I had a passing social acquaintance in the mid 90s with director Vik Rubenfeld and although we really didn't interact, from what I saw he did seem to want to help out up and coming writers.
So when I saw his name attached Alien Private Eye on the Vinegar Syndrome release, I knew I had to check it out.
Wow, it's bad.
Really bad.
It's almost "The Room" bad.
The plot is indescribably nonsensical and the acting is completely over the top bad.
I mean I have no idea why John Alexander does a Peter Lorre impression throughout the entire movie but since pretty much everyone else is completely over the top here, you just shrug your shoulders and say, "Eh, why not?"
The plot involves a criminal gang that manages to get their hands on an alien device that makes a super addictive version of crack.
Enter alien visitor (you can tell he's an alien by his pointed ears, which are concealed by his hilariously 1980s Pimp hat) Lemro who's vacationing on Earth, near Hollywood and is for some reason, working as a Private Detective.
He gets smitten with Earth girl Rene and gets pulled into the drug gangs antics when Rene's brother Rob (Played by Nur Nur Cummings. Really, that's his listed name) gets hooked on the alien drug called Soma against his will.
Lemro gets involved because of Rene and winds up with half the device and the gang hot on their tail.
That's the basic plot and if that doesn't do it for you, well there's plenty of bad over the top acting, bad martial arts battles, an obligatory car chase, bad wooden acting by the two female leads, some sex and nudity, a bad synthesizer music score, Costumes that showcase the worst of the 1980s fashion, and static cinematography.
I see Vik later created the CBS network drama Early Edition so I guess he didn't go full blown Tommy Wiseau.
I'm just not sure what he was thinking when he made this film.
