Alien Raiders | Ben Rock | 2008

[ReviewAZON asin="B001MEJYDW" display="inlinepost"]Entertaining straight-to-DVD movie starring the charismatic Carlos Bernard (24’s Tony Almeida).

If you are working in a supermarket there is nothing worse than those customers who wander in just before closing time. Especially if they are a crack team of mercenaries carrying guns. However these gun-toting raiders are extremely well organised and brutally efficient. They also have no interest in stealing money, or as many donuts as they can carry. The real reason for their assault on the food market in the little town of Buck Lake is their pursuit of an alien parasite infecting and jumping from host to host in a manner not dissimilar to the 80’s classic The Hidden (Jack Sholder 1987).

The only way to find it is by using a spotter, somebody who has carried the virus, but is immune to infection. The unfortunately strange-looking ‘Spooky’ (Philip Newby) performs this function for the group. When Spooky identifies one of the infected, Tony Al… Aaron Ritter (Carlos Bernard) shoots her without a second thought. Problems arise when Spooky gets shot by an off-duty cop leading to the following exchange.

Female: “Ritter, we need Spooky to look at these guys in [the] back.”

Ritter: “Spooky’s dying.”

Spooky: “I am?”

The cop gets wasted, but not before he’s called it in and asked for backup. The police think they are dealing with a hostage situation and try to negotiate. There is a nod to Bernard’s regular gig on 24, with one character commenting, “They’re terrorists, like on that TV show.” Without a spotter to help them identify the infected, the film borrows from another 80’s classic, John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982) as paranoia sets in amongst those trapped inside the supermarket.

Alien Raiders is proof that not everything that goes straight-to-DVD is lousy. Director Ben Rock shows considerable promise in his handling of the action and the witty screenplay by Julia Fair and David Simkins knows all the clichés of the genre and how to subvert them. Forget the nondescript title; couldn’t they have called it Alien Supermarket Raiders or something? This is a smart little film made for a fraction of the cost of the average Hollywood movie. Carlos Bernard’s character is not that different from his brooding performance on 24, making this occasionally feel like a really far out episode of the show. If you happen to see Alien Raiders on one of the lower shelves at your local Blockbuster, give it a chance.

Kevin Sturton