Directed by: Don Dohler
Starring: Tom Griffin, Jamie Zemarel, Karin Kardian, George Stover, Don Leifert
From: Amazing Film Productions
This isn’t Birdemic bad, yet it’s still charmingly lo-fi bad. Besides this being my first Don Dohler movie, the main reason I checked this out is to be amused that this was the first credit for J.J. ABRAMS, who not only contributed to the score but also did some sound effects. As he loves Phantasm to the point that his company helped restore the film and it was the source of the name Captain Phasma-a shame that character did not do much of anything in the new trilogy-without an iota of research I’ll still presume he is not ashamed about the start of his career. As for the score, it’s of the synth variety-sometimes dark & brooding.
From what little I know, Dohler was all about the aliens crashing on Earth then killing many SOB’s. In this case, an ugly-looking MF’er-a bipedal creature-murders so many fools, either via his laser blaster which disintegrates humans/vehicles on impact or via its own brute strength. For reasons unknown to me, the brown nightbeast wears what can be best described as a silver disco jumpsuit! For those that like gore, this has a few rather visceral scenes that don’t look terrible considering the budget.
The real-life town of Perry Hall, Maryland gets wrecked as the town sheriff and his underlings (including a lady. Even though it was played by the hairdresser of the director’s aunt, she had to be asked to do a nude scene, which she did. Awkward… although not as much as the “sex scene” itself!) attempt to stop it. Of course, there’s a mayor who is a buffoon and doesn’t listen to the sheriff’s demands. Of course, there’s a heel biker who is an abusive A-hole that complicates things.
Dohler at least does try; the majority of the night footage features fog and there’s even some attempt at bright lights to silhouette the titular beast. That said, this technically isn’t a good movie; the story and acting (as shown already, there are amateurs in key roles) certainly can be nitpicked if you desire. At least the plot itself isn’t an incomprehensible mess-it can be followed even if it takes inspiration from the likes of Jaws… why not rip off plot points from the best? There’s gore, T&A, (unintentional) laughs, a fight involving the biker-of course known as Drago!-and a ditzy blonde assistant to the mayor; in other words, there is enough present where many will think this has campy charms & thus will have a good time w/ this schlock.
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