Jose came across a documentary called Blood, Boobs & Beast which dealt with the cinematic endeavors of Don Dohler. This man made independent horror and sci-fi flicks known for their quirky charm and raw enthusiasm, while made on a meager budget. I instantly wanted to see some of his films. The Alien Factor was his first feature and a good place for me to start.

An alien spaceship crash lands in a small backwoods town. The residents seem to be unaware that anything has happened, that is until Mary Jane is found in a catatonic state and her boyfriend’s body mutilated. They were parked out by the woods, when a large insect monster pulled the boyfriend out through the window. Mary fled, screaming her lungs out, until she was found and taken into the care of Dr. Ruth Sherman. The killing sparks the curiosity of three young hunters who decide to go after whatever creature is prowling around in the woods, despite the Sheriff’s warning to not interfere.

The people in this town are kinda dumb looking and lame. No one really seems to act like a normal person would. It feels like these were novice actors who were given the script on the day of shooting. Tom Griffith, who plays Sheriff Jack Cinder, gives us an uneven performance. Sometimes he forces the role of authority figure and later just acts like he’s a pawn. Dr. Ruth Sherman comes up with ridiculous theories (more on this later). I just wanted to smack her fat, old face. Then we have Mayor Burt Wicker who does nothing but ask questions and accomplish nothing. Edie Martin is a pretty good looking female reporter who seems to be the least awkward person in town.

Let’s get back to the story. The three local hunters encounter the large humanoid insect monster, but their shotguns have no effect on it. They get killed and now the town is in a state of panic and alarm. Another dude is killed out on his porch by a sparkly light. Yeah, it’s a fucking glowing light that sucks out your life energy. His body is found petrified. Dumb-ass doctor Sherman wonders if the guy was suffering from Progeria. What kind of guess is that? Progeria is a genetic condition that causes children to age rapidly. It makes no sense here. The sheriff thinks the killings could have been done by a wild animal. Up until now there has been no real juicy alien action or anything remotely entertaining. I was getting ready to give this film zero coffins until the third act came along and jumpstarted this sinking ship into something mildly entertaining.

Ben Zachary appears on the scene, seemingly out of nowhere. He goes to see the mayor and talk to him about his plan. He says he works at the conservatory, but he’s really a supernatural investigator, like Mulder, from The X-Files. He claims he can figure out what has been happening. They hike into the woods and find the spacecraft and a dying alien nearby. Ben telepathically communicates with the mortally wounded alien and learns the truth about what has really been going on.

Supposedly an alien zookeeper was traveling across space with three deadly creatures, captured from different parts of the galaxy. He was on his way home to study them when his ship crash landed on earth and released the creatures into the woods. Two of them are non-thinking animal forms and the third is an intelligent energy being. Zachary claims he has devised special weapons to hunt down and kill these alien threats, but he must work alone. From here on in, the story picks up and the creature action gets better. We get to see all three of the creatures in action, and the true form of the energy being. The aliens all have names. The humanoid insect is called Inferbyce, and is tar black with a hard protective exoskeleton. The tall Bigfoot-like creature is called Zagatile. He has massive legs and a furry brown body. The energy being is called Leemoid, and his true form is a big, translucent lizard.

The third act pulled this film out of the water for me. This movie reminded me of Nathan Schiff’s work a little. If you like cheesy sci-fi you might just dig this film. It is too tame for me. There was no blood, or boobs, just lots of bad acting and some fun creatures. By the way, I really only enjoyed the third act. Overall the movie is very mild and kid stuff. But I got to see what Dohler could do with the creatures and I liked that. I want to see more of his work because I hear it gets more exciting!

- Jorge Antonio Lopez