Alien Trespass (2009) User Reviews

Flashback - Homage

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 24 October 2020]

This is a nice little silly movie, that really dives into horror movie history. It pays homage some might say by playing tropes and cliches (to a certain degrees) of what can be considered old school horror movies from 60 years ago and even earlier. The characters and the story fit that perfectly and if you have a heart for such things you will be delighted to watch this.

The actors are more than decent and do what we would think is silly or dated in other movies, but work for the sense and sensibility of the movie. The mood it is setting and how you perceive the movie. You can and should decide for yourself - decent movie overall.

a decent diversion

[disdressed12 · 6/10 · 4 July 2010]

i enjoyed this spoof of 1950's alien movies and the 1950's era in general.there are certainly some amusing moments and a few laugh out loud scenes,but i wouldn't call this an hysterically funny film.and maybe it isn't supposed to be.but there a couple of truly inspired sequences that work very effectively.including the opening sequence many of the gags are telegraphed a mile a way.with two nudges,a couple of winks and a nod.the movie knows what it is,and doesn't try to be any thing else.it's no classic,by any means,but you could certainly do a lot worse with your time.just don't expect too much,any you won't be disappointed.for me,Alien Trespass is a 6/10

send-up of a 1957 drive-in type of movie. BUT IT IS LIKABLE

[jaybob · 6/10 · 14 August 2009]

This film reminded me of the type films that played occasionally as a part of a drive-in triple feature,way back in 1957.

They generally were released by studios on the lower tiers of the studios. To give you an idea of how far down the list these studios were,

Republic, Monogram & Producers Releasing would be higher up on the list.

What we now have is a 2009 movie made in that style using a cast of not very well known players. The acting is done in the same weak style as they did back then & the same goes for the production values. This film was made in the Vancouver, Canada area..

They used to be made in the studio & the back lot and in black & white.

This is in glowing colour of the type they used in 1957.

The special effects in 1957 were on the 'cheezy' side & they aren't much better now.

I did not expect a real good film, In 1957 I did enjoy these for what they were. I enjoyed what I saw tonight in the same way. It definitely is worth a rental, By the way in the films of the '50's & earlier, people did properly dress as seen in the film.

I forgot to say who is cast: Eric Mccormick from some TV show has a nice double role as the lead. Robert Patrick is the only other known player.

R.W.Goodwin directed,James Swift & Stephan P.Fisher did the story & screenplay.

My rating probably is close to what it would have been in 1957, The film is not very good BUT it is likable.

Ratings: **1/2 (out of 4) 66 points (out of 100) IMDb 6 (out of 10)

Quick! Pass The Salt!

[dougdoepke · 20 April 2020]

For a moment I thought I was really back in my teen-age 1957, the big-finned cars, the flouncy dresses, the sci-fi saturated drive-ins. Okay, I'm nostalgic, but it really is a good flick, well acted, produced and written; plus, entertaining all the way through. So how will space-ranger Urp defeat the man-eating Ghota whose flying saucer has crashed into the North American desert. Good thing Urp borrows Dr. Lewis's body if not his hormones. At the same time, the village towns-people have to overcome their disbelief in alien space craft and shape-shifting monsters. What with all those vulnerable blonde cuties, I was really worried.

There are touches of satirical humor trading on 50's sci-fi, but the flick's too well rounded to qualify as just a spoof. In many ways, however, it does suggest a version of 1951's The Day The Earth Stood Still, from the latter's metal clad Gort to Klaatu's cosmic police force. However that may be, I was grabbed by that suburban house and its grassy yard sitting alone and in the middle of the immense desert, like a surrealist illusion. Actually, it's likely meant to show Lewis and wife's middle-class status among the town's backwoods types. And how about the parallel theatre scene with the panicked audience from 57's The Blob. It's an imaginative touch tying in with both AT's plot and the time period. Sure, the movie's gangly monsters are on the silly looking side, at least before they reduce you to goo. Still, it's an imaginative and well-done sci-fi, and a tribute to its 50's predecessors.

The point is ..... sometimes less is best ........

