The Alien Factor

source: The Alien Factor

This Movie is just Fun. Back in the mid 70's movies like these were being made every day, by people with small budgets and little know actors. But they were the movies you would talk to your buddies about long after the movie has gone the way of the Drive-ins.I was too young to see Alien Factor when it was at the Drive-in. I did see on a late night fright show on NBC. I was about 15 then and found it be the best laugh you could get with out big name stars. I bought the DVD for a few bucks in a bargain store. I just watched it and Man! It brings back the memories. Plan 9 from outer space meets Gumby and Pokey! It's fun. It's low tech.it's got bad acting. But the monster costumes look great for mid 70's. I'm surprised Don Dohler didn't get as far as John Carpenter did. You might say some thing like "John Carpenter did some great work!" Yes thats true. But just look at one of his first movies "Dark Star" You can't find gems like these being made today. My friends and I call movies like these "Pure Cheese" This is the best of pure cheese around. You can find cheesy movies. But it takes the best and I mean the best to make it into My list of Top 10 Pure Cheese. I'll watch this movie for years to come. I would say on the Pure Cheese list I would put it at 3 between Laser Blast & Dark Star. Every now and then you have to sit back and watch a low tech/low budget movie. Just a good old fun Si-Fi that doesn't weigh you down with plot or sub plot. I hold Pure Cheese movies in the highest regard.The Alien Factor is one movie to be held high. So Thanks to Don Dohler for good fun!

I saw this film as a kid on the Saturday afternoon "Monster Theater". I've seen it a few more times since then, and I still get a kick out of it. Basically, an alien ship crashes (of course) on its way to some intergalactic zoo. Three very dangerous aliens escape the wreck and go back to their normal predatory behavior patterns. It's up to the Earthlings to stop them... This film was pretty creative for its time, and the methods used to "deal" with the aliens showed some logical and innovative thought on the writer's part. It probably will never be listed in the top ten films of all time, but it's a fun romp when you're in the mood for cheesy movies. Give it a chance.

I taped this amazingly bad piece of you-know-what many years ago off of broadcast TV. And for years I wished I could find a video of it for sale. Then, finally, I came across it for sale on eBay. And in addition to this, I also found other films of director Don Dohler, including the sequel. Now, some people may have had some hopes that Dohler's efforts might have created an indigenous film industry for Maryland. Well, "Blair Witch" didn't do that, and Dohler didn't either. Maybe I shouldn't be so hard on Dohler and his films - they certainly are fun to watch. (So are train wrecks, the Three Stooges, and political conventions.) What IS done right in this film could be summed up in one word - nothing! Low budgets are not crimes, and sometimes amateurs can bring in a fresh point of view and make decent films. That didn't happen here though..... "Alien Factor" is just plain goofy, which makes it fun.

I once saw The Fiend or also know as Fiend, what a turkey that was but this one is even worser. The copper looks like a McCloud rip off, acting is terrible and let us please be quiet about the aliens. No special effects, only a man dressed as an alien. And it goes on and on, even your toddlers could watch this one and may think, hey there's a teletubbie on the run. And then there's one special effect, you will see, it's an effect used in the silent movies. This is one of your worst nightmares to watch, extreme slow, extreme stupid, extreme boring. Just have a look at the alien again, it's a stilted man. I can go one for ages about Alien Factor. Luckely it was on DVD together with Fiend, two turkeys for the price of one...

Of all the crappy sci-fi movies I've picked up and rented, this one stuck a little longer than the rest. It's pretty good for being a low budget film whose cast and crew were one and the same. It's pretty original, too. Kind of weird but it's worth a look.

When I first viewed this movie, I was 8 years old. It was was on the "late late movie" on TV. After watching it, I was terrified to go in my basement. Fearing that I would be attacked by the tall furry alien. You have 3 Alien specimens. The hard skinned "cockroach" alien, who's skin cannot be penetrated by conventional weapons. The big tall furry Alien, who stabs his victims with his claws. And finally the energy Alien,who is coolest looking one. But unfortunately that it gets slain with a piece of wood. Then the alien specimen zoo keeper, who was only trying to help. But nothing can prevent him from being killed by confused locals. Recently I purchased the DVD. I had some of the best laughs! The synthesizer music makes the movie.

By far and away the worst movie I have ever seen - fantastic! I saw this at a film festival back in New Zealand in the mid-nineties and had to sit through the whole thing just to see if it could get any worse - I was not disappointed! The man dressed in a furry outfit with stilts on as the alien (how does it run so fast?) some of the best editing this side of "Z-Film". Not even the shorts for other Z films on the Bad Taste DVD could match this film. Dialogue, script, storyline and special effects are all represented here in their absolute worst - love it! Now to find how to get my hands on that sequel over here in the UK!

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!

The Alien Factor is a home brew that got some backing and has become a sort of minor cult classic. At this point I would like to say if you cannot overlook a movie of a lower budget for some of its shortcomings do not watch or rent The Alien Factor as on a big production level this movie blows. If you can overlook that however there is a few things of merit here...though little. The story is about an alien ship that is on its way back to its home planet when it crashes with its cargo of exotic alien creatures. The creatures (3 in total not counting the alien pilot) get loose and start killing people in the local town. I will first say that this story idea is pretty interesting and with the right budget I feel this could be a cool sci-fi horror film however the movie is too ambitious with the budget and though the aliens look surprisingly decent for the restrictions that I'm sure they had, the overall product just sort of falls flat. Though the aliens look OK we get a stop-motion monster that had a cool design but the fight sequence its involved in was not so cool. To explain it would be futile, you would have to see this to understand. Also the acting was so-so even for a low budget flick like this and locals of the Baltimore/DC area will notice old school Creature Feature and current web host flick host Gore De Vol (who now has his own website at http://www.countgore.com/) acting as a mayor in this film. Of all the real problems I had the main problem and the reason I really cannot give this a decent review is....pacing. Man was it painful. There are 1 to 2 minute lulls of us watching a characters walk through the woods with nothing but synthesizer music going on. We await something to happen but in most cases it doesn't. It is these cases alone that hurt this film. I can look past mediocre effects, I can look past so-so acting as long as the story is interesting (which this movie had going for it somewhat) but when the pacing is off it can really mess up a movie and its flow. In conclusion I did not hate this movie as the monsters on display were decent and the story was something that kept my interest but poor pacing and some ho hum sequences in this film bring it down in the end. Score 4/10: Below Average, Check it out for the monsters and story just don't be surprised if you find yourself reaching for the fast forward button on your remote. Again not horrible just alittle bland. The Alien Factor is out though Retromedia (associated with Image)(www.retromedia.org) on DVD. There is a regular version and a 2 movie on a flipper disk (ala MGM Midnight Movies) with another film by Don Dohler called Fiend (dare I watch that one?) The 2 Movie release is under the title Alien Fiend: The Don Dohler Collection. Thats it for now folks. I leave you with this fun fact I learned from Alien Factor...Aliens love to wear Blue Jeans. See you Pygmies Later!!