DVD Review: Alien Infiltration / Cert: 15 / Director: Colin Theys / Screenplay: John Doolan / Starring: Lindsay Jeremy London, Roddy Piper, Cuyle Carvin, Adrienne LaValley / Release Date: Out Now

Some B-movies effortlessly achieve instant cult movie status, others try hard to achieve it but never really succeed. Alien Infiltration (AKA Alien Opponent) has all the ingredients of a B-movie classic: space ships landing behind barns, drunken rednecks with shot guns, kung-fu babes and even a kick-ass preacher. It has all the right moves, and is enjoyable enough but I doubt it will set the B-movie world alight.

The plot is pure Troma-type silliness. Rita, the owner of a small-town junkyard offers 100 grand in cash to whoever can kill the space-suited alien whose spaceship has crashed on her property. Every wacko within 100 miles turns out and before long the junkyard is transformed into a war zone of Man vs. Machine vs. Alien.

Right away we know we are in Robot Monster (1953) territory but Alien Infiltration is neither bad enough to be so-bad-it’s-good or camp enough to be another Big Meat Eater (1982) or Killer Klowns From Outer Space (1988). Instead what we do get is a mindless but fun 92 minutes that is enjoyable enough without being that memorable, an affectionate nod to the classic B-movie if maybe not a classic in itself.

26 year old director Colin Theys (who also handled the cinematography, editing and visual effects) does a fantastic technical job on what is obviously a small budget. Alien Infiltration looks great, and zips along at a fair pace. It’s made with love, and Theys is one to watch. John Doolan’s script is a bit thin – and has a habit of setting up characters only to kill them off prematurely – but there are plenty of gory stand-offs between the alien (and its robot slave) and the humans to provide a few laughs along the way. Nice also to see the women get to shoot some guns and kick some ass.

Good also to see Roddy Piper (he of the Carpenter classic They Live) again, playing the aforementioned kick ass preacher. His scenes are the best in the movie and it’s a shame he’s not given more (although he does get to rise from the dead).

All in all Alien Infiltration has energy, good performances, blood, gags and junk yard aliens. It’s better than average, but keep your expectations low if you don’t want to be disappointed.

Special Features: None