Onyx, on BET+

Maybe these three friends are not the absolute worst choice to handle first contact for the rest of Earth. Sam is a first-responder and Shannon is a veteran returning from her final tour of duty. As for Diane, she has a way of getting her way and she can be very “welcoming.” Regardless, the alien invasion comes smack dab in the middle of the friends’ getaway in Stefano Milla’s Onyx, which is now streaming on BET+.

Sam thought Noah might be the one, because he is also a fireman, but he turned out to be another lying dog of a good-for-nothing man. To cheer her up, and to celebrate Shannon’s homecoming, Dianne organizes a desert resort weekend. She has the horndog owner Cody eating out of the palm of her hand, so he comps them a bonus off-road excursion. Unfortunately, during their desert exploration, a mysterious force cuts off all cell service, GPS, and radio contact.

Given their limited provisions, the trio seeks shelter at the nearest man-made outpost, an old government radio-satellite installation converted into an airplane graveyard, which serves as the headquarters for “A.K.A.,” a conspiracy podcaster with a taste for questionable hip hop. Whatever happened, he sort of expected it. However, he cannot broadcast his scoop or call for help, because of the alien interference. Shannon might be able to restore communications, but fighting off the interstellar predators will be a tricker proposition.

Even by B-movie standards, Milla had to make do with a tragically tight budget constraint. The effects are conspicuous cut-rate, yet lack the cheesy charm of MST3K fodder. The alien invasion business is also rather uninspired. Pretty much the only positive for Milla and Damien Douglas’s screenplay is the sympathetic depictions of veterans and firefighters (arguably including Noah, who tries to redeem himself). Regardless, it takes Milla forever to get the film going, devoting the full first act to boring exposition.

New Looney Tunes: The Day the Earth Blew Up

How can they have a Looney Tunes alien invasion movie without Marvin the Martian? Maybe there are some things he just wouldn’t do—but what might that mean for the Earth? Regardless, Daffy Duck could possibly do anything by accident, as his best friend Porky Pig knows only too well. Nevertheless, the duo will be our last and only line of defense in Peter Browngardt’s The Day the Earth Blew Up, a brand spanking new Looney Tunes feature, which opens Friday in theaters.

Like Red Planet Mars and other classic alien invasion B-movies, this Day starts in an observatory, where the “Scientist” first gets a gander at the “Invader’s” ship. Of course, you can guess what happens when he races out to its crash site. Unfortunately, it also took out a chunk of Porky & Daffy’s roof. The officious neighborhood block association president, Mrs. Grecht, is only too eager to threaten them with eviction and demolition, if they do not fix it pronto.

Of course, neither have jobs or marketable skills. However, a chance encounter with Petunia Pig lands them assembly line jobs at the Goodie Gum Factory, where she works in flavor development. She is also a little off-kilter, but she is still quite intriguing if “Pig” is part of your name, like Porky’s. As fate would have it, she cannot stand the new flavor her company just released, which secretly carries the Invader’s mind control virus. That leaves three uninfected Goodie employees to fight back—two of them stutter and the third likes to whack things with a giant hammer.

So really, what’s not to like? Clearly, Browngardt, Kevin Costello, and the rest of the platoon of co-writers channeled a lot of classic sci-fi, including Invasion of the Body Snatchers, War of the Worlds, and Carpenter’s The Thing. Outright homage is rare, but the influences are obvious.

Perhaps more importantly, this is all-new Porky and Daffy material. There is some chatter about the film “updating” the classic characters, but fans will be relieved to hear this really isn’t readily apparent. Please—enough with the fresh new “relevancy.” However, it is cool to see the well-established but under-utilized Petunia get a major, proactive role.

Indeed, the ruckus Looney Tunes spirit is alive and well. Arguably, Browngardt and company raise it to new heights with their extended regurgitation gags, which younger viewers are sure to love. Older animation fans should also appreciate some pretty impressive astronomical animation (it is not quite Chesley Bonestell-level, but it looks great on-screen).

