It became very apparent in this film that the government does control this facet of our media. I didn't quite see it at first, but as the film progressed I could see the embarrassing tactics of the government trying to be implanted onto the minds of our youth and sci-fi aficionados. I walked away from Alien Lockdown (possibly should have been running) with a stronger knowledge of how I should be a soldier. Here are the rules (from watching this film): 1) Never question why you are going into a darkened complex that has dead bodies that do not look like bullet wounds killed them. You know that it is not going to be an alien. 2) if someone says that you are not going to fight an alien on this trip
9 times out of 10 you will be fighting an alien 3) shoot, then ask questions later 4) the prime objective is to kill, not question and finally 5) when all else fails, nuke 'em. Yep, following those simple five steps I could easily be a soldier too, but sadly I am not. I just thought we rushed too deeply into this battle. The creature probably was having some mothering issues with the doctor and hastily took it out on the overly aggressive soldiers. I ended this film feeling more sympathetic towards this creature than I did our own nation
is that bad?
Outside of the mindless soldiers who somehow followed every order without question and chose to never give us their names or emotional back-stories, this film was horrendous. There was some budget on this cinematic disaster that I was not expecting when I first placed it in my DVD player. I will be honest, I was taken aback when I first saw the budget. Riding low from the lack of budget in Alien 51, I thought this would follow the same fair. I was wrong. There was someone in this feature that knew how to use a computer, and while it may have been a Commodore 64, it was still appreciating to see. Sadly, that grew weak once we entered the locked complex. From not caring about any of the characters to jumping between moments of interest and filler, Alien Lockdown fizzled shortly after it took off. It started with an interesting premise that I thought they were going to expand upon, but that would have been wishful thinking. I think claustrophobia settled in during this film because I just couldn't get excited about anything that director Tim Cox presented to me.
The creature was definitely recycled from the film Alien vs. Predator and the characters just didn't go outside of their safety boxes. I knew nothing, nor did I care, about the creature killing the soldiers, because half the time I didn't even know their name. They were expendable to the director when they should have been bigger elements that would have led to a stronger story. Speaking of the story, there wasn't even one there. I am currently reading Make Your Own Damn Movie! by Lloyd Kaufman and in it he talks about not having a completed script while making your film because it allows you to put more into it later while making any adjustments. I do believe that director Tim Cox has read this book as well. Sadly, this was not a Troma production (which may have done a bit better), but instead a serious picture that had me shuttering throughout the night. With not having a completed script, I felt as if scenes randomly ended and left nothing up for further discussion. This only allowed the creature to continue to eat humans like they were going out of style. Again, I think what Tim Cox missed with this film was that he placed too much emphasis on the creature, and not enough on the human element surrounding the creature. I think if he would have taken a bit more time for the emotional element, he could have had a stronger story, better characters, and a more gripping picture. He did not, and thus Alien Lockdown just goes nowhere fast leaving us with a burning sensation in our eyes.
Overall, this film was a mess. The lack of story, characters, and development hurt more than it helped. This left plenty of time for director Tim Cox to spend on the creature, which it showed. While the creature was plagiarized from the Alien and Predator films, by the time that you get into this film you just don't care enough to argue. Mostly, what disappointed me about this film was the apparent disrespect to nature that Tim Cox showed. Not only with his decision to have the soldiers shoot the creature instead of question it first, but also with his ending that hurt more than just the creature, but all of humanity as well. This was a very pro-war, anti-question film that will subliminally hurt us in the long run. Films like these should be banned from our cinematic existence in hopes of creating stronger films that explore the depths of our minds. I do not suggest this film unless you are looking to remedy the pain of a root canal
then Alien Lockdown may be your relaxant.
Grade: * out of *****
