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-

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Hellraiser (2022)

Recovering junkie Odessa A’zion accompanies scuzzy boyfriend Drew Starkey on a break-in where all they find is a weird puzzle box. A’zion later opens the box and after some weird shit happens, A’zion and Starkey figure it might be a good idea to learn more about this messed up trinket. Goran Visnjic plays a millionaire who possessed the box before our protagonist nicked it.   Is there any point in remaking/rebooting “Hellraiser” when the 1987 adaptation of Clive Barker’s original text was written and directed by Barker himself? And is considered a horror classic? On evidence here, absolutely not. Directed by David Bruckner ( “The Signal” ) and scripted by Ben Collins ( “The Night House” ) and Luke Piotrowski (ditto) this is an entirely tedious affair. I took a long time to get on board with the 1987 “Hellraiser” , I have to admit. It was wildly imaginative and original, like a nightmare transplanted on to film. However, the characters were stone cold and left me similarly chilly t
Read more

Review: Cinderella (1950)

The story of poor young Cinderella (voiced by Ilene Woods), treated as a servant by her nasty stepmother (voiced by Eleanor Audley), and dismissed by her thoroughly rotten, ugly stepsisters. Her only friends are a group of mice, who are forever being menaced by a cat named Lucifer (or as I call him, Grumpy Cheshire Cat). The King (hoping to find a wife for his charming son) is throwing a ball and every available young woman is invited to attend, and Cinderella is most excited to go. However, her stepmother and stepsisters do all they can to prevent this from happening. But with help from the mice and one fairy godmother (voiced by Verna Felton) later, and Cinderella looks set to attend the ball. You know the rest, folks.   Lovely 1950 Disney animated movie from directors Clyde Geronimi ( “Peter Pan” , “Lady and the Tramp” ), Wilfred Jackson ( “Fantasia” , “Alice in Wonderland” , “Peter Pan” ) & Hamilton Luske ( “Pinocchio” , “Fantasia” , “Peter Pan” ), that is a bit too s
Read more

Review: Eugenie de Sade

Eugenie (Soledad Miranda) makes a deathbed confession to author/biographer (Jesus ‘Jess’ Franco himself), recounting the tale of how her depraved stepfather (Paul Muller) groomed her into a life of depravity, debauchery, and murder.   Not to be confused with the similarly titled “Eugenie…The Story of Her Journey into Perversion” (by the same director) or “Justine de Sade” (which is not to be confused with Franco’s own “Justine” for that matter), this 1973 Marquis de Sade adaptation from writer-director Jesus Franco ( “99 Women” , “A Virgin Among the Living Dead” ) is perhaps the perfect marriage of Franco, sleazy material, and actors. Basically this is what Franco’s “She Killed in Ecstasy” might’ve been like if it were based on a Marquis de Sade work. There’s a few slow spots here and there, but overall I actually think this is Franco’s best film. Yes, even better than my previous choice “Vampyros Lesbos” , and better than his more ‘respectable’ films like “Count Dracula” (a
Read more