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Title: Alien Raiders Director: Ben Rock Starring: Carlos Bernard, Matthew St. Patrick, Courtney Ford, Rockmond Dunbar Sometimes, a movie comes along that keeps you on the edge of your seat, teeth clenched and nails digging into the couch. Alien Raiders just isn’t one of those movies. While it’s an entertaining horror movie - in the same vein as classics like The Thing and Invasion of the Body Snatchers - it doesn’t do enough to distance itself from the movies that influenced it. The film concerns a group of armed and masked militants, led by Ritter (Carlos Bernard), Seth (Matthew St. Patrick), Sterling (Courtney Ford), and Kane (Rockmond Dunbar), who descend upon a grocery store in the fictional town of Buck Lake, AZ. After executing several people and taking the rest hostage, it becomes clear to their captors that the armed group is not after money, but something alien. Now, I’m a huge fan of independent horror. I love movies that are willing to push the envelope and go places that no mainstream horror film would dare. In his first full-length horror film, director Ben Rock does manage to do a few inventive things. For one, he sends the viewer headfirst into the action. Initially, we’re not sure why the masked posse has descended on the store, and that makes things all the more tense. Who should we root for? The militants, or their unwitting victims? Rock knows that exposition doesn’t need to be handled at the outset and this makes his film more engaging. The performances were also spot-on for an independent film. I normally find myself playing “spot the person who has never acted before” when I sit down to watch one of these things - not so here. Bernard is especially good as a scientist-turned-mercenary who has lost a lot in his struggle against the alien menace. Dunbar also turns in a great performance as the “tough as nails” character. As much as I liked certain aspects of the film, it was dragged down by some key flaws. Central to the plot is a test that must be administered to locate the alien in their midst. Anyone who pays attention to the first half of the film will be able to telegraph the ending long before it happens, and that takes away from the suspense. Even worse is the fact that the logic behind the test itself doesn’t make any sense. The script could have benefitted from a bit more polish. More troubling are the hand-held camera sequences. Now, I have no problem with the use of hand-held cameras as long as they’re used well. Diary of the Dead used them to great effect, while Cloverfield just made me feel ill. The few hand-held sequences in Alien Raiders look gritty and lend to the film’s atmosphere, but they disappear halfway through the film. If you’re going to implement a camera technique, don’t abandon it without explanation. So, is Alien Raiders worth watching? I would say so. The performances are excellent, and the claustrophobic atmosphere of the supermarket makes for good horror. Does it bring something new to a genre that has done the “alien hidden among us” plot again and again? Nope. But if you can resign yourself to the fact that you won’t be seeing anything groundbreaking, go ahead and give this movie a shot. Pros: Great acting, excellent pacing Cons: Worn premise, gaping plot holes, incredibly predictable Rating: 3/5 Rabid Koala fucked around with this message at 13:15 on Feb 3, 2009 |
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Feb 2, 2009 15:33
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 11:26 |
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