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[Review] ‘Alien Outpost’ Gets An “A” For Effort

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Alien Outpost is shot as a documentary following the events of soldiers fighting straggling aliens who attacked Earth 10 years prior. Specifically we follow Outpost 37 which is one of the few Outposts left standing. It’s undermanned and fear is high but somehow the men manage to stay as positive as possible and are even endearing. I don’t think it’s accurate to call Alien Outpost a horror movie per se, but there are some sci-fi horrific moments.

The performances in Alien Outpost are really what struck me with this indie flick. Each soldier is Reiley McClendon (The Kid) as Andros. I really felt for the guy! And that’s a big bonus for me with genre movies because most of the time I don’t give a flying fuck about the characters. Which is a significant and continuous failure in the genre presently. It’s always fun to see some asshat get theirs but it’s much more gripping if you actually want the characters to live. And that’s what each of these guys bring, with them. Hell, even Adrian “Duncan MacLeod” Paul himself did a fine job…but who doesn’t love Highlander?

Outpost 37 Stills 2013

Alien Outpost is the first feature length directorial debut for Jabbar Raisani who previously worked as an SFX designer on Predators, Fright Night (2011), Machete, and also on HBO’s Game of Thrones. His skill in SFX shines bright all throughout Alien Outpost. The aliens, referred to as The Heavies, are hulking beasts that are covered from head to toe in seemingly impenetrable armor. From the start of the movie, we are bombarded with images of the invasion. The first 5 minutes of Alien Outpost shows some of the best SFX I’ve seen in an indie movie in quite a while, hell even in bigger budget features.

Writer, Blake Clifton, is another breakout involved with this film. Like Raisani, he has behind the scenes experiences but in cinematography instead of SFX. Clifton worked on the same films as Raisani and evidently became good friends with the same passion: Science Fiction. Both of these guys are great at what they do, but a script supervisor and an assistant director who were familiar with the job would have benefited the movie greatly.

heavies

Performances and SFX aside though, the story does tend to drag, in the same way, that all found-footage/faux-documentaries tend to drag. There’s a whole lot of build up to the end result because that’s the only way these things work. Luckily we have likable and more importantly tolerable characters to help us through to that point.

Alien Outpost would have thrived as a short film, even as a 45-minute film. For a first feature though, Raisani and Clifton have made a path for themselves. With some future script development, the two could really break into the genre and make some really cool sci-fi horror. A genre that always needs some love.

Jess is a Northeast Ohio native who has loved all things horror and fringe since birth. She has a tendency to run at the mouth about it and decided writing was the only way not to scare everyone away. If you make a hobby into a career it becomes less creepy. Unless that hobby is collecting baby dolls. Nothing makes that less creepy.

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‘Lisa Frankenstein’ Shambles Onto Blu-ray in April With Audio Commentary and Deleted Scenes

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lisa frankenstein trailer 2

The horror-comedy Lisa Frankenstein is headed home to physical media, with the film zombie-walking its way onto DVD and Blu-ray from Universal on April 9, 2024.

Directed by Zelda Williams and written by Diablo Cody (Juno, Jennifer’s Body), Lisa Frankenstein will also be available for a lower price on Digital beginning March 29.

Special Features include:

  • Audio commentary by director Zelda Williams
  • An Electric Connection featurette
  • Resurrecting the ‘80s featurette
  • A Dark Comedy Duo featurette
  • 5 deleted scenes
  • Gag reel

Meagan Navarro wrote in her review for Bloody Disgusting,” Billed as a coming-of-rage tale, Lisa Frankenstein instead offers a celebration of outcasts and weirdos.”

“It makes for a sugary sweet, almost wholesome effort held together by a trio of infectiously winsome performances,” Meagan’s review continued. She added, “As a celebration of teen girls and outcasts who just want to be loved, Lisa Frankenstein ultimately charms.”

Kathryn Newton (Freaky) and Cole Sprouse (“Riverdale”) lead the cast for Focus Features, and the new film is rated “PG-13” for “bloody images and sexual material.”

Carla Gugino (The Fall of the House of Usher), Liza Soberano (Alone/Together), Joe Chrest (Stranger Things) and Henry Eikenberry (The Crowded Room) also star.

[Related] ‘Lisa Frankenstein’ and ‘Jennifer’s Body’: A Match Made in Hot Pink Heaven

In Lisa Frankenstein, “Set in 1989, the film follows an unpopular high schooler who accidentally re-animates a handsome Victorian corpse during a lightning storm and starts to rebuild him into the man of her dreams using the broken tanning bed in her garage.”

Here’s the full official plot synopsis: “A coming of RAGE love story about a misunderstood teenager and her high school crush, who happens to be a handsome corpse. After a set of playfully horrific circumstances bring him back to life, the two embark on a murderous journey to find love, happiness… and a few missing body parts along the way.”

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