Invasion, Season Two, on Apple TV+

Evidently, alien invasion tourism will inevitably take you to an Oklahoma cornfield. It does have the advantage of being off-the-beaten path, like pretty much everything else in Oklahoma. However, the frontline for the human resistance is in the Amazon, outside a crashed but not always dormant alien ship. The far-flung characters introduced in the first season start to get together to fight in season two of co-creators Simon Kinberg & David Weil’s Invasion, which premieres today on Apple TV+.

Some of the people we met in season one were really smart and some were just sort of average, but they were thrust into extraordinary circumstances—even more than the rest of the everyday Earthlings forced to deal with an alien invasion. Mitsuki Yamato is still the most interesting of the bunch. She is the one who brought down the alien ship by hacking its code. Since then, she has been fighting to avenge her astronaut lover old school-style, with Molotov cocktails. However, Nikhil Kapor wants to recruit her for his team.

Kapor, also the best new character, was the sort of callous tech titan who would have said genocide is “below my line” before the aliens came. He really has not changed appreciably, but the prospect of saving the world appeals to his ego. He could also afford to put together a cutting-edge facility to study the strange transmissions that inexplicably emanate from the wrecked ship.

Meanwhile, former Navy SEAL Trevante Cole is home, but his mind is back in London, where he saved weird Caspar Morrow from the aliens. Morrow had visions of the nasty ETs and sometimes appeared to have the power to ward them off. Unfortunately, he slipped into a coma—and his survival prognosis is particularly bad, after his doctors are unable to evacuate him when the alien monsters attack. Nevertheless, his ambiguous school friend Jamila Huston feels compelled to save him, because of messages she believes Morrow is sending through her dreams.

Former doctor-reluctantly-turned-housewife Aneesha Malik is still determined to save her children and her teen son Luke is still a total pill. However, he also has a bit of that alien “shine.” In fact, there might be more kids like him and Morrow out there. She does not want any part of the resistance group known as “The Movement,” which sounds uncomfortably cult-like, but she might not have much choice. Regardless, Cole is coming to her general area, armed with Morrow’s notebook and looking for answers.

With its combination of rural and far-flung international locations, the moody Invasion often feels like Stephen King’s The Stand re-conceived as an alien invasion epic. That is meant as a compliment. Invasion is far superior to its fellow Apple streaming-mate, Foundation, because it combines several familiar elements into something that feels very distinctively its own thing (instead of copying from Dune and pretending it is based on Asimov’s Foundation books).

The cast is also considerably better. Shioli Kutsuna is even more spectacularly neurotic as Yamato, while Shane Zaza is entertainingly arrogant and elitist as the snide Kapor. Golshifteh Farahani still solidly anchors the series as the Malik, the desperate mother trying to protect her often uncooperative children. Shamier Anderson broods hard as Cole, while continuing to exhibit convincing action chops. Unfortunately, the younger thesps are often annoying, except Paddy Holland, who is terrific as Monty Cuttermill, Morrow’s former bully, who agrees to help rescue him.

Kids vs. Aliens, on Shudder

1980s kids were uniquely qualified to fight alien invaders. They were well-versed in geek culture, but were also self-motivated and self-reliant. The notion of “safe spaces” would be as foreign to them as little green men. That will be just as well for teenaged Samantha and her little brother Gary, because the invaders make the spaces of their small Canadian town decidedly unsafe in Jason Eisener’s Kids vs. Aliens, which premieres tomorrow on Shudder.

Samantha is an underappreciated big sister, both by her bratty little brother and their frequently absent parents. Being a good sport, she often performs in his science fiction-wrestling home movies, even though she yearns to hang with the cool kids. She thinks she will finally get her wish when Billy, the popular “bad boy,” starts paying her attention. Unfortunately, he shows his true jerky colors when he turns the small Halloween party she agreed to host into a massive blowout. Then the aliens attack.

K vs. A is not explicitly set in the 1980s, but it definitely has an analogue look and texture. Gary and his friends shoot their movies on VHS and the film itself has a retro style similar to Eisener’s over-hyped Hobo with a Shotgun.  Obviously, every pitch for this film included generous use off the words “Stranger Things.” Yet, K vs. A also has a surprising (and not in a good way) mean streak, not unlike Hobo. It is not quite as brutal as the neo-exploitation “spoof,” but it still is not nearly as much fun as it should have been.

