ALIEN RAIDERS (2008)

Directed By: Ben Rock
Written By: Julia Fair & David Simkins
Cinematography By: Waly Lloyd
Editor: Auggie Hess

Cast: Carlos Bernard, Matthew St. Patrick, Rockmund Dunbar, Courtney Ford, Derek Basco, Bonita Firedericy


It's the end of yet another night at Hastings Supermarket, an idyllic family grocery store in Buck Lake, Arizona. But the normal monotony of rounding up shopping carts and settling out the cash drawers is broken at 11:07pm, just before closing when a group of masked and armed-to-the-teeth militants invades the store, immediately killing several of the employees and shoppers and holding the rest hostage. Though the hostage-takers at first appear to be robbers or terrorists, they reveal themselves to be a cadre of rogue scientists that has discovered and tracked an alien infestation to THIS STORE on THIS NIGHT, and they are determined to find out which of the survivors are extraterrestrials and end the invasion at any cost.

The Film is like a Sci-Fi channel original movie in terms of quality. It has 2 stars of television shows and is low budget, but for what it lacks in budget it makes up for in suspense and Story. Which really saves the film.

It borrows a little from THE THINGonly in a more urban area.

The film begins with a jolt of energy and leaves you wondering what is going on exactly. Thenwhen it reveals what itis. It opens so many doors in your head as to what is going to happen.

I like the fact that the heroes are inexperienced sceientists playing tough. It's nice to see them not be expert commandos who mkess up. Though are supposed to be a tightly trained unit. Still smart in other ways.I like the fact the more thehostages try to escape and save themselves the more danger theyput not only themselves in, but everybody else.

Sinceitis low budget there aren't too many effects and the ones they do have are a bit fake. The gory attacks that do happen they tend not to show. They let you hear it. leaving you to imagine what is happening. Your imagination is usually worse and more violent then what they could come up with or afford. When someone untalented does it. it feels like a cop out and a waste, but when a filmmaker knows what he is doing and knows how to build up tension. It is moreof a skill int he telling of the story. That is what director Ben Rock does here.

I look forward to seeing more work from him I was hooked just off of the preview. This film seemed like it was going to be a splatter fest. When in reality it is anice b-movie horror film that keep you guessing down toit's predictable twist ending. I only wonder what a producer like Tony Kravtz who helped make the earlier great horror film OTIS, could have done with this material. Sice he was one of the producers of 24 and 24's Carlos Bernard is in this. I think it would have been a nice reunion and upped the film's game a little more. Not that i don't like the film. It's a pleasent surprise and i recommend it highly. I wish it was longer as it seems to go through it's victims pretty quickly. I tend to like films that start off one genre and then quickly redefine themselves as another genre as long as the transition is done well.

GRADE: C+