The Alien Factor (Cinematic Titanic)

Film Year:  1978
Genre:  Science Fiction, Horror
Director:  Donald M. Dohler
Starring:  Don Leifert, Tom Griffith, Richard Dyszel, Mary Mertens, Richard Geiwitz, George Stover, Eleanor Herman, Anne Frith
CT Number:  9

The Movie

A spaceship crash lands in the woods near a small town.  Several aliens are unleashed and begin murdering local citizens and leaving local law enforcement perplexed.  An out-of-towner soon arrives to help with the investigation and track down and kill these creatures.

The Alien Factor was the debut feature for cult Z-grade director Don Dohler.  MSTies would probably know him best not for any film that was ever directly featured on the show, but rather one of those Film Ventures opening credit sequences that used footage of other movies for the openings of entirely unrelated films.  Pod People's was taken from Dohler's other alien invasion masterpiece, Galaxy Invader, which was later used as a target on Rifftrax.

Who'd have thought The Alien Factor would have been the better of the two.  Yeesh.  Hell, who'd have thought Pod People would have been better than both.

The Alien Factor's only real virtue is that it plays around with a fair few ideas which could potentially create an entertaining budget film in the right hands.  The origin of the aliens is neat, and the creature designs themselves are not without promise, though need to be refined (the use of stilts for one toward the end is actually a fairly effective way of portraying it's satyr-like legs).  But if there is one piece of advice I'd give to any filmmaker with limited resources:  Finding a way to work around your limitations is admirable, but not accepting when they're a detriment to what you're trying to achieve is a mistake.  The Alien Factor is made by novices with very little money, and they aren't up to the task they've set out to do.

One thing that could have saved the film is if the human storyline were anything special, but it's rather rudimentary, dull, and meandering.  These characters are just a drag, and they aren't fun to watch.  The Alien Factor becomes a sour experience because we linger on actors who mostly feel like their experience lies with dramatic readings of Lord of the Rings at their local library on the weekends.  I find myself tired of this film while waiting for any alien action to happen, and when it becomes clear that the aliens aren't worth wading through the rest of the film for, it's time to change the channel.

The Riff

About two-thirds of the way through The Alien Factor, J. Elvis explains to the audience that the big fault of this style of comedy known as riffing is that sometimes you just have to sit there and watch people walk through the woods.  A lot.  Boy, aren't we having fun?

It's points like these where I wish riffing projects would avoid films like these because while there is a lot of dead air, if all you can do is comment on how much dead air there is then your riffs need to be a home run, because I'm mentally checking out.  The Alien Factor is at risk of losing me at multiple points during its duration, usually during its lengthy dialogue scenes and endless walking sequences.  Attempts by the Titans to keep these sequences jovial is appreciated and sometimes successful, but there is just so much of it.  The Alien Factor at times makes me not roll with laughter but rather want to roll over and take a nap.

Like the film itself, the Titans liven up when the aliens are onscreen, and the weak action sequences and poor plot development prove to be great fodder.  When action finally comes to a head in the third act, our group is firing on all cylinders and I find myself with the riffing experience I've been waiting for.  One of the biggest laughs of the entire live show happens during an encounter with an alien after a lengthy wood walk, in which characters lug around a can of gasoline for their entire trip (presumably to light the aliens on fire), but when faced with the alien, they toss the entire can in its face and run away.  Points like this really shine in the live format, because reaction to the film itself can be just as much of a trip as the riffing.  But credit where credit is due, the movie didn't provide the biggest laugh of the evening.  That honor goes to Trace, who brings the house down with the simple uttering of the words "Uh-oh..."

There seem to be more line-flubs than usual with this live show, which doesn't quite help with the slower sequences.  Joel and Mary Jo in particular seem to be saying their lines prematurely at several points and/or messing up and just leaving the gag hanging.  It's a small price to pay to get to the golden material, though The Alien Factor isn't the most refined offering.  But I'm not convinced its weak points are at the fault of the comedians, who at the very least turn this downer film into a good time overall.

Good

The DVD

The Alien Factor was released on DVD as an online exclusive through the now defunct cinematictitanic.com.  The DVD had decent audio and video, and no bonus features.

Years later, Shout Factory acquired Cinematic Titanic's entire run and released it in stores through The Complete Collection set.  The Alien Factor's transfer remained the same, and the disc also didn't contain any bonus material.  It did, however, share a disc with the following episode, Danger on Tiki Island.