Strangest Dreams: Invasion of the Space Preachers (1990 Video) User Reviews

Some people just aren't funny.

[WisdomsHammer · 4/10 · 26 May 2018]

This is a very low-budget, cheesy, sci-fi / horror / comedy flick about aliens who disguise themselves as preachers and try to take over the world while another alien, disguised as a hot girl, tries to stop them with the help of two bumbling idiots. And it's all set in hillbilly country. I love the whole idea of this thing!

This movie would be a lot more fun if ANY of its attempts at humor were funny. The jokes in this thing are unending and horrible. It's like trying to watch a wannabe comedian on amateur night bomb without realizing how bad they are so they just keep going - for an hour and a half.

I liked the concept of the whole thing and overall story. I liked the music, I liked the babes, and I liked almost all of the oddball characters who weren't the leads. Sure the effects were cheesy, but I even liked them. I also got the sense that this was a local production that had a lot of support from the community and even included them in many places to great effect. Awesome. But the comedic lead's performance in this thing is just too painful to watch.

It's worth a watch if you like B-movies. And who knows? You might even like it. I'm glad I saw it, actually. I just never want to see it again.

It's Bad Taste without the gore or the talent.

[MercurioKnight · 3/10 · 20 December 2002]

Much like Peter Jackson's wonderfully outrageous and hilarious Bad Taste, we have aliens coming down trying to screw with humanity, this time in the form of Evangelist Preachers, with bullwhips and shoddy laser guns that look like they were taken from an old Flash Gordon serial. That being said, is that necessarily a bad thing? Kind of iffy, if you ask me, since it emerged a few years after Bad Taste was released (if it had come before, then I could probably be more lenient on its merits).

The heroes of this piece are the usual 'down in the ground' guys, one an accountant, the other a dentist. It's a weekend getaway from their pathetic lives which we get a glimpse of, so they can try to fake 'roughing' it. There is an assortment of 'off' characters for the heroes to interact with, get in a little trouble along the way before finally coming across... AN ALIEN SHIP! You can imagine the shock on two poorly acted 'dweebs' of this sort, down to attempted camp value. Behold, by the ship, what next do they come across? An alien, yes, true, for which they have a 'moment' to decide what to do with it since it seems to be 'dying'.

What plays out is a mixed journey, a tale of slightly enthused humour, some camp value, and attempted over the topness that Troma is so famous for, yet it never manages to come full circle, but instead for me remains in the shadow of a greater film. This is what happens when you take a basic concept, of Space Aliens coming down and trying to mess with humanity starting from a small town or place, and the difference of what a truly talented filmmaker like Peter Jackson can do with it as opposed to someone lacking the vision and style, like Daniel Boyd, here, who wrote and direct this.

I just wanted to make a comment on the ending. It literally ends like an episode of the Simpsons, a truck pulls in with a band on it and everybody starts dancing to the music. It has quite a few of those moments that make you go, oooohh that was bad (and good?) at the same time, and may be what saves it from being a total waste. It does manage to deliver a few bits of humour, but it runs kind of long for the amount of actual plot there is in it.

Of course, the acting is bad (but acceptable for a low budget film of this sort), the plot barely thought up, and laughable special effects (the first time I saw a flying space ship it cracked me up). My mom found this film at the local vhs resale shop for 99 cents, so the question on my mind next was... is it worth 99 cents? I'd have to say yes, for all its flaws, and even for that moment at the end that looks like it came directly from Bad Taste, it still managed to be somewhat entertaining for a one timer, and not a total eyesore as some low budget films of this type have become (like, Troll 2, the abomination, one of the worst films I ever sat through, right behind Natural Born Killers which has some of the most annoying acting I've witnessed before or since).

If you see this film, your best viewing experience would probably be an MST3000 atmosphere, a few friends over, and just shred this movie to pieces. Perfect fodder for just that. I'd give it a D- for effort and for not being a total waste. Don't expect much and you might find something wothwhile in it.

Space Preachers

[BandSAboutMovies · 4/10 · 1 October 2023]

Directed and written by Daniel Boyd (Chillers), this is the story of dentist Walter Bennett (Jim Wolfe) and accountant Rick Lowery (Guy Nelson) who have gone on a vacation to the mountain cabin of Truman Gator (John Marshall). They want to prove that they're real men, but all they find are rednecks in the wild and wonderful woods of West Virginia, the House of Dung, a rockabilly icon named Johnny Angel (John Riggs), his groupies Dreama (Stacy Weddington) and Rhonda (Piper Thayer), more rednecks that want some Gray Poupon - which I thought was fancy and beyond my family's means as a kid only to learn that it only costs $3.99 a jar today - as well as a pond filled with nudists, two old people who have adopted a small adult as their child, a survivalist named Vic 20 (Jesse Johnson), Jimmy Walker (yes, the actor, playing himself) and Reverend Lash (Gary Brown), a radio evangelist whose sermons play 24 hours a day.

There's also a spaceship that has crash landed. The alien survivor asks to be taken somewhere to rest and when the shell that covered the creature breaks away, it ends up being Nova (Eliska Hahn), who is more attractive as a female. The Reverend is also an alien with an army of bad guys that she has flown here to stop.

Boyd didn't have much experience here and it shows. There are some ideas - as you can see above - but he'd get much better from this as Chillers is pretty fun. But even though this is rough, there's just enough to keep it entertaining, like the idea of Elvis living in the Appalachians.

Can't Miss!

[lotus2471 · 10/10 · 23 March 2007]

A classic. Gilbert Gottfried said it best on USA network a few years ago: "The college film by which all other college films are judged"!

Take a collection of some of the finest regional stage actors, directors and crew, toss them into the woods with a smoke machine and a trailer full of latex and glue and enjoy the ensuing suspense.

Sure, some of the dialog is corny. Sure, some (OK, most) of the special effects were a little hokey, but that doesn't detract from an otherwise fun and well-acted experience.

All of Danny Boyd's films have been a real joy to see, and while one could argue that he hasn't yet vaulted into the ranks of Martin Scorsese, William Wyler or Peter Jackson, I promise you that his films are no less a labor of love and determination than theirs.

I liked it!

[Douglas_Holmes · 22 July 2002]

Poss. Spoiler: A neat little spoof of the "alien creatures in flying saucers invasion" theme, it gives us the usual "dopey young innocents in a small town who stumble across the horror which no one else will believe" plot, but this time the brainwashing invaders are disguised as the compassionate Reverend Lash and his helpers!

I saw this on USA- Up All Night. Don't look for deep messages about religious hypocrisy or anything like that. The film is simply hilariously stupid!

My personal bonus: I've visited the sites where this was filmed!

"Don't Warp Their Realities!"...

[azathothpwiggins · 15 July 2021]

From the opening seconds of STRANGEST DREAMS: INVASION OF THE SPACE PREACHERS, complete with uninspired music and optics, we know we're in ultra-schlock territory.

Two men embark on a manly adventure weekend in the wilderness. After visiting "The House of Dung" and having various hillbilly encounters, they experience unthinkable horror.

Or, something like that.

The rest has something to do with a space alien / beautiful woman (Eliska Hahn), a group of religious fanatics, and general weirdness.

This suitably absurd, low-low-budget movie is meant for those expecting dumb humor, criminally-bad "acting", and $1.98 "special" effects.

For those so inclined, there's no going wrong here! Where else could you possibly see the delicate Ms. Hahn guzzle beer like a 400 lb. Trucker? Or, witness such a tender tribute to the banjo-picking savant from DELIVERANCE? Only here!...