Monday 12 April 2010

CT 9: Alien Factor Live



Sometimes a film comes along that is simply stunning. Not stunning like "Oh my this is a brilliant piece of filmmaking", I mean stunning as in it leaves you stunned. Alien Factor is one such film. It has, to pardon the pun, the "wow factor" as in "wow that's a terrible beard and hairdo combo" or "woe, is that monster wearing sensible trousers?" The decisions taken in almost every instance seem to be the wrong ones. In the filmmakers' defence there is actually a half decent idea at the heart of the story but absolutely nobody involved has the talent to bring up above the mediocre chunder on show.

As such I quite enjoyed it. There's a lot in it to love, nothing of which the filmmakers meant. From the use of innappropriate cars clearly borrowed off of a mate for any official to the constant mentions of how bad the snow is, clearly scripted thinking there would be tons of the stuff when it came time to film on location when in fact there is none, Alien Factor provides more laughs than any comedy Hollywood will release this year. It also has one of the best characters to appear in any riffed movie in the shape of the sheriff played by what appears to be a local dude replete with awesome hairdo and a swagger that suggests "that's right, I'm playing the hero in a movie". Sadly, although not if you're wanting to laugh uproariously, he's balanced out by a monster that appears for the final battle that is so inept it makes the others in the film, even trouser monster, look great. It is achieved through a number of effects, all amazing in their sheer pishyness. The stop motion animation shows what Harryhausen's most famous creations would have worked had he lost his hands in an industrial accent but decided to continue doing the project he was working on anyway. It is then double exposed over footage of a tubby bloke with a beard falling about because the creature's supposed to be hitting him. Problem is it's completely see through thanks to a botch in the effect and just to confirm the endevour's ineptitude the wooden floor that it was sitting on when animated is still seen kind of haunting the forrest setting that the scene's supposed to take place in. Of course the entire fight hasn't been choreographed so most of the time either the monster and the bloke it's fighting actually stand in the same place, they completely miss one another with their respective attacks or the bloke throws himself to the ground like an Italian footballer while the thing just sits there having not even attempted to attack. then it just dies suddenly for no apparant reason. It makes the rake fight from Hobgoblins look professional. There is a better encounter between a beastie and a character though. The sheriff's deputy decides to go and hunt the monster having convinced himself that the old 50's sci-fi/horror get out clause fire may kill the creature so he sets out with a gas cannister. When he finally finds the monster does he douse it in petrol and throw a match at it in super cool slo-mo? Eh, no. Instead he just throws the cannister at it and runs. In a way this small moment sums up the entire film being at once dreadful and yet somehow glorious.

As you can imagine the Titans don't really have to work hard to make this edition of Cinematic Titanic hilarious. At moments they feel comfortable to just let the movie speak for itself, at which point it begins stuttering and slethering all over its chin. During a painfully long walking scene designed to pad out the film's running time, sorry, to "build tension", Josh flat out declares that the problem with riffing on a movie is that sometimes walking is just walking. Of course this makes it sound as though they've admitted defeat, which couldn't be further from the truth. It's really just a brilliant piece of self-reflexive humour. The riffing is in fact excellent throughout and has that same kinetic energy that made their previous live outing, East meets Watts, so infectious. It's an energy that has sometimes been found lacking in their studio based offerings. take Joel's bit during yet another walking scene when the editing takes a turn for the erratic. Now this is something that happens often in these shlocky movies and is easily commented on. Joel turns it into an act by illusionist Drake Unger who can make ladies disappear and then reappear elsewhere. It's a breathlessly clever way of riffing on a steadfast feature of the many movies riffed by him over the years. Alien Factor is full of these of course from the score by a guy the director knows who got a Moog synth for his Xmas to a complete lack of lighting in any night scenes. The riffing on these is constant and brilliant. Also look for the movie deciding to take a break and go outside to play with a ball because it's sunny and the drunk guy who has a house with two basements.

Alien Factor as a film falls into that "has to be seen to be believed" category. Any chance the multiple aliens stalking the inhabitants of a small town after a space freighter crashes near it plot had of being good is choked by the unshakable grasp of non-talent that infects this picture. The decision making is so bad that it turns it from being a low-budget sci-fi/horror into a spot on parody of a low-budget sci-fi/horror. Shame none of it was intended to be funny, but it makes it a must see for those fascinated by car crash cinema. Add to this some fantastic riffing and you have the second essential CT purchase in a row. So far the live DVDs have been so good that a return to the studio may actually be a letdown. Fingers crossed not, but for now live Cinematic titanic reigns supreme.

No comments: