Evil Aliens (2005) d. West, Jake (UK)
A crew of London oddballs working for sleazy television show “Weird World” heads over to Wales to document a young woman's alien abduction story, only to discover there's more to her fantastical yarn than meets the eye. Running on hyperdrive throughout and rife with brilliant comic performances across the board, fans of Peter Jackson’s Bad Taste and Braindead (aka Dead-Alive) and the Spierig brother’s inspired zombie flick Undead should come on the run.
When I first encountered writer/director West's breakout effort in 2007, his track record included little more than 1998’s mildly engaging modern vampire romp Razor Blade Smile and a slew of DVD featurettes. As a result, expectations were not particularly high as I popped the shiny silver disc into the DVD tray. 90 minutes later, I was grinning so hard I looked like the Ultra-Brite poster boy. (He's since gone on to render 2009's not-bad Doghouse and the following year's superb Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship and Videotape doc.)
Superbly over-the-top, deliriously gory and thrillingly ridiculous, this is every modern sci-fi/horror buffs wet dream (heavy on the wet). Evil Aliens is sexy and splashy, with blood, goo and viscera splattered with abandon – dismemberment, decapitations, detonations and icky, nasty anal probes for everyone! West takes every opportunity to recycle one genre cliché after another, yet does so with such style and wit that homage is paid even as expectations are tweaked.
The terrific cast includes smokin' hotties Emily Booth, Jennifer Evans and Jodie Shaw, while Jamie Honeybourne, Sam Butler, Peter O' Connor, Christopher Adamson and Nick Smithers bring their balls to play. For once, the requisite cheesy CGI (which is really not that bad) fits the tone of this completely cartoonish affair, but for the most part we are treated to juicy slambang practical f/x that evoke smiles for miles.
Surprisingly, this has not developed the fervent cult following it deserves - get on it people!
Highly Recommended.
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