We Are Not Alone, on Roku

It looks like we can also blame Richard Nixon for the alien invasion of Earth. He is the one who agreed to fund the Voyager probe, which the Gu’un just followed its trajectory back to us. If only he hadn’t been such a liberal big-spender. They are here regardless and they intend to stay. Poor Stewart is the junior bureaucrat recruited to help communicate the new overlords message in Fergal Costello’s We Are Not Alone, which premieres tomorrow on the Roku Channel.

The alien invasion was especially traumatic for Stewart, because their advance capsule landed on his best friend Robbie when they were leaving the pub. The Gu’un really don’t get how things work here, so the regional commander decides to govern the UK from Clitheroe, because it is in the dead center of the country. She adopts the inappropriate name of Trater, due to an equally iffy grasp of the language. The Gu’un all chose odd new “earthly monikers, because the sound of their real names cause humans to void their bowels.

Stewart lacks ambition under the best of circumstances, so he is very conflicted about working for the alien occupiers. However, he likes the generous new salary and the swanky new pad. Unfortunately, he will have to share it with his alien minder, the dim-witted Greggs. Even more awkwardly, the resistance pressures him to be their inside saboteur. Most of the Anti-Alien Alliance (AAA) does not inspire much confidence, except for Elodie, the pub owner he has long carried a torch for.

Laurence Rickard and Ben Willbond (known for writing and appearing in the original Ghosts) have a knack for penning “stupid” sounding dialogue, in a smart way. They also make a drolly amusing Heckle and Jeckle pair as Cirsch and Darrenth, two flat-footed Gu’un sentries. Their soft science fiction is not groundbreaking, but they and Costello really keep the dialogue consistently snappy.

Invaders from Mars, Restored

James Cameron's mega-expensive Avatar saga owes a debt of gratitude to William Cameron Menzies’ 1953 cult classic. Up to that point, science fiction had always been the cheapest of the B-movies. His film was the first alien invasion movie filmed in color and possibly the first science fiction film overall, depending on how you define science fiction and whether you allow far less vivid earlier color processes. The SuperCinecolor process became obsolete soon after it was produced, so it presented considerable restoration challenges, but it looks terrific in the new 4K-restored Invaders from Mars, which ships on BluRay this month from Ignite Films.

Little David MacLean wants to be a scientist like his indulgent father George, which is why he is constantly watching the sky late at night. This is how he happens to be the only Earthling who witnesses an unusual meteorite-like object crashing in the dunes behind his house. Through the same telescope, he sees his father sucked into the sand. The next morning, his father returns, but he is not nearly as cool as he used to be. Likewise, the two police officers investigating his reported disappearance return from the dunes behaving in a similarly cold, withdrawn, and contemptuous manner.

Before long, young MacLean finds other adults in town acting equally suspiciously, including the chief of police. (It is important to note Invaders predates both Don Siegel’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers and the Jack Finney novel it was based on.) However, Dr. Patricia Blake is at least willing to hear him out and they soon learn his pseudo mentor, astronomer Dr. Arthur Kelston, already harbored suspicions an invasion could be underway.

Invaders deserves a place in the holy quartet of alien invasion films, alongside Body Snatchers, The Thing from Another World, and the George Pal-produced War of the World, which Invaders beat into theaters by a few months. Each film has its own merits and its own unique spin on the alien menace.

Menzies keen visual sensibilities definitely sets this film apart from subsequent knock-offs. Perhaps most acclaimed for his art and production design work, Menzies took a rare double credit as director and production designer on Invaders—and he put his stamp on nearly every scene. At times, he harkens back to the German Expressionists, with sequences like those in the police station, using scale sets built to accentuate a child’s perspective. Given how much consideration went into the look of the film, it is nice to be able to better appreciate it with the new restoration.

