Review: Alien Prey


A slightly bitchy lesbian couple (Sally Faulkner and Glory Annen) live out in the woods in their mansion, and are about to have a close encounter of the alien vampire kind (Barry Stokes).



Director Norman J. Warren (the dreadful “Alien” rip-off “Inseminoid”) and screenwriter Max Cuff (his only film credit) essentially give us a sci-fi/horror version of “The Fox” here with this 1977 low-budget oddity. The result is all over the map, but with one scene excepted none of it is particularly interesting. This is partly because the short running time renders a lot of it incoherent. It’s mostly because Warren is a subpar filmmaker and he’s made a lot of it incoherent.



I really wish this wasn’t – and can hardly believe it is – boring, because a lot of it is nuttier than a fruitcake, and that one scene is pretty darn good. If you’re gonna watch this film, it’s because you’ve heard about the lesbian content, and although darkly photographed, it’s pretty steamy for a non-porn film from 1977-78. It’s also been more competently choreographed than Ms. Annen’s sapphic encounter in the Aussie softcore flick “Felicity”, where it felt like no one involved had a clue how lesbians have sex. Or humans in general for that matter. Speaking of human, one of the biggest problems with this film is that none of the characters, human or alien, draw you in at all. The two women are rather unpleasant, whilst Glory Annen and Barry Stokes give particularly awful performances, not helped by putrid dialogue. One also can’t escape the rather strong whiff of homophobia, either. It’s even more prevalent here than in “The Fox”. Also, is it just me or could Sally Faulkner and Glory Annen pass for sisters here? That’s what I was seeing at least. The alien makeup/prosthetics make poor Barry Stokes look like a vampire Care Bear, but they’re at least memorable, unlike pretty much everything else here.



Some nice sapphic action and a helluva bloody hickey scene don’t make up for crushing tedium, icy-veined characters, and frequent incoherence. There’s an unnerving final shot, but by then it’s too late to care. Sub-par cheapie shot in a week and a half. How can you screw up an alien vampire movie with lesbians in it? Exhibit A, your honour.



Rating: C-

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