[merklekranz · 6/10 · 16 September 2009]

If you are looking for a sci-fi that doesn't rely on big name actors to suck you into the theater, doesn't have endless explosions and car chases, doesn't rush into the story without developing characters, and doesn't have any men in black, then "Alien Trespass" is for you. It kind of reminds me of the retro zombie movie, "Fido", with it's flawless attention to 50s period detail. It is what it is, and if you grew up on a steady diet of 1950s sci-fi, you will appreciate the film. If on the other hand you are addicted to c.g.i. extravaganzas, this is not going to be a pleasant viewing experience at all. If minimalist 50s entertainment is to your liking, I recommend "Alien Trespass". Sometimes less is best. - MERK

Best of the several send up of the 1950's Scifi films

[dbborroughs · 6/10 · 2 August 2009]

Send up of the 1950's science fiction films that play better than other recent attempts (Lost Skeleton of of Cadarva for example). The plot is an amalgam of bits from the Blob, Day the Earth Stood Still, It Came From Outer Space and others all mixed up into a familiar blend. It kind of works but even at 80 minutes the film feels too long for what it is (A newsreel at the start seems to indicate they needed to stretch the run time). For me the real problem is that the film is in color and while thats fine since many films like War of the Worlds and When Worlds Collide were made in color, this is the wrong sort of color (If you watch the film you'll know what I mean). It looks good but just feel wrong and I think Black and White would have been better. Worth a rental if you like old science fiction films.

Not as funny or entertaining as the films it spoofs

[curtis-8 · 5/10 · 27 August 2009]

"Alien Trespass" is a tribute/mild spoof of 1950's monster/sci-fi flicks like "I Married a Monster from Outer Space" and "It Came From Space." It's well made, but kind of dull. The filmmaker's succeed in recreating the look and feel of these old movies, but they fail to make their film either as entertaining as the real deal. There aren't really enough jokes (good ones, anyway) to qualify "Alien Trespass" as a true spoof and it doesn't improve on the old formula enough to succeed as an entertaining tribute (for instance, the monsters look much, much more fake than those in the original films did). Why just re-create an old movie style if you're not going to do it in a new or clever enough way to differentiate it from the movies that have already been done? Part of the gimmick of "Alien Trespass" (emphasised in the DVD special features) is that the film actually is a 1950s film that was recently re-discovered, having been literally buried in the ground for half a century. A story built around the rediscovery of the film, with clips of "Alien Trespass" used as a film-within-a-film would possibly have made a more entertaining flick, a la the "Mant" feature in Joe Dante's "Matinee."

Smart throwback horror

[dfranzen70 · 6/10 · 3 December 2009]

Alien Trespass pays homage to 1950s sci-fi thrillers with a story of a spaceship, carrying an alien marshal ferrying a murderous alien creature to jail, that crash lands near a remote desert town, throwing everyone into a panic. Given how cheesy movies of the period were, it's somewhat surprising that Alien Trespass turns out to have quite a bit of panache and credulity to go with its faithful look at a quieter, simpler time.

Set in 1957, the movie follows the effect that the arrival of the alien marshal Urp (Marshal Urp, get it?) has on the populace. Shortly after his ship crashes – and his prisoner escapes – Urp assumes the body of a local scientist, Dr. Lewis (Eric McCormack) and sets about finding his prey, a Ghota – a beast with one eye and huge tentacles who kills. And turns invisible! In fact, the Ghota looks a lot like Kang and Kodos from The Simpsons, but I digress.

Some kids necking (hee hee) at Lover's Lane or Lookout Point or Inspiration Point see the crash, and when they investigate they're attacked by the monster. But naturally, the police don't believe them or their seedy looking greaser pal (told you it was set in the fifties). Meanwhile, Marshal Urp, in the doctor's body, is stealing cars and trying to, uh, blend in.

One of the scenes – no spoilers here – takes places in a movie theater while the kids are watching The Blog. Yes, the one with Steve McQueen, where he himself is a kid trying to warn a small town about a gelatinous monster! And of course, while everyone's watching this movie, the real monster attacks.

I have to admit that I had pretty low expectations for this movie. It's set in the 1950s, the apex of cheesiness. It's got a cheesy title. It has no recognizable stars, other than Dan Lauria (The Wonder Years) and Robert Patrick (Terminator 2). You can't expect Close Encounters with that sort of lineup. But Alien Trespass has something that movies like Plan 9 from Outerspace and, more recently, The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra wish they had: a heart. Endearing, winning performances by Jenni Baird (as the waitress who helps Urp) and McCormack help lift this above the usual low-budget ennui.

