Alien Country - FrightFest Halloween UK Premiere
Director: Boston McConnaughey
Starring: K.C. Clyde, Renny Grames, Rachele Brooke Smith, Corbin Allred, Austin Archer
Written by: Boston McConnaughey, Renny Grames
Produced by: Renny Grames, Danny Simeone
Cinematography by: Wes Johnson
Original Score by: Michael Lee Bishop
Synopsis:
Reeling from the news of an unexpected pregnancy, Jimmy and Everly unknowingly release an alien invasion in their small town and learn to work together in order to save each other, their town and evidently, the entire galaxy.
Thoughts:
Low budget alien invasion films are so tough to get right. How much SHOULD the film show to keep the tension and how much CAN the film show based on the money they have. It often leads to questionable CGI, which is okay if the story and acting can cover those cracks. I'm not sure 'Alien Country' is fully successful in doing that, however it did make me laugh quite a few times and the CGI aliens are actually a lot more impressive than I thought they would be.
Demolition derby driver Jimmy and budding country music singer Everly are an unusual couple who are expecting their first child. Something that comes as a shock to both of them but especially Jimmy. He isn't ready to be a father and Everly is extremely hesitant about the entire situation too. They're at a critical crossroads in their life but things are about to get even more bizarre when they come into contact with a strange alien device that transports them into a portal to another planet. And not long afterwards their small town becomes the target of alien creatures who are taking out the residents one by one.
'Alien Country' is more than just an invasion film, it's actually full of action and comedy too. There's quite a few high octane sequences featuring high speed vehicles and the cameras are all over the place trying to capture the frenetic energy of the scenes. The best way to describe the film I think is a mix between the Kevin Bacon starring 1990 classic 'Tremors' and Joe Cornish's 'Attack the Block' from 2011, which is clearly a hugely positive comparison since both those films are awesome and manage to deliver in spades what is advertised. The negative is that 'Alien Country' is not on the cinematic level of those two aforementioned films and is actually closer in filming style to something like 'Schitt's Creek', a show that I love by the way so not knocking that at all. It just looks and feels more like a sitcom than a feature film.
It's co-written by Renny Grames, who also produces and stars as Everly, so this is clearly a passion project of sorts for her. The cast are all pretty good and actually the writing is good too in terms of basic structure. Maybe there's a bit too much going on in places but I enjoyed the dialogue for the most as it definitely leans more towards comedy but it does stray very close to parody at times.
I wasn't a big fan of any of the characters at all, particularly at the beginning of the film but I started to warm to Jimmy and Everly and their alien friend Ben and nemesis Bo provided some humourous moments. And all the actors show up and do exactly what is asked of them.
I wish 'Alien Country' would have had more horror and tension but it decides to go in the other direction and while it is funny, it's difficult to take anything too seriously which sort of made me zone out a bit. It felt a little unbalanced and that there might've been a sense of "if in doubt just throw some funny lines in there". Even comedy films have to have heart and sadly I didn't get much emotion from this.
Verdict: ⭐️⭐️½
-Gavin Logan
'Alien Country' received it's UK Premiere at FrightFest Halloween on November 2nd
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