Wavelength

An unemployed musician and his psychic girlfriend stumble on a government conspiracy involving experiments on child-like aliens in this sci-fi themed paranoia thriller from 'China Syndrome' screenwriter Mike Gray. The film is powered through by a perfectly brooding Tangerine Dream music score and haunting sound effects and Robert Carradine makes for a sympathetic lead. The choice to have young boys play the decades-old aliens works very well too; there are some great sequences in which they travel through the city with childhood wonderment in their eyes and yet adult restraint, content to just observe. The midsection of the film is nevertheless rather weak as focus turns away from Carradine and the aliens to focus on government figures debating what to do. This departure serves a purpose as it highlights how there are no real antagonists in the tale: all the government want to do is learn about these creatures and prevent panic in the general public, however, the government figures never make for interesting characters. The film also has some irksome narration to begin with but thankfully this soon disappears. 'Wavelength' might not be a perfect motion picture, but it is very well crafted as far as low to medium budget science fiction films go, and its descent into obscurity over the years is sad but understandable. Critics of the film are all too eager to jump on its similarities to 'E.T.' and 'Starman', but this is a film that deserves to be judged on its own terms - especially since it was written before 'E.T.' and released before 'Starman' came out!

Substituted for expensive, spine-tingling special-effects, are an engaging story and credible performances, particularly from Cherie Currie. If you like seeing what a capable independent filmmaker can do with a limited budget - I recommend this film.

You can count on one hand the number of "aliens on earth" movies that are well made since the 1980's. "Wavelength", with a plot containing a few elements of several other sci-fi movies, pulls off an intriguing look into why we seem to have no knowledge of alien contact--only our ever increasing suspicions. The short length is perfect, as you care about the characters but don't have to wade through more-than-enough exposition to reach the thrilling denouement. However, if you go in expecting a big-bucks budget and effects you will not get your fill. Instead, enjoy the cast who carry off the narrative through good chemistry and solid, non-flashy acting. The director/screenwriter has given them a sci-fi film with plenty to work with, including an eye-popping finale. As other reviewers have previously noted, the Tangerine Dream filmscore is excellent, too. It is a shame that this little gem isn't available in a widescreen DVD format yet. Catch it some other way when you can.

Burnt out Hollywood musician Bobby Sinclair (Robert Carradine) and his girlfriend Iris (Cherie Currie) get wrapped up in a government extraterrestrial conspiracy after she starts "hearing" sounds coming from a nearby old Army facility in the Hollywood hills. With the help of old timer Dan (Keenan Wynn), the duo break into the facility and discover it runs seven stories into the ground and a trio of captured aliens are housed on the bottom floor. Naturally, the government isn't too happy with them there, until they find out Iris is on the same wavelength as the aliens.

Obviously inspired by Steven Spielberg's CLOSE ENCOUNTERS..., this one is interesting in that it takes the darker "fourth kind" approach whereas Spielberg went lighter with E.T. shot in the same year. This features likable leads and the script that moves pretty fast but also injects some unpretentious philosophy. Interestingly, this resembles the later STARMAN (1985) in many regards, right down to the oppressive military and a reflective orb coming down in the middle of the desert for pick-up. The aliens are played by three kids painted brown and they are all good in their silent roles. Director Mike Gray certainly has had an interesting career. He did some documentary work in the early 70s, wrote THE CHINA SYNDROME, made his feature debut with this and then moved onto writing/producing sci-fi TV stuff like STARMAN and STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION. Features a great score by Tangerine Dream.

I love to debate with those who claimed this was a rip-off of E.T... While E.T. was good, it was obviously more cute with cute kids and a cute alien. Wavelength is much more adult. I didn't see this as the same film as E.T. at all, if anything, I found John Carpenter's film Starman a replica of Wavelength--it came two years after Wavelength and had the EXACT same silver sphere spaceship hovering in the desert!!

The story of someone discovering aliens in a secret underground government complex may not be new, but it's how the story is told and how the characters affect us that make it work. Robert Carradine is likeable and even sings a few of his own songs. Would have been nice to add those to the soundtrack CD, but I can't complain about having this great Tangerine Dream score (particularly the Church Theme). Former Runaways band member Cherie Currie was a nice surprise in the cast--it's a shame someone felt it necessary to exploit her by having her in a brief nude scene. It's so cliche to have a naked woman get out of bed and never the man...it's as if to say, yeah, we can pull in the male audience by giving them a naked woman to gawk at. Since this was from New World Pictures, I had to check to make sure Roger Corman wasn't listed as producer since his name (like John Landis) automatically means breasts are mandatory. Keenan Wynn adds sass as usual to any film he's in, and doesn't disappoint.

The real stars are the aliens. It's wonderful to see how much can be conveyed without dialogue! One particular moment of brilliance (and a nice comment on religious ideology) is when they are whisked into a church to hide and Carradine and Currie try to get the aliens to put clothes on to disguise them as children. At first the aliens won't cooperate, but when they look up at a statue of Jesus on the cross (and seeing the despair on Jesus' face), they quickly start to grab for the clothes! That scene deserves to be listed as one of the all-time best scenes in film. It's important to note too that the minimalist makeup job for the aliens is very good, I didn't notice any seams or wrinkles on the skin. They seemed naked, but who's to say what beings from other worlds wear?

Nice pacing, believable performances, great Tangerine Dream score, and good use of location (yes, using the desert is economical, but the final sequence is a wow), and the emphasis on the drama of the situation instead of bombastic sci-fi visuals make Wavelength a worthwhile time. I've seen and forgotten many films in my life, and when a film like this is one you think about once in a while, then it did its job well.

I only hope that someday it's re-issued on DVD and given the chance to be re-discovered and acknowledged!