Three American students Damon, Michael and Samantha are on vacation in their RV in Spain. But it's far from relaxing, when everyone they encounter in the sleepy village seems to be acting weird and they come across a NASA scientist who claims the town has been infected by aliens, and soon they would follow the same fate. The only cure is found in a secret underground storage depot, and time is running out for them.
The idea was there, however the money wasn't and the execution could use a finer tune up. Writer / Director Deran Sarafian's film "The Falling" AKA "Alien Predator" seems to cop a real shellacking, however I didn't mind it. I don't think it was the pits, but there's no way this trash is good either. Due to its limited scope, everything looks kind of bare, but I thought it was well conceived to keep it taut, claustrophobic and very foreboding. The Spanish countryside perfectly presented an eerie and isolated air. Everything seems to be building on mood and atmosphere, maybe not on purpose but the stark photography, dim lighting and the infectiously dreary score lend to it largely. However there's no denying how inane and silly this outing eventually turns out to be, especially after some effective build-ups (like the opening to the film). The fragmented story is a complete mess and truly baffling. It has many sub-plots to feed off, but very little sees daylight. Yeah, certain things had me going "What on earth?" quite a bit. Sometimes it would seem to stall too much that you end up wishing a little more did happen, and the haggard script can get rather overbearing. This goes for the token romance mush. What's really unconvincing has got to be the rubber beasties (at first you think it might be a virus/parasite) that finally make it in towards the end, but before that lousy letdown the potent gore FX leading up to it comes off really well with its grisly splatter. Sarafin's direction is very downbeat, with some minor flourishes of imagination and dumb jolts. The conclusion was a neat touch. Dennis Christopher, Martin Hewitt and the perky Lynn-Holly Johnson were surprisingly enjoyable, if quite overstated with the flimsy characters. Luis Prendes is unintentionally laughable due to how seriously deadpan he goes about his NASA scientist. A real no brain, low budget helping oh yeah. The final product could've been far worse though. Or am I getting soft?
The idea was there, however the money wasn't and the execution could use a finer tune up. Writer / Director Deran Sarafian's film "The Falling" AKA "Alien Predator" seems to cop a real shellacking, however I didn't mind it. I don't think it was the pits, but there's no way this trash is good either. Due to its limited scope, everything looks kind of bare, but I thought it was well conceived to keep it taut, claustrophobic and very foreboding. The Spanish countryside perfectly presented an eerie and isolated air. Everything seems to be building on mood and atmosphere, maybe not on purpose but the stark photography, dim lighting and the infectiously dreary score lend to it largely. However there's no denying how inane and silly this outing eventually turns out to be, especially after some effective build-ups (like the opening to the film). The fragmented story is a complete mess and truly baffling. It has many sub-plots to feed off, but very little sees daylight. Yeah, certain things had me going "What on earth?" quite a bit. Sometimes it would seem to stall too much that you end up wishing a little more did happen, and the haggard script can get rather overbearing. This goes for the token romance mush. What's really unconvincing has got to be the rubber beasties (at first you think it might be a virus/parasite) that finally make it in towards the end, but before that lousy letdown the potent gore FX leading up to it comes off really well with its grisly splatter. Sarafin's direction is very downbeat, with some minor flourishes of imagination and dumb jolts. The conclusion was a neat touch. Dennis Christopher, Martin Hewitt and the perky Lynn-Holly Johnson were surprisingly enjoyable, if quite overstated with the flimsy characters. Luis Prendes is unintentionally laughable due to how seriously deadpan he goes about his NASA scientist. A real no brain, low budget helping oh yeah. The final product could've been far worse though. Or am I getting soft?