Movie Review of Alien Trespass

Eric McCormack, Jenni Baird Star in Comedy Science Fiction Thriller

Mar 31, 2009

In the style of 1950s low-budget sci-fi movies, this new film focuses on two aliens who trespass in a small California town.

Simultaneously a tribute and spoof to the genre, this comedy/horror/sci-fi film recreates the hand-made monsters, shiny space suits, screaming close-ups, and classic 1950s housewives from that era.

An Astronomer and a Waitress Fight the Space Alien

A lonely waitress (Jenni Baird), a nerdy astronomer named Dr. Ted Lewis (Eric McCormack) married to the perfect housewife (Jody Thompson), and some teenagers witness the crash of an alien spaceship out in the Mojave Desert. The alien Urp assumes the identity of the astronomer and tries to reclaim his prisoner. This prisoner is a different form of alien being called a Ghota, capable of dividing and conquering (with its own unique method).

Meanwhile, poor Mrs. Lewis wonders what happened to her nerdy husband, who suddenly has become three times as nerdy as usual. He has started speaking about himself in the third person, can’t identify normal household items, forgot how to drive a car, and wears inappropriate clothing.

The local police (Dan Lauria, Robert Patrick, Sage Brocklebank) alternate between disbelief and cluelessness, and offer little in the way of help to local residents. Tammy, the waitress, soon discovers that the strangely attractive Urp may be her only chance at survival. Believing his strange story, ignoring the sexual chemistry between them, and fighting off the terrifying Ghota, however, prove extremely difficult for the independent young woman.

A Tribute to 1950s Sci-Fi Horror Films

The silly blob-like alien and the stilted acting, combined with all those melodramatic screams from the women, make Alien Trespass a fun tribute to 1950s sci-fi horror films, but unfortunately not quite fun enough. Like other films that attempt to flashback and reproduce not only the time, but also the style of movie from the past, Alien Trespass is at once stylish and ambitious, yet ultimately unsuccessful.

Consider the entertaining Down With Love starring Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor that attempted to recreate those playful sexual innuendo-laced romantic comedies from the 1960s. Despite a clever script, charismatic actors, and meticulous attention to costume and set design in Down With Love, today’s web-surfing, short attention-spanned audiences never warmed up to the idea of a 1960s-type of film made in 2003.

Likewise, with modern computer graphics that make every kind of monster, alien, and superhero seem magically real, the slow-paced 1950s sci-fi thrillers seem far less thrilling. So if a sci-fi comedy thriller has outdated science and lacks the ability to thrill, then it better be extremely funny. Although the dichotomy between then and now provides the humor for Alien Trespass, the film takes itself too seriously most of the time and the actual laughs are as hard to find as a brave cop in this Mojave Desert town.

The copyright of the article Movie Review of Alien Trespass in Sci-Fi/Fantasy Films is owned by Leslie C. Halpern. Permission to republish Movie Review of Alien Trespass in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.