Pointless tribute

[sorompio · 1/10 · 30 July 2009]

Oh, yes, we all catch the joke, so what! Sci-fi movies from the fifties filled our young years and we don't mind watching them again from time to time. A tribute could never be out of place, then, unless somebody decides to make a tribute just for the sake of it. The absolute stupidity of this film is based on the belief that you actually can transform a standard script of a fifties sci-fi B-movie in a frozen modern film and let the irony do the talking by itself. Like a digital watch on a caveman's wrist. All the impact is laid upon mimicking the whole set of big all clichés in antics and acting so we can bask in how ahead of those times we are now and how we lost our innocence to technology and advanced digital FX. Well, the results are lame, to say the least. Just a boring ninety minutes movie, so bad in argument and character that it would have us switching channels in our black and white TV even back when we were kids. Again... to the producers and the director: we all catch the joke, now please tell us something we don't know.

A very enjoyable vintage charm!

[bmarchal · 6/10 · 26 February 2022]

Aien Tresspass is in my opinion a genuine horror movie: not only does it belong to the tradition of horror films in the broad sense of the term but it is a modern recreation of a genre that is pure horror cinema: films meant to scare the audience. This is particularly true of the American films of the 50s that came into existence within context of the Cold War and the possibility of a nuclear war. The ideological confrontation between two "alien" worlds was simply transposed in a S-F kind of setting. This is the innocent homage to that outmoded genre that this film is modestly offering us, succeeding, at any rate, in lighting it up with a delicious vintage flair. I absolutely recommend it.

Will & Mars Attacks

[eddax · 4/10 · 6 September 2010]

This movie is reminiscent of Mars Attacks! in its throwback to the campy sci-fi of five decades or so ago. Mars had Tim Burton at the helm, however, and undoubtedly a larger budget since it also had a huge battery of stars. Alien Trespass has an unknown director and just Eric McCormack, who can't play a comedic role without evoking memories of Will, from Will & Grace. While having bigger names and budget doesn't guarantee a better picture, it does skew the odds in its favor.

Alien Trespass just doesn't go anywhere interesting. It tries but fails to be novel with its humor and story, which oh yeah, reminded me of Men in Black, with the aliens pulling humans into holes before taking over their bodies. Another big budget comparison this movie pales against.

Aliens, bodysnatching, spaceships, ray guns, you name it and it is here....

[paul_haakonsen · 6/10 · 7 August 2018]

Now, I am a bit uncertain whereas this is a spoof or an homage to the 1950s space Sci-Fi movies with ray guns and horrible one-eyed tentacle space aliens. I must admit that it definitely feels more than an homage than a spoof.

Regardless, then "Alien Trespass" was actually a rather enjoyable movie. Especially if you are familiar with old Sci-Fi movies of the years long gone. I used to watch those every now and again, so I found the 2009 "Alien Trespass" to be a wonderful return to those classic movies. Even though I didn't get to watch "Alien Trespass" before 2018.

They had put together a good story, which captured the essence of those good old Sci-Fi movies. And it really worked that they opted to use the same cheesy effects, such as blue screen driving while in cars, cheap monster costumes, and not resorting to big budget CGI and special effects.

Eric McCormack carried the movie quite nicely, and he was well-cast for the leading role. He did, of course, have help from a bunch of also quite nicely cast actors and actresses. But he was the main attraction, no doubt about it.

If you are unfamiliar with the 1950s Sci-Fi movies, then chances are that you will think "Alien Trespass" to be a waste of time. And the production value and lack of modern special effects might be offsetting for you as well. But for us whom watched these Buck Rogers movies and the like, then this is definitely a gem in its own right.

Straight to Landfill?

[saturn-18 · 3/10 · 1 April 2009]

Easily the worst movie I've seen in the past 10 years. Luckily I attended a free screening for this dog.

It seems that they tried to make a cross between a 1950's style movie and camp, and the plan was to accomplish this with poor writing and bad acting. A complete throwback style would have been interesting, and camp requires wit. Unfortunately the movie creators failed on both counts.

