Alien Siege

Once upon a time there was new television programming on Saturday night. Several of the network’s best series were viewed on that night. Then, a few years back something seems to have happened. It almost appears as if the studio executives of all the networks got together and agreed that Saturday night would be a wasteland of repeats, often of shows first broadcast only a few days earlier. One network decided to go against this tide of repetition and show first run films, the Sci-Fi Channel. Now the films they show are not the best of the genre but they are something different and there are a few gems to be found. Typically they are made on the cheap, under five million dollars each. Now that may seem like a lot but now that audiences are used to blockbuster science fiction with budgets approaching a quarter of a billion believe me, they are done on the cheap. This doesn’t mean that some of them don’t have interesting stories, some do. A lot a really badly done but for many viewers it beats watching another re-run of a crime drama. Okay, there are DVDs, DVRs VOD and a plethora of initials to filling in this void in programming but sometimes you just want to kick back and watch something new no matter what. This is especially true with a genre like science fiction. It’s like pizza, even when it’s not great it’s still pizza. The film under consideration here is ‘Alien Siege’. As these so-called ‘Saturday night specials’ go it is a bit above par. While it is true that the plot is implausible, the special effects are mediocre and the acting is about on the level of a good community center troupe over all the film is fun.

The best way to consider this type of film is to get into the correct mind set. For those of us who grew up in the fifties we have watched more than our share of bad Sci-Fi but we enjoyed it. As kids it was those old space monster flicks, pulp comics and twenty-five cent novels that formed out love of the genre. We were able to look past the fact that we could see the zipper on the monster’s costume or the guy almost out of the frame was pushing the creature with a very visible stick. To get the most out of ‘Alien Siege’ try to forget you are an adult. If you can recapture the little kid inside that just wants to have some for about an hour and a half then you will be able to get through this flick and enjoy it. Not every film has to be technically perfect or even close to it. Some just are what they are, meant to entertain for a little while.

An alien race called the Kulku has landed on Earth. They look exactly like us even to the point that their ambassador has a grey van dyke beard. I suppose that some bad fashion choices are universal. It is also a good thing that they look human since special effects makeup is expensive and the budget is a tight one. The Kulju do have a communication device embedded in their cheeks which is better than misplacing your cell phone I guess. They are also technologically superior to us which should be no surprise since they can get here but we can’t even put a man on the moon any more. When you think about it how superior can they be since they haven’t gotten around male pattern baldness either. The Kulku show their might off with an orbiting ray that destroys whole cities including Los Angels. The nations of the world are soon forced to capitulate to the alien invaders. Their race is dying out due to a raging virus back home. They need human blood to effect a cure. It certainly seems that Earth is considered the intergalactic Costco for air, water and occasion ‘to serve man’ meal or in this case in the pharmaceutical aisle, our blood. Perhaps the Kulku home world government put all their resources into death rays and inter-stellar transportation instead of a little bio-medical research. The demands of the Kulku are for eight million human beings to be sacrificed for their entire quantity of blood. It would have been better for us if they could use a pint or two from all 7 billion people but and alien blood bank wouldn’t have made for much of a story. Quotas are set up for each nation and America’s share is 800,000 humans. Some of the nations of the world have emptied their prisons to make their share up. Fortunately the Kulku are not overly concerned with the quality just the quantity. Since we are a democratic nation we come up with a lottery where if your number is picked you about 24 hours have to live before you are turned to a liquid. Things get a little too personal when a scientist, Steven Chase (Brad Johnson) gets some information that his daughter Heather (Erin Ross) will be included in the next round of sacrifices. Apparently there are some people in the States who remember the mini series ‘V’ and they decide to form a resistance group to fight the alien menace. Perhaps some of the groups in the south west that are against illegal aliens can join up. The Army captures Heather and Steven has to join up with the resistance to get her back.

Another good thing about these little flicks from the Sci-Fi Channel is they give a chance for new writers and directors. In this case this is the freshman effort in both fields for Robert Stadd. He does a very good job especially considering the restraints of time and budget he had to face. The pacing is excellent. He gets right into the story line after a little necessary exposition. Once things get moving it is a balance of action and some more dramatic moments with even a little romantic sub-plot added for good measure. Some of the special effects are pretty standard faire. There is the required shot of inside the alien ship showing the wrapped human bodies by the tens of thousands. The body under the alien treatment melting away was pretty cool for a TV flick. Brad Johnson is believable as a father trying to save his daughter at any cost. Erin Ross has the damsel in distress vibe down pat and comes off as well as any fifties Sci-Fi actress. There is even a little part for Carl Weathers who had a good fight with an alien in ‘Predator’ back in the day.

Image Entertainment has one of the most eclectic DVDs on the market. They have been releasing these little Sci-Fi Channel flicks for awhile now and I love it. This one is a solid piece of entertainment that is great for a slow TV night. This is one that is worth having and enjoying.

Posted 11/25/07