TIFF Report: Evil Aliens Review
With two glowing reviews already in the can we felt we could take a couple days to get this review out since three glowing reviews likely wasn't going to be the magic number you needed to reach to convince yourself Evil Aliens is a must-see/must-own movie. That and we felt it wiser to get my Seven Swords review out first.
You know the story by now. Young Welsh woman, Cat, getting on in a little hanky panky with her boyfriend gets abducted and while he gets rodgered in a way that I don't even wish on my own enemies she becomes the next alien incubator. She calls up Michelle Fox and her news team at Wiierd World [think A Current Affair, Jerry Springer for the UFO enthusiast] and they're on the case. The English [ENGLISH!?! ptoooie!!!] troupe travel to the remote Welsh island via the Devil's Backbone, a remote road only usable at low tide. You've got your macho headed cameraman and soundman, the gay actor and hot stripper for the reenactments, and the lonely never-sexed nerd in tow for his expertise. Let the mayham ensue!
Evil Aliens is awash with horror/sci-fi references, some so quick you may lose them in a blink, but they are done so well that I don't think that even the hardest of hard-core genre geeks will groan about it. Building your splatter sequences on the familiar but also taking a chance on the unfamiliar writer/director Jake West envokes screams of delight and fear one minute to the next. He has so much fun creating each set piece. Talking to the audience afterwards he said, "We're on a farm. Okay, what can we use?&". If his cast could pick it up, turn it on, point it in the direction of an alen, or drive it, every method of blood and carange is just awesome.
Obviously for the ScreenAnarchy trio here we all love the combine thrasher sequence. And the alternate method of crucifixion on the cross, although bloody funny and anus clenching at the same time, actually made me have a 'historical fact' moment and remember that an ancient form of torture/execution was to grease up a pole, shove it where the sun don't shine and let the victim slide down the pole, dip them in tar and use them as a tikki torch for night parties - no lie. Now this was done with humor in mind and the victim of this cruel means of death probably liked it at first but DANG!
"Rule Number One - If you kill it your face must be sprayed with blood&" So much blood. With some other bodily fluids to add to the cocktail, West takes full advantage of hoses and hydraulics and douses his cast in blood in every frame. You haven't seen that many body parts since, dare I say it, Starship Troopers. Limbs! Limbs! I must have more limbs, damnit!
"Rule NumberTwo - If you want something done right... or done, do it yourself&" West and his team created their own visuals effects for this film setting up a makeshift digital animation studio in his living room. 150 shots to be exact. And for the most part they actually work though you're never taking anything really serious in the movie to begin with so what do a couple low-brow effects matter?
Evil Aliens may be set to become the next cult horror/sci-fi classic. There is certainly enough blood, limbs, hot babes and alien breasts [five in fact - because hey, who knows how many breasts alien women have anyways] to get any genre nut weak in the knees. It's damn funny as well. The point has been made that this may stand out as a greatest hits album versus your triple platinum sophmore release. Regardless of this, if this catches on and it achieves cult status West may very well be on the right path tread before by the likes of Raimi and Jackson.