Because of the type of movie this is, the plot is inconsequential, it's all about the style and humor that is used to make it. Another example of a good idea but poor execution. At first I'd recommend straight to DVD, but after further rumination, they should just dump it in a landfill.

A Loving Tribute to 50s Science Fiction

[StuOz · 25 June 2021]

A 2009 "Creature Feature" film that perfectly captures another time in Hollywood.

I have not seen any interviews with the director, but it seems very obvious to me that this is not a comedy. Yes, by today's standards there is a lot to laugh about, but if you watched some of the flicks it is paying TRIBUTE to, for example It Came From Outer Space (1953), today's 20somethings would be laughing their guts out at them as well.

Granted, the eyeball monster seems to be going into the spoof direction, but once again, there were some very silly movies in the 50s.

Call it what you like, but Alien Trespass is one of my favourite 21st century sci-fi movies! Not since Titanic (1997) can I think of a flick that did such a great job of capturing another time! And the movie is just plain fun.

Just love the vintage cars - a good part of the budget must have been spent on renting them out!

April Is the Cruelest Month

[RichardSRussell-1 · 5/10 · 11 April 2009]

April is the cruelest month. Get all excited by trailers for X-Men (May 1), Star Trek (May 8), Terminator (May 21), Night at the Museum (May 22), and Ice Age (July 1), and then THIS is the "feature"?

This is the quintessential "up to you" movie. While Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino's Grindhouse tried to recreate the 1950s double-feature movie experience (complete with bad framing, scratched pictures, and missing reels), this 2009 release tries to recreate an actual 1950s alien-invasion movie. And it does a fine job of it, if that's your cup of tea, right down to the chintzy crashed UFO and the monsters in rubber suits.

There's a scientist, of course. There always is. This one has his body taken over by Urp, a marshal from outer space, who's trying to track down the monstrous, tentacled, sometimes invisible, huge-eyed alien ghota before it can start reproducing. After a bit, even the astronomer's dolled-up, perpetually hot-to-trot wife notices something amiss. Meanwhile, the local teens continue their running feud with the cops, who continue to doubt the odd things they claim to have seen. Many of the scenes take place in the local diner, whose PM- shift waitress becomes the unlikely heroine.

The best use of a scientist I've seen in such a film was the tongue-in-cheek Tremors, in which we get the standard scene of all the townspeople standing around speculating where the giant worms might have come from. Space aliens? Radioactive mutants? Evolution run amuck? They all turn to look at the scientist, who says "How should I know? I'm a geologist!". And that's that!

The only bit in Alien Trespass that comes close to this is when the young hot-rodder wants to go scope out the new cars and his friends try to persuade him to go alien-hunting instead. "Edsels will be around forever", they reassure him. Of course, that line might very well have occurred in an actual 1957 film.

Aside from that 1 bit, they play it absolutely straight. And, if I were reviewing it straight as well, it would share a 2 with this week's other miscarriage (Dragonball Evolution). But I admit to a certain nostalgia for this kind of thing, so it ends up smack in the middle.

Oooh-Eeeh-Oooh

[flatrich · 4/10 · 20 March 2013]

I was a kid in the 1950s, so I remember all the classic sci-fi movies first hand. There were great ones like The Thing from Another World, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Forbidden Planet, War of the Worlds and 20 Million Miles to Earth.

There were less great ones like Red Planet Mars, Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, This Island Earth and The Blob. Then there were the turkeys.

Stuff like It Conquered the World (1956), Not of This Earth (1957), The Beast With 1,000,000 Eyes (1955) and, of course, Plan 9 from Outer Space (1958) gave sci-fi a black eye and hurled the genre into the mud for decades. Some of those titles (and there are scores of them) have become cult classics, but they were schlock, let's face it.

Apparently, that's what Steven Fisher and James Swift were going for when they wrote Alien Trespass. That's what they got. Schlock.

The actors in Alien Trespass are the only surprise - this turkey has some excellent actors, led by Eric McCormack - but they can't save a film that has nothing new to offer. Many send-ups of 1950s sci-fi movies have succeeded (Mars Attacks!) This one fails.

Save time and skip it.

