Dead Weekend (1995)

How sad is this?

Fresh and Exciting

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Great use of Leslie West song 'Sea of Fire' and great music provided by Alice Cooper/Lou Reed guitar player Steve Hunter. Too bad such good music had to be wasted on such a terrible movie. But there is a certain amount of viewing pleasure derived from watching Stephen Baldwin's terrible acting.

The text on the video jacket lured me with false claims of a story of an alien who shapeshifts her female form at will. The film was a complete waste of its potential. The story: a crash-landed alien spends a weekend on earth while waiting to be rescued by her own species. She switches form several times, never at will, and once she doesn't even realize that she's changed. She never repeats her form (except once, briefly). She never impersonates anyone. Her shapeshifting isn't used to conceal her identity, and plays almost no role in the plot. Basically, several times in the movie the role of the alien switches to a different actress, who says, "Hi, I look different now but it's still me." You wonder if maybe the actresses couldn't make it for the entire filming so they had to time-share. Despite the low budget, there could have been a lot of promise with the film, such as having the alien use her shapeshifting as a disguise. Instead, we have a tag-team of women who come and go, confusing the viewer and leaving him wondering as the credits scroll up, "Has this movie started yet?"

This movie drained the energy right out of me the moment it came on and never let up until it was over. I really should have just turned it off. Not that I had much anticipation of this movie being any good in the first place, but the possibility of some steamy T&A lured me in. How stupid was I. This has to be one of the lowest budget movies I've ever seen and will probably ever see. Low-budget doesn't necessarily dictate a bad movie, but Dead Weekend is one of the countless bombs people wonder how they got made in the first place. Although this movie is being sold as a sci-fi adventure all it really amounts to is a low-budget T&A romp through wasteland. The story and cast are horrible with Stephen Baldwin obviously taking this on as a quick paycheck. Believe me when I say everything about this movie is bad beyond belief. Perhaps the ugliest part is even the T&A can't save this mess of a film.

The people responsible for this masterpiece knew EXACTLY what they were doing! I can almost picture it: "What? No budget? Oh, well, let's have fun anyway!" It's as if the director used this flick as an opportunity to compile a resume' of styles (hence the random Homicide: Life on the Street camerawork in one scene), and the actors were just there for a good time. It's great.Set in the "not-too distant future", martial law has been declared in The City in leu of a looming earthquake. However, the earthquake is merely a ruse, a story fed to the public so the TWF (True World Forces) can capture an alien spotted over the city some few days earlier. A TWF agent runs into the alien (a *hottie* who can change her apperance, while always remaining - of course - a hottie), and the two go off and, um, compare their respective physiologies (yeah, that's it). Other things happen, too, but who pays attention to plot nowadays?The effects are poor, but it's the *little* things that really made this film. The chalk outlines. The phone book. The beautiful rooftop view of The City. The officer's club/strip joint/medicenter. These minute details were handled (fondled, even) with the utmost care, thus making this film the cinematic treasure it is. Don't be confused: this flick is BAD. But that's okay. It's as if the director & stars agreed to make as entertaining a film as they could with the $5.63 budget they had. I loved every minute of it!