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Well it was a long time coming to DVD but it finally made it. Certainly not the best film ever and not one for those who dislike a bit of gore. The special effects have been done on a very tight budget which means that most of the times the bits of body flying around are real bits of meat.

The story centers round a small small town that has gone missing and it is the job AIDS (the Alien Intruder Detection Service IIRC) to sort the problem out. The opening squence has, I believe, one of the most memorable lines for any movie ever: “The head shots the only true stopper”. What a classic. For all it’s lack of budget and bad special effects there is something about this movie that says quality. The script it basic but well written and it is obivous that the director is highly skilled; getting the actors to deliver each and every line so that it will provide the maximum impact.

Although the movie contains some of the most gory sequences I have ever seen it is all done in a tongue-in-cheek manner and is very funny at times. I don’t think there is anything that will have you falling off you seat but the way in which it subtely pokes fun at the genre is amusing.

You may be wondering where you have heard of the director. Peter Jackson is the same person who directed the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It is clear from watching this film that here is a director that just oozes talent.

There is an obvious mistake in the film early on (and I’m sure there are loads of others). At one point Derek is hanging by a piece of rope over the side of a cliff. We see one of the aliens cut the rope (will a sledge hammer no less). In the next scene Derek is still hanging by the rope.

I think one of the most appealing things about this film is the fact that is has been done on basically no budget. It really shows what can be done with some time and effort. In many ways I would like to see more films like this as they provide a refreshing change to the often bland “block busters”. Perhaps, though, this type of low budget film making would only work with sci-fi. After all any sci-fi film is already asking you to suspend reality so going a little further and imagining decent special effects is not so hard.