Arty sendup of 50's monster movies

[estreet-eva · 5/10 · 5 December 2011]

More art project than movie, Alien Trespass succeeds as a fond remembrance of sci-fi features past and as an immersive set of visuals but mostly fails in terms of plot and characters. While the ironic and faux-earnest dialog has it moments (when the alien ?Urp? takes over Ted?s body he repeats the phrase ?Ted wants you to be safe? ? this becomes ?Urp wants you to be safe? after he develops a relationship with another character independent of Ted) it eventually runs low on its supply of clever. Eric McCormack represents inspired casting as his natural flat delivery serves him well as Urp and his natural Wade Clever mien capture Ted exactly. Urp?s foil is played by Robert Patrick?s whose big break apparently did not come in mega-film ?Terminator 2.? What went wrong there? In summary, if you are a fan of 50s sci-fi and in the market more for something to look at rather than think about and generally don?t expect too much, you might not be let down with Alien Trespass.

Loving tribute to 1950s scifi, somewhat hampered by its very sincerity

[insightstraight · 9/10 · 2 April 2009]

Let's be clear right from the start -- "Alien Trespass" is not a spoof. Nor is it a parody, satire, sendup, lampoon, or pastiche. It may be presented as a spoof and most ticket buyers will likely go in expecting one, and the makers of the film may even have set out to produce a spoof.

But what they achieved instead is a meticulous recreation of a film from the 1950s, earnest and straightforward. The period detail is truly impressive, with costuming, sets, and locations all note-perfect. Even the casting is to be commended, especially for the younger actors -- it is actually difficult to find actors who can convincingly portray people outside their era, but these folks do a great job. There are a few minor anachronisms, but overall the period recreation is staggering, right down to the feel of the film stock and even the lighting.

The film's accuracy is actually its greatest problem, in terms of success. Instead of the "Airplane" type treatment many will expect, the film instead gives us just what it pretends to: a film made in the 50s but only recently unearthed. But this means it has only the camp factor inherent in those films; the audience with which I shared the preview screening wanted it to be a spoof, laughed at some parts, but the things they were laughing about were accurately rendered from that time -- they were laughing at period "quaintnesses" only gently exaggerated. The film is too straight-faced and sincere to get the average viewer laughing.

I am surprised this movie got made, but near-astounded that it is getting a theatrical release. The production values are high, and Eric McCormack has some name draw, but I am still not sure how they sold it for distribution.

Let's put it this way: If you know who Wade Williams is, if you and your friends trade dialogue from "Forbidden Planet" and "The Day the Earth Stood Still", or if you ever saw the original Blob in an actual theater, this movie will give you a warm feeling and a nostalgic smile as a love letter to the movies from that time. Just about everyone else, I am afraid, will feel perplexed and disappointed.

I enjoyed "Alien Trespass", and I feel like they made it just for me. But really, how many of me are there out there?

I guess we've seen it a dozen of times

[dschmeding · 3/10 · 17 August 2009]

I really don't get what the idea behind this movie is supposed to be. Its not really funny or a spoof as one might expect. Basically what you get is a homage to 50ies/60ies alien movies with all clichés I could think of. You got the flying saucer, you got the diner, you got the kids going out into the desert looking for the saucer, you got a cranky cop, a scientist, a heroine waitress and an alien changing into human form as well as another one reducing people into puddles. The whole thing has a pretty trashy look and the alien looks pretty ridiculous. Throw in a ridiculous love story and off you go... So what you get is the viewing experience of a dated alien movie with no new ideas whatsoever presented in modern Technicolor (the whole thing is flashy and over saturated). If "Alien trespass" was supposed to be funny I didn't get the joke unless its funny to remake a 60ies movie without adding anything new to it except for higher production values. Avoid unless you are into trashy 60ies Sci-Fi movies.

"You Are All In Extreme Peril!"...

[azathothpwiggins · 24 October 2021]

If you love sci-fi films from the 1950's -especially IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE or THE BLOB- and / or homages to or parodies thereof, then ALIEN TRESPASS should hit the spot!

It's a tribute to those alien invasion movies, usually involving a misunderstood E. T., or some hideous monster causing mayhem.

When a UFO crashes into a mountainside releasing a deadly creature, the otherworldly pilot of the craft must track it down. Eric McCormack is dead-on as both the intrepid scientist investigating the situation and the alien. Robert Patrick co-stars as the jaded, mean cop.