Arguably, Invaders does not get the credit it deserves as a cultural trail-blazer. Beyond employing expensive color for formerly trashy sf, it depicts Dr. Blake as MacLean’s savior. She is a doctor, not a nurse. She is also sufficiently intuitive to recognize little David is absolutely terrified—and the adults around him are very strange. Helena Carter plays her with smarts and sensitivity, but her character was not presented as forcefully in the cheap-looking reshoots ordered a year later for the European market, without Menzies’ participation. (Ignite includes then as bonus content, but they add little to the viewing experience.)

Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 A.D., Starring Peter Cushing

Sure, there were creepy aliens inside those tin cans, but before Next Gen gave us the Borg, nothing better represented our fears of technology’s dehumanizing influence than the Daleks. Fortunately, Doctor Who was there to stop their ambitions for galactic domination, even when he wasn’t strictly speaking Gallifreyan. Evidently, the two mid-1960s Doctor Who movies have been somehow retconned into the extended universe, but they have always been considered canonically suspect, since their Doctor is an Earthling who actually calls himself “Dr. Who.” On the plus side, he was played by Peter Cushing and he reliably foiled the Daleks. Both Amicus Doctor Who films air tonight on TCM, but the second, Gordon Flemyng’s Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. is by far the superior film.

After saving a foreign planet from the Daleks in the first film, the Doctor touches down in Swinging Sixties London just long enough to pick up police constable Tom Campbell after he is knocked cold by a gang of armed robbers. When he comes too, the Tardis has traveled forward to the year 2150, which much to the Doctor’s distress, Earth has been temporarily been conquered by the very same Daleks.

It takes some doing, but the Doctor’s niece Louise and his granddaughter Susan convince the copper they really have traveled forward in time. Of course, the metal megalomaniacal Daleks are quite persuasive. Unfortunately, the travelers become barricaded from the Tardis during a scouting trip, forcing them to take refuge with the underground human resistance. After the Doctor and Campbell are captured and escape, the time-travelers will be forced by circumstances to split up, but all roads seem to lead to a mysterious mine, where the Daleks are implementing their evil planetary scheme.

The first Peter Cushing Doctor Who (Doctors Who and the Daleks) movie is jokier and skews much younger as a result. However, the visual impact of bombed out London in Earth 2150 is quite striking. Clearly, the look of the post-apocalyptic city was inspired by scenes of destruction wrought by the Blitz during the Battle of London, memories of which would have still been vivid for many viewers in 1966.

The narrative is also more effectively structured, breaking apart the Doctor and his companions. The paring of the protective Wyler, a crusty old resistance activist, with young Susan is especially effective. Ironically, this is something of a case of necessity being the mother of invention, since illness forced Cushing to curtail his work on Earth 2150.

Robot Overlords: Due for a Fresh Revisit

It is surprising this recent alien invasion has not already gained a fresh, new reputation for relevancy. The world has suffered a catastrophic event and now all of humanity is forbidden to leave their homes. Are you following me so far? The alien robots have taken over, but they still find home collaborators willing to enforce their dictates, in order to exercise a bit of power for themselves. Fortunately, there are still rebellious people out there willing to fight the invaders in Jon Wright’s Robot Overlords, which is currently available on Amazon Prime.

Since the alien take-over, Sean Flynn lives with his mother Kate and three foster siblings she took in out of mercy. She is sort of protected, because Robin Smythe, the district’s head collaborator is sweet on her, but he and Flynn make no secret of their mutual dislike. The suspicious teen still holds out vain home that his father Danny Flynn will eventually come home, but the RAF pilot has not been seen since his capture.

One day, Flynn and knuckleheaded Nathan try to run an old video-game console off a car battery, when an electric shock sends the latter flying. It also shorts out the controlling mechanism implanted in his neck—temporarily. Soon, Flynn, Nathan, Alex the surrogate sister he is sort of carrying a torch for, and young, bratty Conor are running through the empty streets undetected by the robot sentries. However, it turns out the short circuit only lasts thirteen hours—a fact they learn at an inopportune time.

It is easy to see the robot occupation as an equivalent analog to the CCP pandemic. Some might also compare the implants to face masks, but that really wouldn’t be fair, because facial coverings allow us to safely go outside, whereas the implants keep Flynn and friends captive inside. However, if you want to compare the power-tripping Smythe to heavy-handed politicians like Michigan’s Whitmer, that’s your right and your business.

