Alien from L.A.

A California valley girl named Wanda Saknussemm (Kathy Ireland), desperately searching for a means to make a new start and escape her nerdish tendencies, goes to Africa in search of her absentee archaeologist father following reports he may have fallen into a bottomless pit only for her to stumble and fall down the same hole. She winds up in a bizarre and strange underground city named Atlantis which just might be at the center of the Earth. There she befriends a miner she calls "Gus" and continues searching for her long lost Papa. However those dwelling in the underground city have heard rumors of there being aliens from the surface world hidden amongst them and despite the government's constant denial that aliens exist on television, they still offer rewards for the capture of anyone who might be thought an "alien" making Wanda a target for many unscrupulous types.

This is a relatively harmless fantasy time-waster. In fact, the non-discriminating fantasy viewer may actually enjoy this one. This is kind of like a California Valley Girl version of ALICE IN WONDERLAND with a bit of THE WIZARD OF OZ thrown in filtered through a BLADE RUNNER-esquire setting with the train of events playing out rather like SPACEHUNTER but this movie isn't anywhere near as good as any of those. I have to admit I actually had fun watching this though it's just so outrageous and outlandish in its approach. The sets too prove surprisingly effective for a low budget movie. Plus I always get a kick out of the state controlled television announcements which prove incredibly transparent in their intent. While this is definitely not for everyone (it stars Kathy Ireland who's really no actress, borrows most of its plot from other movies and things always feel a little too safe and sure for our leads), there are those who might find enjoyment here although it's a little tough to explain why exactly. Just the harmless fun of it all I guess.

Binge watching Jules Verne's adaptations I was about to watch the 1988 version when I noticed it was it was actually a sequel to this odd little film.

Starring the always adorable Kathy Ireland with her baby voice cranked right up and Thom "Return of the Living Dead/Friday 13th" Matthews it's an odd little film that nobody would ever connect to Verne's work.

It tells the story of a nerdy young girl who goes in search of her missing father and finds herself trapped beneath the earth in the legendary city of Atlantis. Trouble is the people there don't believe in the "Above world" and therefore she finds herself an alien in a hostile land.

Clearly not based on Verne's novels we see no giant monsters here, just warring factions and a really strong 80's vibe.

The film has a really critically low rating on IMDB and though I think this is a bad film it's not really "That" bad. Sadly it's structure is awful, the whole thing is ugly as hell, the writing is poor and it doesn't have much going for it.

Certainly niche viewing I'd say its one for Kathy Ireland fans only.

The Good:

Erm.....

The Bad:

Ridiculous levels of overacting

Terribly paced

Not the most visually pleasing film

Many may find Irelands voice grinds after a while

I really like Alien From L.A. Maybe It's because I like Kathy Ireland's sweet little voice? They used to show this on HBO & Showtime in the early 1990's.

Sure, Alien From L.A. is a complete fantasy and way over the top but it has a certain charm to it that i really love. It truly has that Roger Corman B-Movie "cult atmosphere" going for it. Personally i would not change a thing about the movie. It is so much better than similar types of films released in the last few years.

Most people probably don't like this film because it seems so unrealistic. I think that it was really meant to be satirical comedy, and only a limited percentage of viewers will actually "get" it.

Hopefully it will be released on DVD sometime in the near future, as it is rumored to be!

This film isn't for everybody. It's not realistic. It has bad special effects, a poorly written plot, etc. But if you enjoy campy, fun films that were intended to be bad, then you probably ought to rent this. I would put it in the same genre as "Joe versus the Volcano", "Earth Girls are Easy", "It came from Outer Space", and all of the "Naked Gun" movies. Kathy Ireland is cute and fun to watch. The story is remarkably stupid, but at the end of the film, I could honestly say, "I had a good time". So, I give it a "10".

Mystery Science Theater 3000 took this very bad film (and one of the most current that they used) and made a very funny comedy bit out of it. It is a far more satisfying way to watch the film!