Editorials
Before YouTube, the Sci-Fi Channel’s “Exposure” Was the Way to Watch Horror and Sci-fi Shorts [TV Terrors]
Horror and science fiction have always been a part of the television canvas, and constant attempts have been made over the years to produce classic entertainment. Some have fallen by the wayside, while others became mainstream phenomena. With “TV Terrors,” we take a look back at the many genre efforts from the 80’s, 90’s, and 00’s, exploring some shows that became cult classics, and others that sank in to obscurity.
This month we head back to the early 2000s for a little “Exposure.”
- Aired from 2000 – 2002
- Aired on Syfy
I can pinpoint when I started to love the concept of short films and short filmmaking. It was while I was watching the Sci-Fi Channel one night in 2000, and the short “Antebios” came on. “Antebios” was a foreign short about an alien and a human soldier forced to work together to stop a common foe, in the vein of “Hell in the Pacific.” Since then my love for short films has been long lasting and I often take greater interest in them than most features that come my way.
Back in 2000, the Sci-Fi Channel aired “Exposure.” An amalgam of an anthology series, and experimental film series, “Exposure” was an hour long weekly series that aired science fiction, horror, and fantasy short films. Much in the vein of MTV’s “Liquid Television” and “Cartoon Sushi,” there were never really any limits to what kind of short films aired on “Exposure.”
Occasionally hosted by model/actress Lisa Marie, the show aired every Sunday night, and was introduced around the time that the internet was still very much in its infancy. The only platform filmmakers had for short films was Atom Films, and we were still about three years away from the introduction of the juggernaut known as YouTube. Watching short films was often a privilege reserved for film festivals or comic book conventions, and the Sci-Fi Channel presented some of the weirdest, wildest, and most bizarre short films back to back. They aired them for viewers to get a glimpse at some of the minds working in the business that also had potential to break out and produce the next genre masterpieces.
For the most part we always got a glimpse at up and coming artists that would later break out, but the series was at its best when it approached audiences at eye level and presented some classic short cinema that offered bolder entertainment that studios would have never touched. The show seemed happy to take chances with short films that were just downright out there and often surreal. Some of my all time favorites included Jono Oliver’s “The Window” about a heavenly vision in a window that begins to inspire people, and Ian Kessler’s brutally creepy “The Puzzle.”
The show also acted as proving grounds for future studio features. “Season’s Greetings,” the animated short that would become the template for Mike Dougherty’s Trick ‘r Treat, aired on “Exposure,” as did Ellroy Elkayem’s “Larger Than Life” which became the basis for Eight Legged Freaks, and 1994’s “Suspicious” by David Koepp, starring Janeane Garofalo and Michael Rooker, which would later be remade into the prologue for 1998’s Urban Legend. There’s also “Bobby Loves Mangos,” a short that was given a thumbs up by Roger Ebert after its director Stuart Archer begged him to watch it.
While “Exposure” was mainly about science fiction, the producers would also switch things up with themed episodes every now and then like “short toons,” short films about sex, and of course, “Star Wars.” Kevin Smith hosted the “Star Wars” special spotlighting some of the best and weirdest Star Wars-related films around, like Joe Nussbaum’s early viral hit “George Lucas In Love,” Lucas’ early student shorts “Freiheit” and “THX 1138,” and the comedic “Tripping the Rift,” the animated Star Wars spoof that would eventually become a cult series for the channel. There was also the weird but interesting short documentary “Searching for Carrie Fisher,” about a fan’s mission to meet his heroine. I vividly remember the documentary because he did find Ms. Fisher, but she only agreed to meet him if they met in a crowded public place. As always, host Smith often had a great enthusiasm and hilarious sense of humor.
“Exposure” also aired excellent horror based specials every Halloween; hosted by Lisa Marie, the show presented some of the best horror shorts I’d ever seen. This was the series at its best, as the producers often managed to bring out some memorable genre fare. Along with indie films we were also able to check out early works from Tim Burton including “Frankenweenie” and “Vincent.”
Despite the very late night time slot that Sci-Fi reduced “Exposure” to, it managed to last three whole seasons and was celebrated by its small but loyal fan base for years. When it was cancelled by the channel which was reformatting at the time, Sci-Fi kept the concept of the series alive with the short film showcase “Exposure: Future of Film Festival” in New York City in 2000, and in 2006, the Sundance Channel launched the “Exposure Film Contest” with films showcased from the SciFi Pulse streaming applet, allowing viewers to vote on their favorites. Sadly with so many facets online for movie fans to now view short films of all kinds from any country, the chance of “Exposure” being rebooted is incredibly slim.
But for a time when the internet was still growing and YouTube was miles away from dominating the internet, “Exposure” was surprisingly ahead of its time, and serves as a wonderful memento of the early digital age that opened the eyes of its viewers to more original and interesting entertainment.