As a film, Overlords definitely over-achieves, realizing some impressive visual effects on a relatively modest budget. As science fiction, it is just okay. Frankly, it is a little too convenient when Flynn turns to be like Neo from the Matrix trilogy, suddenly developing an almost mystical power to hack himself into the robots’ network. However, it is enormously refreshing to see a film that argues freedom is more important than security.

Captive State: Revolt Against the “Legislators”

It is sort of like V for a new generation. We will meet (briefly) the alien “Visitors,” now called “Legislators,” who will be taking care of things on Earth for us now and the humans who chose to collaborate to maintain their own sliver of power. Our world is in thrall to an alien occupation, but the opening exposition rather hilariously tells us the gap between rich and poor is now wider than ever. Surely, mansplaining is also on the rise. Fortunately, there is still the remnant of a resistance that favors freedom over safety in Rupert Wyatt’s Captive State, which releases today on DVD.

Alas, the governments of Earth were forced to surrender unconditionally. There was a rag-tag resistance, but they were essentially wiped out in Chicagoland, during an infamous battle. Now everyone pretends having the “Legislators” in charge is all for the best, especially the mayor and the police chief. The city is even gearing up for a big peace rally in Soldier Field.

However, senior Chicago cop William Mulligan is not so sure the resistance has really scattered to the wind. He suspects there is an underground network communicating through the old-fashioned newspaper classified ads. His hunches also lead him to keep tabs on Gabriel Drummond, the son of his late partner and the brother of fallen resistance leader Rafe Drummond. His intuition is pretty sharp, because it turns out Rafe is still alive and planning a significant attack on the Legislators’ peace rally.

Frankly, Wyatt and co-screenwriter Erica Beeney offer up a pretty worthy message regarding the dangers of opting for security over freedom. It would be nice if they still mean that when it comes to cradle-to-grave socialism too. Heck, maybe they do, considering the evil aliens are called “Legislators.” Regardless, the tension between these two human values is very real and believable throughout the film. The problem is the big twist at the end is glaringly obvious, thanks to a conspicuous classical reference that makes little sense when it is first dropped.

Regardless, John Goodman is terrific as the dogged Mulligan, especially in light of where the film takes him. Ashton Sanders is rather blandly angry as the angsty Gabriel Drummond, but Jonathan Majors seethes with righteous rebellious intensity as the older Drummond brother. Veteran character actors James Ransone, Alan Ruck, Kevin O’Connor, and Ben Daniels all add color and grit as members of the resistance, while Kevin Dunn does his sleazy thing as the police commissioner.

There are relatively few scenes of the aliens—and when they do appear, their powers and properties are not clearly defined. However, Wyatt and the special effects team create some string images of the aliens’ enormous space crafts and the extent to which they have altered the skyline of Chicago. Without question, Captive State is far more impressive visually than it is as a work of storytelling. It is strange it didn’t make more noise in theaters (maybe because it really doesn’t land as a Trump allegory), but sf fans will find it is worth checking out when Captive State goes on-sale today (6/11) on DVD.

Occupation: Australian for V

Australians definitely seem to be a freedom loving people, despite their 1996 and 2002 gun laws. Unfortunately, they will regret that legislation when the alien invaders arrive, but at least there are still plenty of hunting rifles out in the rural communities. A rag-tag group of survivors will take the fight to the aliens in director-screenwriter Luke Sparke’s Occupation (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

The aliens first attack during exhibition Australian Rules football match. It was supposed to be former captain Matt Simmons last hurrah and the current captain’s golden opportunity to be scouted, but it did not end that way at all. They do not get along much, but they will have to work together as charter members of the resistance. It turns out their core group is quite resourceful, thanks to members like Simmons’ girlfriend Amelia Chambers, the grizzled but wiser-than-he-looks farmer Arnold, and Peter Bartlett, an ex-militant and would be family man, who just finished serving his prison sentence for murder.

Sure, we have seen this all several times before, starting with the classic George Pal-produced War of the Worlds and recently in the African-set Revolt, which was also released by Saban Films. There are scores of superior alien invasion films, but Occupation’s nicely drawn characters and game cast keep us hooked anyway.

