| As we all know, aliens are always visiting Earth
to mutilate cattle and to anally probe anyone they
can get their glowing phalanges on. To plant itself
firmly in reality, Evil Aliens
opens with a representation of the all too familiar
problem of being abducted and then getting the rectal
examination. It's no gentle medical experiment
in this film, it's a very messy job, and not
just because of the area being examined.
Sphincter exploration aside, Evil Aliens
is the moving story of a dodgy television team
struggling for ratings. When they receive a claim
that a woman has been impregnated by aliens in
Wales, the crew head out to investigate. They
meet the woman and her brothers, rustic Welshmen
that literally spit at the English language. The
crew decide that the alien impregnation is probably
a fake, so decide to create their own evidence.
When that is foiled, they opt for a cheesy recreation,
but then the real aliens turn up. They're
described as 'Predator-looking' on
the sleeve, but I think they're more Hoover-looking,
looking like people with vacuum cleaner parts
on their heads. Needless to say, before the end
credits roll, several terrestrials and extraterrestrials
have been sliced, diced, mangled, or blowed up
real good.
Filling his film with references and echoes of
horror films past, director/writer/editor Jake
West has created a very fun splatstick movie.
Evil Aliens is only his second
feature film, Razor Blade Smile
being the first, which gets its own in-joke reference.
West hasn't been sitting 'round with
his thumb up his ass between the two though, he's
been honing his craft by working on docos, many
of which appear as featurettes on DVDs.
Evil Aliens is brimming with
influences from the likes of Peter Jackson, but
that is not to say Evil Aliens
isn't unique. It often blends its influences
well, like the scene that's like a cross
between the peep in Psycho and
the bedspring scene from Delicatessen,
presenting these elements in a fresh light. The
film has some real treats, like a small appearance
from everyone's favourite senile computer
head, Norman Lovett, or a sly nod to GWAR. The
film often employs a frantic style, but West is
a good editor, so Evil Aliens
never gets confusing, and it's always nice
when clarity isn't sacrificed for style.
At times things do get a bit ridiculous. For
example, the characters decide to abandon a vehicle
and set out on foot simply because the windscreen
is covered in blood and the windscreen wipers
are broken. Given that the film is clearly a comedy,
I'm going to give West the benefit of the
doubt and just assume this is more comedy. While
things like that seem a bit odd, there are moments
of absolute brilliance, like the inventive use
of a haemorrhoid cushion.
The CG, can at times, be dodgy, but a lot of
it is okay, and it's rarely bad enough to
be distracting. Most of the bad FX are related
to spacecraft, but one effect that is really unconvincing
are some deadly, flying spheres. You'd think
given that West spent so much time with Phantasm
mastermind Don Coscarelli making docos, he might've
gotten some pointers on how to effectively bring
dangerous orbs to the screen. Guess not.
But the main thing about any splatstick is not
flying balls, rather the gore FX, so I suppose
I should mention those. Despite the rectal opening,
things are pretty blood free for the first third
or so of the movie. When the gore does kick in,
there is some nifty stuff, with almost all of
the grue being splatstick. Despite comparisons
to Peter Jackson's Braindead
on Evil Aliens' official
website, there is one scene featuring the chainsawing
of an alien that is VERY similar in direction
to the one in Bad Taste, so I
guess West watched that one, too.
Evil Aliens is obviously low
budget. I actually think a fair comparison there
would be Undead. So, think Undead
in Wales with no zombies, and you're nearly
there. Except Evil Aliens is
a better crafted film, so that's not an
entirely accurate comparison. Honestly, the film
I felt it shared the most with in terms of tone
was that other UK bloody comedy, Dog Soldiers.
They both feature dead cow throwing, so they must
be very similar indeed. |
