Alien Raiders

In Buck Lake, Arizona, the Hastings Supermarket is apparently assaulted by a group of terrorists leaded by Ritter (Carlos Bernard) that takes clients and employees in a hostage situation. One of the team members, Spooky (Philip Newby), examines the hostages detecting who should be executed and releasing the others. When Spooky is killed by the security cop, the six last shoppers and employees are kept tied and submitted to a test in one finger. Sooner the abductors reveal that they are a team of scientists containing an alien outbreak and avoid an invasion.

The tense and claustrophobic "Alien Raiders" has a great concept and good story. The screenplay could have a better development of characters and situation, since the identity of the king was very predictable for me; but considering the simplicity of the plot associated to the low-budget, the result was a remarkable movie with a great make-up and few special effects that exceeded my best expectations. The cast has magnificent performances and it was great to see Rockmond "C-Note" Dunbar and Mathew "Keith Charles" St. Patrick again on the screen. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Refém do Desconhecido" ("Hostage of the Unknown")

I really love it when an independent film is made well. I'm all for the underdog rising above the corporate giants with their millions and billions. A film doesn't always need expensive special effects (yes sometimes they do blow u away, but the use of CGI is getting ridiculous now), and a worthy script with good actors and some creative low budget FX can be enough to keep you entertained....if you haven't been brainwashed yet that is. Getting to my point, Alien Raiders delivers because you don't expect it too (I think they chose the name because of that reason). The name sucks, the beginning with the dodgy camcording makes you think 'is this what it's gonna be like', and then wallop you become absorbed in this little gem. It may be because I love alien movies, and people's interpretations on the whole alien invasion, including what they look like and what power they possess. Yes the film is pretty much all in a supermarket and yes the protectors of the universe do some really stupid things, but we're all human. You have to look at Alien Raiders for what it is and appreciate how well it was delivered for it's small budget. The actors did a great job, they we're very convincing, and the raiders we're relentless throughout which was great. If they think you're an alien well you're in big trouble, coz they don't like aliens not one bit. The twist was mildly obvious but still it could only be one of the 5 or 6 hostages so what do you expect. Those that have been hating on this are not fans of indie flicks obviously, and probably watch Die Hard 4.0 (which I loved by the way) and think that if a car doesn't take out a helicopter then it ain't worth watching. I've seen many bad indie horror flicks and thats why this gets positive comments from me. It stands out from the crowd and except for the supermarket setting has no similarities, and is not a copy of 'The Mist' (which again I loved). Give it a go...if you don't like it....well tough I did.

This low budget but impressive little sci fi horror flick from Warner home video is a radical take on the body snatchers model. Most of the movie takes place in a supermarket where thugs take the staff and customers hostage. But as the film moves on we discover they are hunting aliens who are taken over people and one of the leaders us there. The movie is gory and fun with impressive practical effects and confident direction. It's also surprisingly creative given how many times the treatment has been done. There are some light pacing issues but all in all it's a surprisingly good watch.

3.5/5

That old story. A group of people in a closed environment trying to figure out who has been infected with an Alien virus. Does that ring a bell? That's right, it's another "The Thing" rip off. Only this movie had a very restricted budget.

Still, what "Alien Raiders" lacks in financial resources, original plot points or creative ideas for a better title, it makes up with a lot of heart blood. The makers at least try to make this interesting and thrilling and for the most part they succeed.

There are a few flaws, however: Firstly, the Alien Raiders operate like amateurs, which is annoying but forgivable. What's worse is that the monster, once it rears its ugly head, doesn't look menacing or frightening. It's just a guy running around to bad sound effects. That kills a lot of tension. Finally, the twist ending is totally predictable. They could have at least realized it in a more appealing way, but the way the movie ends just makes you shrug your shoulder and wonder why you didn't spend the last one and a half hours re-watching "The Thing".

Judging by the title, the DVD-cover and the year of release, I would normally never even bother to watch this "Alien Raiders"… I'm a huge fan of old alien invasion movies, more particularly from the fifties and the eighties, because they feature crazy chaotic plots, outrageously cheesy special effects and a cast full of washed up B- movie stars. I don't like "new" alien invasion movies because they usually feature imbecilic plots and lousy computer-engineered effects. But a friend advised me to nevertheless check out "Alien Raiders", and I can understand why, because this is definitely one of the more inspired and entertaining low-budget Sci-Fi movies of the past two decades. The film is arguably derivative of the previous year's hit film "The Mist", as it copies the setting as well as a handful of other ideas, but there are plenty of aspects to guarantee an hour and a half of good old-fashioned and action packed Sci-Fi/horror fun. Two days before Christmas, in the sleepy little time of Buck Lake – Arizona, a troop of heavily armed militants invade the cozy Hasting Supermarket shortly before closing time. Everyone assumes they are robbers or terrorists, but in fact they are some kind of violent scientists in search for extraterrestrial parasites that are allegedly present here. The group's well-planned routing goes awry when their paranormal medium (a big-eyed freak that scans people's brains) gets shot and they have to conduct their alien identification tests via old-fashioned and unorthodox methods. Meanwhile, police forces and hostage negotiators gather outside the supermarket. What I like most about "Alien Raiders" is that it's 100% unpretentious and straightforward. It's clear that director Ben Rock and his crew don't aim to win any originality prices or cinematography Oscars, but at least everyone who was involved in this production does their job professionally. The acting performances are more than decent, without any big names in the cast list, and there are a couple of nicely gooey make-up effects and nasty slaughters. The last 10-15 minutes are rather dull, predictable and disappointing