Temuera Morrison is probably the best known and fans will enjoy watching him seething with rage as Bartlett, the distressed father. Stephany Jacobsen shows real star potential as the forceful, action-oriented Chambers, while Charles Mesure looks and acts like Australia personified as crusty, trusty Arnold. Plus, Jacqueline McKenzie steals a few scenes as the uber-commanding Col. Grant.

There is not much time or thought devoted to the aliens’ backstory. Basically, Sparke cribs here and there from the original V and Independence Day. The two-hour running time is really pushing it for what is essentially a B-movie, but to his credit, he keeps the energy level amped up. It cannot compare to the 1953 War of the Worlds, but it is lightyears better than the Tom Cruise monstrosity. Recommended for science fiction fans who enjoy a straight-up throwback now and then, Occupation opens this Friday (7/20) in New York, at the Village East. So, keep watching the skies everybody.

Beyond Skyline: The Sequel We Didn’t Know We Needed

Technically, the stunning Hindu temple compound Prambanan is in Indonesia, not Laos, but that is a mere detail. Wherever it is, it shelters one of the most effective remnants of human resistance after the alien invasion. Yet, they are still mostly concentrating on simple survival until an extremely ticked-off LA cop is inadvertently dropped into their midst in Liam O’Donnell’s Beyond Skyline (trailer here), which is now playing in New York.

Nobody really loved Skyline in 2010, but some observers were impressed by the visual dazzle rendered by the Hydraulx special effects house founded by the co-directors, the Strause Brothers. This time, the Strauses concentrated on VFX and producing duties, allowing O’Donnell (a co-screenwriter and co-producer of the first installment) to take over the director’s chair. It turns out, this is a much better distribution of labor, because Beyond is a gleeful helping of meathead sci-fi.

Mark Corley has been on leave from the LAPD since the death of his beloved wife Rose, but he still periodically pulls himself out of the bottle and into the station to bail-out his lashing-out “new adult” son Trent. They were headed home on the subway when the aliens started sucking all the people out of Los Angeles. Soon, they regroup with Audrey the conductor and a couple of Corley’s colleagues, but despite their best efforts, they still get whisked into the mother ship.

As viewers of the original know, abducted humans have their brains removed and inserted into robotic exo-skeletons, so they can serve as slave drones. However, the dude from Skyline ’10 fully maintained his consciousness and agency. When Corley blunders into him, he is still protecting his wife, whose pregnancy has been unnaturally accelerated by the aliens. In fact, Corley will deliver the fast-growing baby girl, pledging to protect her.

Thanks to alienified Jarrod, they bring the mother ship down right smack-dab in the center of the Golden Triangle. As the alien ship regenerates itself, Corley and Audrey forge an alliance with Sua and Kanya, sibling drug-runners turned resistance leaders. They have an extensive network of shelters underneath Prambanan. They also have a lot of guns, but the secret to mankind’s survival might very well be found in the genetically altered child’s blood.

Beyond Skyline really is the sequel we didn’t think we needed or wanted, but turned out to be exponentially better than the original. There have been plenty of sequels that were better the originals they followed, but the Skyline duology might represent the greatest increase in quality and entertainment value. It is easy to understand why from the one-sheet, which does not lie—Frank Grillo, along with Iko Uwais and Yayan “Mad Dog” Ruhian from The Raid lay a martial arts beat down on the aliens. Plus, Singapore TV star Pamelyn Chee gets to show off some action chops as Kanya.

Grillo was born to play damaged hardnosed characters like Corley, but he also develops some nice chemistry with Bojana Novakovic’s Audrey. He also has some nice moments with Jacob Vargas playing his former partner. Uwais and Ruhian do not have much opportunity to emote and develop character as Sua and the corrupt “Chief,” but they sure have the moves. Yet, Chee manages to make Kanya fully dimensional and tragically believable, despite all the bedlam exploding around them.

