I loath (no, I HATE them) tapes. I really do. I was one of those morons who collected x-rentals once upon a time, but I’ve never been nostalgic and as soon DVD came I abandoned VHS - which is by far the worst video format ever - and was even more grateful when blu-ray and HD came around. But one tape I always will keep in my collection is VTC’s UK double feature of Nightmare City and Alien 2: On Earth. THAT’s two awesome movies on one tape. Sure, Nightmare City is cut - but oddly enough Alien 2 is uncut, and that movie have stronger, graphic gore. I guess it had to do with mutated humans being nastier than alien slimerocks.
Many years later I visited San Diego and was naive enough to actually think I would recognize some locations, but noooooooo. Not me. But one day, one day I will go on a pilgrimage to all the places I wanna visit - from the the villa in Burial Ground, the hospital in Nightmare City… and of course the cave system in Alien 2: On Earth. A2OE might be the only movie where a bowling team goes out to explore caves and gets ripped to pieces by alien rocks. But before that will happen we’re treated with a lot of very grainy and crummy stock footage of rocket launchings and landings in the sea, until we go to the strangest and most unnecessary rowing boat scene in movie history - which leads to a very cryptic scene at a beach, which I guess just is the start of the alien invasion.
At the same time our gang of happy bowlers (including a very young Michele Soavi) is trapped deep down in a cave, all to the score by Oliver Onions. One by one they’re killed in very gory fashion by some strange parasitical alien who love to burst through the faces and other parts of the human body. It’s surprisingly gory for being such an unknown film. The effects are a bit crude, but very graphic and juicy. I’m not gonna spoil them for you, but those into eurocult will be disappointed.
The story isn’t more complicated really. The movie itself is very, very simple, it just goes from one scene to another with very little exposition. One minute in the bowling alley, the next out in the wilderness. It’s both terribly empty and extremely entertaining. Everything shot down in the cave looks stunning. It’s like a different movie from above the ground, and the blu-ray - wow, the fucking blu-ray looks amazing! Midnight Legacy might have been a one-shot failure, but they sure made the best they could with their first and only release. Now when I watched it again I actually saw a detail I never seen before, during the famous ending - and that there’s actually is a person standing in the background during some of the attack scenes - meant to be one the characters transformed of course.
Ippolito handles the weak script professionally and it’s a pity we never saw him doing another special effects based flick like this - not what I know about anyway. This is just an old-fashioned monster movie with lots of gore and even more cheese. It might have nothing to say, but it deals with that emptiness very good. Like a good, fun exploitation film.
There’s only one way to see Alien 2: On Earth, and it’s on blu-ray from Midnight Legacy. You hear me?
"I was one of those morons who collected x-rentals once upon a time,"
As I understand it....you could get some money from X-rental tapes in mint condition, stick with them, they might have some value.
"I guess it had to do with mutated humans being nastier than alien slimerocks."
Alien slimerocks sound scary enough, for me....hahahhahhah
"But one day, one day I will go on a pilgrimage to all the places I wanna visit"
Yeah, do that.
"This is just an old-fashioned monster movie with lots of gore and even more cheese. It might have nothing to say, but it deals with that emptiness very good. Like a good, fun exploitation film."
Alien parasites never get boring......or parasites for that matter.
"There’s only one way to see Alien 2: On Earth, and it’s on blu-ray from Midnight Legacy. You hear me?"
Yes Sir!
Good review and thanks.
Posted by: Megatron | March 30, 2014 at 01:18