Alien Trespass is a fun movie. It's a quirky film that playfully tries to pass itself off as a "lost" sci-fi epic from 1957 that has recently been discovered. Well, the bright color and limited use of computer effects blow that out of the water. Not to mention a character saying, "I gotta take a whiz". But this movie isn't trying to replicate a 50s film to the letter, instead it's done in the same style as far as the storyline goes, as well as the acting style.
The plot takes elements from classic 50s sci-fi films and puts them in a blender for an entertaining story. In the film, an intergalactic "federal marshal" named Urp lands on Earth to apprehend a Ghota, which looks like a large pickle with tentacles and one eye. Temporarily using the body of a pipe smoking astronomer, Ted Lewis, the spacecop clumsily makes his way through town, knowing practically nothing about how to interact with human beings. Meanwhile, the dreaded Ghota is going on a killing spree, eating everyone in it's path and leaving only slimy puddles behind. The disappearances get the police thinking the culprit may be Lewis, as his new and bizarre behavior is suspicious. Plus, there are various people including two teenage lovers, who have seen the Ghota and are trying to convince people. The only one who seems to believe the incredible story is a waitress at the local diner who teams up with Urp for the big showdown with the Ghota.
This film is a tribute and an homage, but it is not a parody or spoof exactly. I've never been all that fond of spoofs of this kind of material as they seem unnecessary. After all, you're trying to spoof something that was already funny to begin with. Since the acting and writing style here are in the vein of the 50s, the laughs don't come from wink-winks and nudge-nudges to the audience, but instead come from the same things that made you laugh at those old movies. The acting is impressive(especially from lead Eric McCormack) considering that trying to learn the acting style of this time period and genre can't be as easy as it looks.
It's not perfect by any means. I feel it should have been done in Black & White and eliminated the scarce computer graphics altogether, as it tends to go against the overall cheapness the movie is going for. Oh, well.
The disc has some nice extras with "vintage" interviews with the cast as well as legitimate interviews with director Goodwin and Eric McCormack.
Many folks are gonna walk away from this thinking it's terrible, especially if they have no clue what the whole thing was supposed to be. But to us oddballs that adore the schlocky sci-fi films of the 50s, Alien Trespass is a real treat.