Look, Beyond Skyline is maybe not the only science fiction sequel opening this weekend, but it is guaranteed to blow away your expectations. O’Donnell also deserves credit from learning from the first film’s mistakes. No more shaky cam, so you can see steady full body shots of the fight choreography. Unlike the first film’s downbeat ending, Beyond ends on a note worthy of a John Williams fanfare. Recommended as just a lot of healthy, completely illogical fun, Beyond Skyline is now playing in New York, at the Cinema Village.

Alien Invasion: S.U.M.1

If you want to maintain military discipline during a near future dystopian alien invasion, maybe you shouldn’t name the dreaded buggers after a respected world music label. Frankly, calling them “The Nonesuch” is just an open invitation to disbelief. Stress and isolation will drive one sentry to do exactly that in Christian Pasquariello’s English language, Christian Alvart-produced Alien Invasion: S.U.M.1 (trailer here), which is now playing in Los Angeles.

S.U.M.1 never left the underground warrens where humanity has been forced to retreat, until he accepts a 100-day posting to the Cerberus watchtower along the defensive perimeter. Obviously, there are not a lot of proper names in this film, but the ones it has are loaded with symbolism. So far Summy knows the Maginot Line is holding, because his wrist sensor tells him so, but he doesn’t find that any more credible than we do.

Boredom quickly sets in when you’re only company is a white mouse S.U.M.1 names “Doc.” In addition to craziness, paranoia also sets in when the base commander dismisses his reports of a strange something hiding in the forest. A freak power outage really sets him on edge. HQ promises to dispatch a Mac to investigate, but you know how these IT guys act. They always show up late and then condescendingly assume you are just a moron with a loose cable connection.

S.U.M.1 is often visually striking, but Pasquariello the screenwriter does not do many favors for Pasquariello the director by making monotony and isolation so integral to his screenplay. He uses the passage of S.U.M.1’s hundred days as a narrative device, but viewers start to feel like they are living through each blessed day. However, he deftly uses the power of mystery and suggestion to keep the audience off-balance. Perhaps there really is a “wolf” in the woods or is he just plain nuts, or maybe both?

The Welsh Iwan Rheon looks sufficiently twitchy and Teutonic as S.U.M.1. We can definitely believe he is going crazy, or not. André Hennicke (who was so chilling in The Peculiar Abilities of Mr. Mahler, which is probably the best short film of the year) is spectacularly sleazy and utterly destabilizing as the Mac. Yet, you could argue production designer Thomas Stammer, art director Lasse Babilas, and their respective artisans are the real stars.

The Tower of Cerberus could very well evoke bad memories for many Germans, but it would be a mistake to force allegorical readings unto this film. It is really just a science fiction one-and-a-half-hander (because two-hander would overstate Hennicke’s screen time). Technically accomplished, but by no means shocking or essential, Alien Invasion: S.U.M.1 is now playing in Los Angeles, at the Arena Cinelounge.

RFW-London ’17: Attraction

This could be a case of karma coming back around on a galactic scale. After invading Ukraine, Russia just might find itself on the receiving end of a UFO invasion. However, the rebellious daughter of the Colonel in charge of Moscow’s defenses becomes convinced it is all a misunderstanding. In any event, Poland hopes they enjoy the resulting martial law in Fedor Bondarchuk’s Attraction (trailer here), which kicks off this year’s Russian Film Week in London.

So much for all the assurances Yulia Lebedeva’s science teacher made about the safety of meteor storms. Something else invaded Russian airspace—something big. Naturally, the Russian Air Force opens fire, sending it hurtling into Moscow’s heavily populated Chertanovo district. Frankly, there is more self-inflicted home turf destruction in Attraction than even the lame Roland Emmerich Godzilla, but of course Lebedeva’s delinquent boyfriend Artyom and his punky pals still blame the aliens.

Initially, Lebedeva blames them too, but she changes her mind when one saves her life. Instead, it will be the gawky Hekon who is badly wounded and thrown clear of his bionic bio-ware mecha suit (they sort of look like Man-Thing covered in spandex). Lebedeva will hide him from both the military and the low-life vigilantes flocking around Artyom, but he will need to retrieve a glowy thingy called “Shilk” (no articles), before he can safely leave the planet.

