Alien Trespass Has The Potential To Impress

Alien Trespass is the classic example of a movie that’s made for consumption by the crowd at WonderCon. Directed by X-Files veteran, R.W. Goodwin, Alien Trespass is the story of an intergalactic lawman transporting a terrible monster, the Goata, when his spaceship crashes into Earth. The alien becomes freed and terrorizes a small 1950s desert town. The premise of the film is a throw back to classic science fiction films, but quite meta in the explanation of its storytelling.

In order to prevent his film from being considered a farce, Goodwin explains the fact that it takes place as though it were filmed in the 1950s by saying that it was a classic sci-fi feature that was never released by the studios and presumed to have been destroyed. But luckily a copy of it is found in Hollywood and will finally be released to the public. Most of the backstory is filled with jokes that brings to light the nature of a film that pays tribute to the early origins of science fiction.

The story itself begins when the town doctor (Eric McCormack), sees a spaceship crash and decides to check out the crash site. When he gets there his body is taken over by the interstellar lawman in order to hunt down the Goata. While he hunts the Goata down the rest of the town slowly begins to realize that the space creature not only exists, but is feeding on townspeople.

Alien Trespass touches upon a lot of interesting stereotypes of both science fiction films from the ‘50s, as well as general stereotypes of movies from that time. In order to put a post modern spin on the film, the waitress at the local cafe (Jenni Baird) is the person that figures out the way to destroy the Goata, a plot twist that would be uncharacteristic for the time the film was supposedly produced.

During the panel Q & A Goodwin said:

“We have the most wonderful monster you have ever seen in your life. Terrifying in so many ways.  Basically, it’s a movie that’s going to make you feel really good.  It’s funny but also scary.  It’s a real time trip back into the ‘50s.”

The interesting thing about the film is the impression given off from the trailer, that it is actually a throwback to classic science fiction cinema. Everything from the language to the serious overacting seems to adequately highlight the cinema of that time.

Regarding this, Goodwin said:

“When I direct anything, when I directed ‘X-Files,’ it’s all about planning and working really hard before you get to the set.  It’s choosing the right staff, the right actors, the right script.  Cause we were so specific about the style, I spent months watching films I had not seen since childhood, my notes, including character notes for the actors and shooting notes for the crew ended up being longer than the shooting script. It’s all about the writing.”

From what I could tell from the Alien Trespass trailer, Goodwin appeared to have done his homework, as did his actors, bringing the sort of preparation to the table that allowed for the earnest, theatrical acting of the 1950s. Which helped give the impression that the film could easily have been released with War Of The Worlds, The Day The Earth Stood Still and They Came From Outer Space. If you enjoy any of those films, you’d probably be the target audience for Alien Trespass.

Alien Trespass opens on April 3rd.