, since the identity of the king was very predictable for me; but considering the simplicity of the plot associated to the low-budget, the result was a remarkable movie with a great make-up and few special effects that exceeded my best expectations. The cast has magnificent performances and it was great to see Rockmond "C-Note" Dunbar and Mathew "Keith Charles" St. Patrick again on the screen. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Refém do Desconhecido" ("Hostage of the Unknown")

This movie is definitely not going to win any awards. It's also not going to make any top 10 lists at the end of the year. It won't even make cult status.

What it will do is entertain you & keep you on the edge of your seat.

The premise is simple. A group of independent "alien hunters" have descended on a small town, and specifically a grocery store where they seem to have found the original infection. Do they do the best job securing the location?? No. Do they seem dis organized, and nervous?? Yes. But I think that adds to the plot. These are not trained police officers, or ex military men. They are regular Joe's that have found something that needs to be stopped.

What's most impressive is the way the tension is built throughout the film. You feel the same claustrophobic tension that you get in Splinter, and there's a similar feeling to the great Spanish film "rec" This movie isn't quite as good in quality as those two movies, but there's a good mix of "what the heck is going on" and "how is this whole thing going to end."

There are very limited special effects in this movie, and when used they add to the story, they don't take away. There's almost no CGI, and that's a good thing. The Sci Fi channel could really learn something about creating movies like this, where you have alien invasions without using incredibly cheap and campy CGI, just a little make up, and some cool camera tricks and hold back the pay off till the last minute. It's an easy formula that's been missing from science fiction films for quite some time. Directors have fallen in love with being able to create big creatures, but don't know how to build tension.

Now, the movie does have plot wholes, and relies on some clichés. The one cop that happens to be a hostage negotiator from "the big city." The ending isn't as surprising as they want it to be. Still, for a direct to DVD movie, this is about as good as it gets.

It's science fiction, so suspend disbelief a bit, and imagine how you would react if you were in the characters shoes. It's an enjoyable little trip.

I really love it when an independent film is made well. I'm all for the underdog rising above the corporate giants with their millions and billions. A film doesn't always need expensive special effects (yes sometimes they do blow u away, but the use of CGI is getting ridiculous now), and a worthy script with good actors and some creative low budget FX can be enough to keep you entertained....if you haven't been brainwashed yet that is. Getting to my point, Alien Raiders delivers because you don't expect it too (I think they chose the name because of that reason). The name sucks, the beginning with the dodgy camcording makes you think 'is this what it's gonna be like', and then wallop you become absorbed in this little gem. It may be because I love alien movies, and people's interpretations on the whole alien invasion, including what they look like and what power they possess. Yes the film is pretty much all in a supermarket and yes the protectors of the universe do some really stupid things, but we're all human. You have to look at Alien Raiders for what it is and appreciate how well it was delivered for it's small budget. The actors did a great job, they we're very convincing, and the raiders we're relentless throughout which was great. If they think you're an alien well you're in big trouble, coz they don't like aliens not one bit. The twist was mildly obvious but still it could only be one of the 5 or 6 hostages so what do you expect. Those that have been hating on this are not fans of indie flicks obviously, and probably watch Die Hard 4.0 (which I loved by the way) and think that if a car doesn't take out a helicopter then it ain't worth watching. I've seen many bad indie horror flicks and thats why this gets positive comments from me. It stands out from the crowd and except for the supermarket setting has no similarities, and is not a copy of 'The Mist' (which again I loved). Give it a go...if you don't like it....well tough I did.