According to Bondarchuk, Attraction was inspired by the 2013 anti-immigrant Biryulyovo riots, which is rather surprising, considering Bondarchuk obediently signed a statement endorsing Putin’s military aggression in Ukraine. There is no question Attraction makes the Russian military look reckless and irresponsible, whereas Artyom’s “Earth Power” mob certainly suggests parallels the Pan-Slavic Russian nationalism used to justify invasions of Ukraine and Georgia.

Regardless, Oleg Menshikov is terrific as steely old Col. Lebedev. As Artyom, Alexander Petrov certainly captures the chilling self-righteousness of the hardcore activist class. Unfortunately, Irina Starshenbaum and Rinal Mukhametov have little chemistry or charisma in general as Lebedeva and Hekon. The great Sergei Garmash is also grossly under-employed as the Deputy PM, who seems to be calling all the shots in the government.

There is no question Attraction was greatly “inspired” by The Day the Earth Stood Still. Yet, on a very immediate level, it is rather encouraging to see a Russian event-movie of this scale advocating tolerance and asking questions first before shooting. The spacecraft special effects are also exponentially better than what you might expect. Unfortunately, the uneven cast gives us too many embarrassing moments worthy of the 1998 Godzilla. Still, they cannot complain, because cinematographer Mikhail Khasaya gives it a sense of scope and grandeur, while also keeping it relatively “real” looking.

Apparently, if there was a Russian Film Week this year in New York, it was drastically scaled back. Perhaps this is another way Putin’s lackeys hope to punish us for the Magnitsky Act, but it is really emerging Russian filmmakers who will suffer, without a sympathetic showcase in the media capital of the world. Interestingly, London, the home of the “Steele Dossier” was deemed A-Okay. Regardless, Attraction is a fascinating example of how genre films reflect the prevailing social neuroses, but as a viewing experience in its own right, it is a rather messy and often klutzy affair. Recommended solely as a curiosity piece, Attraction screens tomorrow (11/19), launching this year’s Russian Film Week in London.

Revolt: Aliens Invade Kenya

Many terrorism and infrastructure experts worry about the potential damage an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) attack could wreak on our power grid. However, an EMP could be the best hope for humanity in the dark days following the alien invasion. Despite his scrambled brains, a U.S. Special Forces amnesiac intends to be part of the last stand in Joe Miale’s Revolt (trailer here), which opens tomorrow in New York.

The last thing he remembers was fighting the metallic spider-like aliens—poorly. Coming to in a provincial jail cell, the mystery soldier is now a sitting duck for unsavory local and galactic elements alike. However, the French NGO doctor in the cell next to his is probably in an even worse position. Nadia is pretty cynical for an aide worker, but she is somewhat impressed when he escapes from a smalltime warlord’s gang and returns to rescue her. Henceforth, Nadia will call him “Bo,” based on the two remaining letters stitched on his uniform.

Bo and Nadia decide to team up and head towards a series of radio telescopes a hundred miles or so from the current battle zone. They seem to be the only man-made structures in Kenya that have not been damaged by the aliens, so Bo hopes they can rendezvous with the American military there. It is not a great plan, but it is better than standing around waiting to be killed or abducted.

Revolt is not exactly the most original or spectacular science fiction film to land in theaters, but it is sturdily effective. There is no question the key to the film’s success is the chemistry and charisma of the co-leads, Lee Pace and Bérénice Marlohe. Pace, the Halt and Catch Fire actor (who was excellent in City Center’s production of Terrence McNally’s The Golden Age) makes a credible and compelling action figure, while Marlohe has successfully transitioned from Bond Girl-victim (in Skyfall) to a take-no-prisoners sf butt-kicker, here in Revolt and Kill Switch before it. Frankly, they are only cast-members who get character development arcs to speak of, but they handle them rather dexterously, between all the running and shooting and crashing.

Revolt is definitely red meat science fiction for meatheads, but the plain truth is we would like to see a sequel with both these principle characters. Nobody will confuse it for Tarkovsky’s Solaris, but it works on its own terms—quite nicely. Recommended for fans of action-driven alien invasion movies, Revolt opens this Friday (11/17) in New York, at the Cinema Village.