What can I say about Alien Raiders? It had a decent premise with a near guarantee of a cult classic, but I wound up finishing this movie with very little understanding of it. In other words there was much information on the explanation of these "Alien Raiders" yet I got very little out of it.
With a rather strong introduction, it started out with a group of individuals that I can't really classify them as either scientists or criminals, or a part of some secret organization. The confusing lack of explanation of our "protagonists" was rather intriguing since I anticipated disclosure of who they are and their actual intentions.
They started the movie by this group shooting random individuals in a grocery store. Their group is led by a semi handsome boss, with the help of this supposed seer who can determine whether or not an individual is an alien infested monster. Their explanation is that there is an alien infestation that was sourced at this particular grocery store and they were sent to search and eliminate the "king" of this alien race.
This part confused me. The alien race seems to buy groceries and call police for help, and also cry and drink alcohol. They seemed to be minding their own business. I went through this movie almost feeling sorry for the aliens disguised as human beings, and that they started mutating and killing in self defense. We go through this movie not seeing any indication on HOW the aliens infect the human population, it remains completely up to speculation. So HOW hostile are they, really? Okay so one of them kills a few people and thats because he's been shot for defending himself. I think it would have worked if the build up actually paid off with a better climax in the movie, maybe have these aliens much more menacing than they were actually portrayed here.
The police are clichéd as incompetent as always in film, and all they do in Alien Raiders is negotiate for hostages with this semi-terrorist group. They wait until the main character is fighting with the main monster until they charge in and start firing bullets.
Another part that bothered me, is why do they take soooo long in establishing who is an alien and who isn't, even without their "seer" around? This was probably the most drawn out sequence for such a short film. They should have just hastily cut off all their hostages' pinkies, and leave them locked in that cage they were in. They also forget to check one certain individual who wound up being "the king" alien in the end, and I saw that one coming a mile away.
The special effects and the gore scenes are good, but they are few and far between. I've probably picked the story apart to the point of disliking it. The truth is, the movie had potential and it wasn't a complete flop. Alien Raiders has no bearing on the cult classic Feast, and it tried to be a smarter movie than it actually was. With a total of an 80 minute run time, there could have been more to it. I wanted more alien raiders than human disguises in which I only saw a total of two mutated monsters, (well more like one and a half if you count the protrusion from that women's chest). The monsters weren't overall as menacing as I wanted them to be.
I don't recommend this movie though I give it some credit for a strong intro. If this is not a good description of my opinion of this movie, well I can only comment as much as Alien Raiders gives me.
With a rather strong introduction, it started out with a group of individuals that I can't really classify them as either scientists or criminals, or a part of some secret organization. The confusing lack of explanation of our "protagonists" was rather intriguing since I anticipated disclosure of who they are and their actual intentions.
They started the movie by this group shooting random individuals in a grocery store. Their group is led by a semi handsome boss, with the help of this supposed seer who can determine whether or not an individual is an alien infested monster. Their explanation is that there is an alien infestation that was sourced at this particular grocery store and they were sent to search and eliminate the "king" of this alien race.
This part confused me. The alien race seems to buy groceries and call police for help, and also cry and drink alcohol. They seemed to be minding their own business. I went through this movie almost feeling sorry for the aliens disguised as human beings, and that they started mutating and killing in self defense. We go through this movie not seeing any indication on HOW the aliens infect the human population, it remains completely up to speculation. So HOW hostile are they, really? Okay so one of them kills a few people and thats because he's been shot for defending himself. I think it would have worked if the build up actually paid off with a better climax in the movie, maybe have these aliens much more menacing than they were actually portrayed here.
The police are clichéd as incompetent as always in film, and all they do in Alien Raiders is negotiate for hostages with this semi-terrorist group. They wait until the main character is fighting with the main monster until they charge in and start firing bullets.
Another part that bothered me, is why do they take soooo long in establishing who is an alien and who isn't, even without their "seer" around? This was probably the most drawn out sequence for such a short film. They should have just hastily cut off all their hostages' pinkies, and leave them locked in that cage they were in. They also forget to check one certain individual who wound up being "the king" alien in the end, and I saw that one coming a mile away.
The special effects and the gore scenes are good, but they are few and far between. I've probably picked the story apart to the point of disliking it. The truth is, the movie had potential and it wasn't a complete flop. Alien Raiders has no bearing on the cult classic Feast, and it tried to be a smarter movie than it actually was. With a total of an 80 minute run time, there could have been more to it. I wanted more alien raiders than human disguises in which I only saw a total of two mutated monsters, (well more like one and a half if you count the protrusion from that women's chest). The monsters weren't overall as menacing as I wanted them to be.
I don't recommend this movie though I give it some credit for a strong intro. If this is not a good description of my opinion of this movie, well I can only comment as much as Alien Raiders gives me.