Relatively obscure genre film-maker Robert Emenegger happily shares some of Roger Corman's flair for getting as much B-Movie bang for his buck as is humanly possible, since Emenegger's deft, unexpectedly captivating 'Captive' proves to be an engaging, remarkably cohesive and competently made micro-budget 80s Sci-fi thriller that finds belovedly barnstorming B-Movie icon Cameron Mitchell on blazingly bellicose form as the vicious hardline militarist Styrolian 'Gropper' who unexpectedly crash lands on earth with his even tempered, far less lazer-happy 'Tuber' pilot Cal (David Ladd).
After these mismatched aliens hold the Carter family hostage the film takes a decidedly nastier turn with the ill-natured Gropper becoming increasingly abusive, his gleeful cruelty making 'Captive' thematically darker than one might have initially expected! There is a remarkable amount of creative talent involved here, Anne Spielberg is credited with directing the interior 'Earth Space Force' sequences, 'familiar face, not name character actor', Michael Gregory makes an appearance, and luminous Lori 'Blood Bath' Saunders is absolutely adorable as Cal's farm girl next-door sweetheart, with grizzly Dan 'They call me Trinity' Sturkis on point as the prototypically ornery, plaid-shirt-wearing, shot-Gunning Grandpa Carter. Fans of Don Dohler and Norman J. Warren should groove most righteously on 'Captive', and Emenegger's rudimentary, super-squelchy synth score is fuzzy lo-fi highlight!
