It Came from Outer Space II

As is common in very bad films plenty of face to face shouting by the macho men of the town to go with the other many instances of bad acting, just about the whole film was very bad acting. Odd that the main character's Toyota had a "GB" sticker on the back of it, were they pretending that it was a Land Rover but couldn't afford one?

This is a very bad film in every way possible and should be avoided as it's not in the category of being too bad that it's good, it's just very bad with zero redeeming features.

Do not waste any of your time watching it as you will never get that time back again.

It was Ray Bradbury's name that brought this movie to my attention. Just before Christmas and before I started reviewing I had watched, and enjoyed, the original. So there wasn't much choice but to view the sequel... even though it's not. This is actually a brought-up-to-date remake.

However, even though it has Bradbury's name it wasn't as good as I hoped it would be. That is probably due to him not having his screenplay filmed. He actually had four screenplays for the movie and none of them was chosen, not for the original and not for this remake (Harry Essex scripted the original while Ken and Jim Wheat have written this one.) I've not read the Bradbury versions, though being a fan I can honestly believe they might be better than what we received here. Since he was still alive when this was filmed I would have asked him to update the script for the modern age. Had there been issues with the original, his gained experience from 1953 to '96 should have been able to smooth them out.

That said, Ken and Jim Wheat don't do a bad job of bringing this film up to date. However, they're not too good at characterisation or flow. Though some of this could be down to the director Roger Duchowny. What this needed was an injection of excitement and relatable characters. Most of the people in the town are bleak and depressing; though this is believable, the way they are handled makes them more two-dimensional than possessing deep personalities and was a major cause of my boredom. Even the likes of Elizabeth Pena, Dean Norris, and Mickey Jones who are good actors and had a few decent scene's still couldn't inject life into the dullness.

The other cause of my dissatisfaction is the slowness of the pace. This could have been used to create atmosphere and draw the viewer in. Sadly this wasn't the case and only added to the films dullness.

The special effects are okay for the period and there are some nice ideas though due to the slow pace and the way they were shown their impact is dulled and not fully utilised.

This is one of those films I would recommend to only the die-hard sci-fi fans and lovers of the original film. However, if you want to watch a decent film I'd say watch the original as it's much better on every count, especially if you've never seen it. There's a reason it's a classic and this one is seldom heard of.

They picked good actors and went through the motions well. If you did not see the original Based on a Ray Bradbury story, it could hold its own as a standard "blob from space" movie.

Basically, something comes from space and holds a small town at bay. You must ask why and how this could happen. Maybe you will still not get a clear answer. However, it is mostly "stay in the car scenes."

You may recognize Elizabeth Peña who plays the mother Ellen Fields. She is well known for major films such as "Jacob's Ladder" (1990) and "Vibes" (1998).

The filming locations may also look familiar: San Gabriel Mountains, California, USA Antelope Valley, California, USA Littlerock, California, USA.

The photographer Jack Putnam (Brian Kerwin) returns to his hometown in the desert, where he meets old friends. The boy Stevie Fields (Jonathan Carrasco), who is raised by his mother Ellen Fields (Elizabeth Peña) alone and with no friends, tries to draw Jack's attention and invites him to go to a hill in the desert to take pictures. They go together and Jack lends a camera to Stevie. Out of the blue, they see something falling from the sky with a storm. Out of the blue, the water disappears, there is a power-cut and the temperature becomes unbearably high. Soon people realize that they are trapped inside the town. When some residents change their behaviors and Stevie is missing, Jack drives to the hill and sees a rock growing bigger and bigger and finds that there are aliens in town.

"It Came from Outer Space II" is an unnecessary sci-fi and a waste of time to the viewers. The teleplay is boring, with a corny conclusion. The romance of Jack and Ellen has no chemistry and does exist only to give a happy ending. Jack's friend Alan Paxson is one of the best characters of this movie and is the only to die in the story. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "A Ameaça que Veio do Espaço" ("The Threat that Came from the Space")

I've seen this movie more than once. It isn't the greatest scifi flick I've every seen, but it is not a bad movie. The acting is good and the characters are more "real" than most in low budget sci fi. (At least it isn't full of dumb bimbos like so many other low budget scifi.) I especially like Elizabeth Pena. She is a good actress and she does worried single mother as well as any and better than some.

Don't let the nay sayers run you off. See it for yourself and judge it for yourself.