For a low-budget movie, Alien Country looks fantastic, and even its alien effects mostly stand up to scrutiny due to its clever use of colour and light. Alien Country is awaiting a release date in the UK.
Once upon a time, video store shelves were lined with alien flicks from Critters and its many sequels to Independence Day, Mars Attacks and Men in Black. These ’80s and 90s alien movies celebrated the classic ’50s B-movie horror while adding layers of comedy and action to the mix; they were fun, energetic, and intelligent films that knew exactly how to please a popcorn-munching, coke-swilling audience. However, since the 00s, these fun alien romps have all but vanished, and those that did arrive, like Cowboys & Aliens (2011), flopped. It’s now horror that reigns supreme in alien movies, and as a result, we have lost something: the fun, the laughter, and the memorable one-liners.
Boston McConnaughey’s Alien Country, co-written and produced by Renny Grames, is a love letter to those fun films and the classic spit-and-sawdust American West tale of a community coming together to fight for freedom.
Jimmy Walker (K.C. Clyde) is a demolition derby driver whose dad disappeared when he was a kid. No one knows where his dad went, but there were rumours of an alien abduction, strange lights in the sky and a mysterious gateway to another world on the night he vanished. When Jimmy’s girlfriend Everly (Renny Grames) announces she is pregnant, he doesn’t know what to say; after all, his dad wasn’t around for him, and he is worried that he might do the same to his kid. Jimmy simply doesn’t feel ready to be a dad.
However, if Jimmy thought Everly’s news was the most dramatic of the day, he was about to discover that their small town held far more deadly secrets and that he had the key to solving them. As a horde of strange bio-engineered aliens invade, gobbling up chefs, ex-mining workers and police, Jimmy, Everly, a stranger from another world, and a small band of locals are all that stand between extinction and survival as two worlds collide.
There is a quirky, nostalgic charm to McConnaughey and Grames’ alien invasion action comedy, but sandwiched between the laughs and a horde of deadly, green, glowing aliens sits a far more human tale. At its heart, Alien Country is a story of family and the fears and doubts surrounding soon-to-be parents: Will I screw up my kid? Will I make the same mistakes my parents did? Am I ready for the responsibility? In McConnaughey and Grames’ world, there’s nothing like an alien invasion to help you find the answers.
While the performances are engaging, and most gags hit their mark, it is the visuals that make Alien Country stand out. Cinematographer Wes Johnson uses colour, light, and shadow to beautiful effect, bathing nighttime scenes in vivid neon glows that reflect the sense of threat the green-glowing invaders bring, while utilising the vast vistas of the American West to stunning effect.
For a low-budget movie, Alien Country looks fantastic, and even its alien effects mostly stand up to scrutiny due to its clever use of colour and light. However, at times, Alien Country veers away from its strengths with a screenplay that takes a few too many detours, and its interstellar dad and son story (a clear nod to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2) is ultimately undercooked. But despite these flaws, Alien Country is an enjoyable, fun and nostalgic alien flick with a big heart and a truckload of creativity.
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