This movie is a delightful diversion...

Purposely Awful?

[wwazman · 2/10 · 24 October 2012]

Contrary to another reviewer who loved this movie and gave it 9 out of 10 stars, I give this movie 2 out of 10 stars. Oh where to begin?! the acting is subpar.. sometimes it can be decent for the characters to be in 1957, and other times it misses the mark completely.

Another thing I dislike about the movie is the inconsistencies and historical errors - such as segregation in the 1950's, speech types "Chill out; Bite me" and other inaccuracies. Specifically also Tammy's short speech about "how dare you hunt something, there's plenty of meat in the market!" This attitude didn't exist back then and is a blatant vegan 2009 affront.

Special effects are laughable. While some 1950's items and materials are well preserved and kept, I literally laughed out loud at a very badly done green screen with the star attempting to walk down a dusty highway and the costar drive next to him and stop her car. Very obvious, noticeable mismatch of timings between the car, the background, and the actor limping gait instead of walking. This might have been better done if only in black and white.

Plot is mainly nonsensical, but again, I think the movie was aiming to be a 50's scifi movie, so that's passable. It would have been nice to see a purposeful GOOD 50's movie done though, and do it right rather than slacking off.

and they canceled Firefly????

[juparker · 3/10 · 26 March 2020]

Costumes, sets, cars all good. Story lame. Monster lame. Actors tried. Thankful for fast forward button.

Huh?

[mrbusyb · 3/10 · 21 March 2011]

Hello, beloved movie goers. Unfortunately, this movie really sucks. Totally inappropriate for a retro movie, I had to hide the eyes of my dog when the part showed the doctor and his wife blatantly sharing the same bed together. Being a typical man, I kept imagined retroactively making love to all the pretty breasted women in this movie, but then I realized they would all be old women by now. But then I remembered this is a retro movie! Needless to say, all that thinking got me out of the mood. And if this had actually been a movie of the 50s, would it have been ahead of its time? The answer is no. Was this a comedy? No. It did have some lightheartedness in it to be sure, but it couldn't make up its mind one way or the other. Did the special effects in the movie accurately depict the horrible special effects used in movies back then? To this, my answer is "Huh?" As one of these flicks would have cost about $34,000 to produce back then and as this new one probably cost a total of $2,000,000, when taking inflation into account, this movie will probably become long forgotten in no time at all and then filed away as just another one of those cheap movies from the fifties. Don't buy this movie. Don't even rent it. Indeed, wait until the movie is one day included in with eleven other dumb movies from the fifties. Then buy it!

if you love 50's sci-fi, then see this

[threexfive · 9/10 · 5 April 2009]

First, this is not a comedy. It's clear that the filmmakers were sincere in making this movie and tried to recreate a movie with the feel of a 1950's sci-fi, including the same kind of humor (for the most part). Sure, a comment that Edsels would be around forever, but there's not even a whole lot of that.

This film was made for people who enjoy watching the monster movies made 50 years ago. This has it all; small town in the desert, unusual goings-on in the hills; teenagers that adults won't believe; even the local scientist. It's an homage in the finest tradition.

As such, if you can't stand watching old '50's sci-fi, then don't bother with this. But if you catch yourself at the video store looking for some forgotten red-scare flying saucer thriller, or if your copy of This Island Earth is in regular viewing rotation, then Alien Trespass is intended for you, and you should see it.

Dismal movie by any standard

[artpf · 1/10 · 27 November 2009]

I am shocked by the plethora of positive reviews on this movie. Honestly it is one of the worst movies I've ever seen! Neither humorous nor compelling.

It's supposed to be a send up of 50s sci fi flicks, but I don't think the writer really cares one bit about them! The plot is a series of unoriginal scenes that are largely stolen from older movies and do little to further the plot. For example, the country bumpkin is the first to meet the alien and monster. Wow that must have taken quite a bit of noodling to come up with.

Acting is atrocious and Eric McCormick proves he hit pay dirt when he got on Will & Grace. The guy is incapable of acting himself out of a paper bag!

If you see this movie, be prepared to get very very sleepy very very fast. But if I were you, I'd head for the hills and travel down wind.