It Came from Somewhere Else

The makers of this movie were obviously ambitious enough to get it filmed on a shoestring budget, without the shoe and without the string. It also looks like they used a lot of amateur actors, or just local townspeople.

But what the filmmakers had going for them were numerous humorous ideas, that are witty enough that they transcend the cheapness of the movie itself.

I think this movie is what a film by John Landis, Jim Abrams and the Zuckers would have looked like if they were in college and had no money to make it. And that's part of this movie's charm. Like their bigger budget movies, this film is a parody. And it works.

One really clever idea that's ongoing in the film -- most of the movie is in black & white, but switches to color every time there is gratuitous nudity or violence, then switches back to black & white. Also, some of the bad acting appears to be intentional, as a send-up to many of the old black & white sci-fi movies of the 50's.

Perhaps I'm giving the filmmakers too much credit, but I think they knew exactly what they wanted to make, but didn't have the resources to get it just right. But it is still enjoyable. Too bad it is impossible to find.