Wavelength (1983)

Truly Dreadful Film

The Worst Film Ever

Simply Perfect

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

***Spoilers*** Low budget "E-T" like movie even though it was written years before the film "E-T" was even in production the movie "Wavelength" has to do with a trio of captured aliens who's space craft was blown out of the sky over the Mojave Desert by a super secret US military laser device. The three alien spacemen, named by the scientists and military who are examining of them, Gamma Beta & Delta, Dov Young Josh Oreck & Christian Morris, are put on ice in a secret military installation, that been out of operation since the end of WWII,in the Hollywood Hills.It's when the ultra sensitive to both whale dolphin and alien brainwaves Iris Longacer, Cherie Corrie, picks up the alien spacemen, who look like pre-teenage boys, cries for help that she gets her boyfriend down in the dumps rock guitarist Bobby Sinclair, Robert Carradine, to help her find them. It takes a while but with the help of desert prospector and former military construction contractor Dan, Keean Wynn, the aliens are tracked down to the long abandoned military installation that the US military is keeping them locked up, in cold storage, in.With both Iris & Bobby captured by the Army M.P's as their caught snooping around the secret military installation those in charge of the place get panic stricken in that the the truth about he aliens and their future plans for the human race will become public.***SPOILERS*** Not knowing what to do with Iris & Bobby their put in the same room where the aliens, Gamma Beta & Delta, are being kept in what looks like a combination of iron lungs and food storage freezers. This idiotic decision, by the military brass, to put both Iris & Bobby in the same secret room with the frozen alien turns into a disaster with Bobby freeing the aliens who then take off with him and Iris, with the help of local Navajo Indians, first for L.A and then to the Mojave Desert. It's there that in the wide open desert the aliens are soon to be contacted by their mother ship who's to take them back home from they came from in the far flung milky way Galaxy.In the final few minutes of the movie the aliens mother ship, that looks like a giant beach-ball, pops up out of nowhere in the middle of the Mojave Desert and after holding of a squadron of USAF fighter planes, by scaring he US Air Force pilots half to death, takes the now freed aliens from their captors, the US Military, safe on board. As for both Iris & Bobby as well as Dan the old prospector their allowed to go free in the US Government and its military leaders knowing full well that if they try to make their incredible experience public no one, not even their friends and family members, would ever believe them!

Burnt-out, reclusive folk singer Bobby Sinclair (an excellent performance by the always fine Robert Carradine) and kindly psychic Iris Longacre (nicely played by the fetching Cherie Currie of the Runaways) free a trio of bald, mute, diminutive extraterrestrials -- Gamma (Dov Young), Beta (Joshua Oreck) and Delta (Christian Morris) -- from a top secret army base run by cold-hearted military jerks and help the little guys get back to their home planet. Deftly directed by Mike Gray (who also wrote the intelligent script and previously penned the outstanding screenplay for "The China Syndrome"), with terrifically vivid and engaging performances from the two exceptional leads, unusually well-drawn characters, plenty of touching heart and warmth, and a neat synthesizer score by Tangerine Dream, "Wavelength" makes the grade as a shamefully underrated and overlooked low-budget sci-fi gem. Keenan Wynn contributes a marvelously cantankerous turn as crusty old prospector Dan, plus there are nifty bits by Robert ("Parasite") Glaudini as coolly pragmatic scientist Dr. Wolf and Bobby ("The Supernaturals") Di Cicco as Bobby's good friend Marvin Horn. Pleasant, quirky and simply lovely (the scenes with Bobby and Iris helping out the aliens are very moving and endearing, with the sequence where everyone chills out around a campfire qualifying as the definite delightful highlight), this unsung sleeper deserves to be better known and more widely seen.

You can count on one hand the number of "aliens on earth" movies that are well made since the 1980's. "Wavelength", with a plot containing a few elements of several other sci-fi movies, pulls off an intriguing look into why we seem to have no knowledge of alien contact--only our ever increasing suspicions. The short length is perfect, as you care about the characters but don't have to wade through more-than-enough exposition to reach the thrilling denouement. However, if you go in expecting a big-bucks budget and effects you will not get your fill. Instead, enjoy the cast who carry off the narrative through good chemistry and solid, non-flashy acting. The director/screenwriter has given them a sci-fi film with plenty to work with, including an eye-popping finale. As other reviewers have previously noted, the Tangerine Dream filmscore is excellent, too. It is a shame that this little gem isn't available in a widescreen DVD format yet. Catch it some other way when you can.

I saw the trailer for this film on an old VHS I was watching, and was intrigued enough to purchase it on eBay. All I can say is it was worth every cent. A marvellous little "unknown", with strong performances from the whole cast and great chemistry between them. The storyline is solid and unique, and is nowhere near a rip-off of earlier films. Of course, the music was another bonus, particularly the quick, sharp cues we get during the most dramatic scenes.A lot of tension is evident throughout the film, building up as we go along to a most memorable conclusion. The shots of the spaceship in the desert with the stunned Air Force pilots were great! There seems to have been a great deal of effort put into pacing too, and the film flows along very smoothly. Just an excellent movie and very highly recommended!