Is It On DVD/Blu-Ray? Syfy had many of the short films available on their website for years after “Exposure” ended, but they were eventually taken down. With copyright issues there aren’t whole episodes available, but the various shorts can be found online, scattered in places like Vimeo and or YouTube… if you look hard enough.
It’s been 75 years since The Thing From Another World first warned us to “watch the skies”, and filmgoers have done just that by showing up to multiple instances of extraterrestrial contact on the big screen. This makes sense, as a recent CBS news poll estimated that 63% of Americans believe in intelligent life on other planets, and the ongoing disclosure movement aims to raise that number with each passing day.
With Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day leaving many genre fans hungry for more alien footage (preferably of the spooky variety), today I’d like to share a list recommending six underrated alien invasion thrillers for your viewing pleasure. After all, regardless of whether or not you believe that we’re alone in the universe, it can be fun to dream about the worst-case scenario if our cosmic neighbors ever decide to visit.
For the purposes of this list, we’ll be focusing on lesser-known invasion stories rather than the popular extraterrestrials of franchises like Alien and Close Encounters of the Third (or even Fourth) Kind. That being said, don’t forget to comment below with your own alien favorites if you think we missed a particularly thrilling movie.
While it won’t be featured in this article, I’d highly recommend checking out Dean Alioto’s UFO Abduction/The McPherson Tape if you’re up for some ufology-inspired found footage thrills.
With that out of the way, onto the list!
6. The Arrival (1996)
Not to be confused with Denis Villeneuve’s Academy Award-winning Amy Adams vehicle about learning to communicate peacefully with extraterrestrial life, David Twohy’s The Arrival is a much more straightforward (but no less entertaining) genre romp where Charlie Sheen faces a global conspiracy involving hostile alien invaders.
It’s not exactly up there with Close Encounters or even Independence Day, but Twohy’s conspiratorial thriller plays out like an exceptionally fun episode of The X-Files that I’d recommend to sci-fi/horror fans who don’t mind a little bit of wonky CGI and 90s excess alongside their alien thrills.
5. Extraterrestrial (2014)
The Vicious Brothers made a name for themselves with the success of 2011’s Grave Encounters, but that was far from the Canadian duo’s only collaboration. And while it’s not exactly a fan favorite, I always point out 2014’s Extraterrestrial as one of their most underrated projects simply because I agree with the filmmakers’ opinion that there aren’t enough ‘cool alien abduction movies’ out there.
Admittedly, the majority of the picture functions like a run-of-the-mill creature feature with paper-thin characters and familiar horror tropes, but I’d argue that the cosmically-terrifying final act elevates the experience to new and memorable heights. The movie also boasts great performances by both Michael Ironside and Emily Perkins – a combination that more than makes up for the occasionally janky CGI.
4. Alien Raiders (2008)
Director Ben Rock has gone on record lamenting how his John-Carpenter-inspired creature feature was forcefully renamed from Supermarket to the painfully obvious Alien Raiders (a change which likely resulted in many potential viewers skipping out on the experience), but the new title doesn’t change the fact that this single-location thriller is something of a hidden gem.
Taking place entirely within a supermarket, Alien Raiders tells the story of an ensemble of customers and employees who are taken hostage by a group of armed men looking for something far more dangerous than an easy payout. I won’t get into details in order to avoid spoiling the experience, but I’d highly recommend this criminally underseen flick to fans of John Carpenter and the Resident Evil games.
3. Phoenix Forgotten (2017)
You’d think that a Ridley-Scott-produced retelling of one of the most infamous real-life UFO sightings of all time would have a bigger following, but I rarely see Justin Barber’s Found Footage period piece brought up during discussions about extraterrestrial-focused horror movies.
This is a huge shame, as Phoenix Forgotten is just as spooky as it is convincing, with this well-researched dive into the Phoenix Lights incident benefiting from surprisingly believable special effects as well as an appropriately horrific finale.
2. Communion (1989)
I wouldn’t blame you for disregarding Whitley Strieber’s controversial book about his alleged close encounter as sensationalist slop, but I’d argue that Phillipe Mora’s 1989 adaptation of these events is much better than the source material. After all, the movie works as a standalone piece of speculative fiction while also benefiting from an incredible performance by the one and only Christopher Walken!
Mora’s take on Communion may not be particularly scary, but the film is still an unforgettable character study regardless of whether or not the abduction really happened. Not only that, but the flick also paved the way for plenty of future sci-fi stories where the extraterrestrial invaders aren’t as evil as they initially appear.
1. Altered (2006)
Originally envisioned as a Sam Raimi-style horror-comedy titled Probed, Eduardo Sánchez (of The Blair Witch Project fame) eventually realized that it would be much more interesting to turn the film into a serious exploration of the emotional aftermath of a traumatic abduction incident.
That’s how we got Altered, a clever inversion of the standard abduction narrative that follows a group of troubled friends as they capture and experiment on an alien in order to enact revenge for their own abduction years prior.
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