It Came from Somewhere

I enjoyed it from the start to the finish. It is one of those movies that left me smiling and ready to watch again. It pokes fun of the B movies of the 50's but it isn't a spoof, it is a love letter, and a very good one at that. The cheap props and cheesy dialogue are part of what makes it so appealing.

When a flying saucer crashes on Earth, chaos ensues. The interaction between the aliens and the humans is a lot of fun and and filled with several laugh out loud moments. The creature wreaking havoc reminded me of Frankenstein's monster. In fact, several scenes seemed to be a direct tip of the hat to the classic Boris Karloff film. It is a new film but very easily sits among the films that inspired it.

My first impression was how adorable the actors were, all doing their best to mimic teenagers from those old education films and of course, the scifi genre of the fifties. (I know I am stating the obvious, but what the heck) Yes it is Ed woodian. (Roger Coreman had slightly better production value) My favorite cheesy special effect was the ray gun that distintegrated flesh. When I was a kid and I saw Teenagers from Outer space on TV, I thought it was the coolest movie ever, giant lobsters and all! (I was seven years old) The movie also reminded me of The Invasion of the Saucer Men. Again, small town teenagers saving the earth from cabbage headed martians with their car head lights! And who can forget the crawling hands equiped with eye balls ! ICFS was great fun to watch and I applaud the homage to bad cinema. If only MST3000 were still around!

It Came From Somewhere is a '50s style science fiction/teen movie. Two alien beings crash land on earth. They are transporting a dangerous creature that gets loose. The alien beings force a group of friends to help them look for the creature. Meanwhile the creature is making the rounds and kills a couple of the townsfolk. One of the alien beings is rather trigger happy, meaning that she enjoys killing. She kills plenty of towns people. The other alien being falls in love with one of the girls in the group, Patty.

It Came From Somewhere is a fun throwback film. It's done in the 1950's style. I liked the old style intros before the film too.

I'll start this review with a statement. The indie film world needed a film like this. Now that that's out of the way, on with the review.

It Came from Somewhere is one of those films where you sit back and enjoy it for what it is. A campy, cheese filled sandwich that oozes the cheese out of the side of the bread after you take a bite. When the opening minute of the film, actually before the actual film even begins, featured ads from a drive-in theater I knew I was in for something different. What makes this film stand out is how it was filmed. No 4K, no wide screen, instead shot in B/W, 4:3 ratio and adding to the look, screen scratches and blemishes are scattered throughout the film. It really appeared as if it was filmed in the 1950's.

Okay, so it looked as it was filmed in the 50's you ask, how was the film itself. Bad, and I mean that as a compliment. The acting was over the top, the opening monologue made absolutely no sense but that was intentional (an homage to Plan 9) The sets, I don't want to spoil anything but the interior of the spaceship, priceless. The creature, Space-Clops, is exactly what you'd expect in a film like this. I must add, not all of the film is good bad, there are several tender moments between a young girl, Mary, and space-clops that came out of no where and I wasn't expecting. That brings me to this. You kind of care about the characters and what happens to them, something rare in B films of the decade. There's horror, a love story, and a short tempered alien vaporizing everyone she sees and what you get is an enjoyable film.

Credit to where credit is due. Hermann and the cast did a remarkable job bringing the 50's back, Mystery Science Theater 3000 would be proud.

As a side note, I managed to catch four references from 50's B films, older films, and a film from the 80's, throughout its 1 hour runtime.

From the very first frame, inviting you to the snack bar and reminding you where to return a broken car speaker, I was transported back to my youth at the drive in movies. Nostalgia at it's finest. If you're not old, you should still watch it, so you can see what we thought was so great...and still is.

The props were funny as all get out. Was that space ship really a tin foil pie tin attached to a frisbee? It sure looked like it. Love it for what it is, no one is trying to make you think it's a real space ship.

I got a l lot of spontaneous laughs while watching this film. They appeared out of nowhere, but there they were. The writer has a very subtle sense of humor which matches my own. One that comes to mind is when the male alien's voice changes when speaking first to his new love, and then to his cohort.

I thought all the acting was spot on with just the right amount of overacting as befits the times. All in all, I loved this film.