The Alien Factor (1978)

Really Surprised!

Overrated

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

The acting in this movie is really good.

After several citizens of a small town are mutilated, the local sheriff is at a loss. He chalks it up to animal attacks, but the local doctor/coroner isn't so sure. Is there something else lurking in the woods just outside of town? Something alien in origin? Fortunately for the sheriff and everyone else in town, a stranger named Zachary shows up to help with their monster problem.I know it has it's fans, but "watchable" is about the kindest word I can use when describing The Alien Factor. I'm sorry, but it's just not very good. The acting is beyond pathetic, the sets and special effects are super-cheap, the music is bad and often inappropriate, and the pacing is horrible. Way too much time is spent just walking through the woods without much of anything happening. It gets boring pretty quickly. And what's with the musical interlude by Lon Talbot (at least I think that's his name). Talk about sucking the life out of a movie! Finally, the twist at the end should come as no surprise to anyone. It was telegraphed the moment Zachary appeared on-screen. I consider my 4/10 very generous.

Alien Factor is one of those low-budget sci-fi movies that end up on a 50 pack of movies. I purchase these 50 packs for a few movies that come with them and Alien Factor was not one I was looking for on this pack. I didn't know about it until I saw a clip of it on the interactive menu, but then I knew i needed to see it. So I watched it, hopes not high, but it blew my expectations out of the water! The Creature costumes were very creative, the plot was OK, and the stop motion scene was pretty cool(Although it could have been dynamated in better.) The plot centers on a small town that has a meteor crash down, just outside of it. Later, a bunch of strange murders start to happen, and the doctors attribute the attacks to an animal. Upon further inspection, they find that this would be the weirdest animal of all time. But then a strange scientist shows up, and states a totally different and incredible theory: That the "meteor" is really a U.F.O. His theory is later proved upon investigation, and they find that the U.F.O. was a cargo ship that was transporting specimens from other worlds to a distant planet. When the ship malfunctioned and crashed-landed the animals escaped, and were now going on a rampage through the town, killing everyone in sight. The scientists offers his help in destroying the creatures, but is he really what he says he is? Throughout the movie, he displays vast knowledge of these creatures, that no other human could know. One by One he tracks down the creatures and kills them. One of them is a poisonous insect monster, the other a giant gorilla monster, and the third, a stop-motion lizard beast called a lemoid. Upon his encounter with the lemoid, we find that the scientist is really an alien from the same planet the creatures were being sent to, and his human skin is destroyed during the battle, revealing his grotesque alien appearance beneath. He is later shot because of his frightful appearance. This ends the movie on a nice note. Honestly, this isn't a bad movie, and is actually pretty enjoyable. So i say, go check it out, to see the cool monsters, fun plot, and just for a good time.

As a fan of B-movies, particularly creature features and alien flicks, I couldn't pass up the chance to see this one. In fine B-movie tradition it starts with a young couple necking in a car, and within seconds a monster shows up and offs the boyfriend. From there on in we're treated to many more movie clichés as the movie lurches to it's conclusion 80 minutes later, leaving a trail of dead yokels in it's wake. Fair enough.First off, no one sets out to make a bad movie. Even with a nano-budget, the film makers clearly tried their best with what they had, and the cast members who have posted here confirm this. The premise of the movie had great potential; a UFO carrying a variety of deadly alien beasts crash lands in an autumnal forest outside Dullsville USA where they proceed to whack the locals in various setups. The local law are baffled until a two-fisted scientist shows up to set things right.Unfortunately, it's the direction that does for this movie, not the plot, not the cardboard effects nor the plywood acting. Literally within a minute he has revealed the first monster in broad daylight, removing any possible suspense about either the identity of the killer or what the monster looks like. Rather than teasing us with the bad guys and hiding their badly made costumes, we are shown in detail how bad they are. The pacing is often glacial, the music choices baffling and grating, and many scenes are just padding which kill any momentum that might just have been built up.Yes, the acting is amateurish and the dialogue is pretty stilted, but in the hands of a competent director this could have been another classic like Halloween, rather than a cult classic known only to a few fans of the genre. It's worth a look just to see how it should not be done, and is quite a good laugh if you're an MST3K fan.

You may remember the TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000, where the captive subjects were forced to watch bad movies? Cinematic Titanic features five of the original cast of talent from that show, and The Alien Factor is one of their latest releases.The scenes with the best riffing: Opening credits! Couple making out in VW. First scene with the Sheriff. The rock band- oh my god! When the "hunting party" goes out looking for aliens. And many more...I've watched this version of The Alien Factor at least 10 times now, and it's really funny. It's definitely worth finding on-line and ordering yourself a copy.Now I need to find AF2!