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It’s Better to Stay Behind than Escape From Area 51 …

Escape From Area 51 is a spoof on various genres and is comparable to Lost Skeleton of Cadavra as a cheap sci-fi comedy.

Escape from Area 51 (2021) - IMDb — Available to purchase on Amazon USA

Cleopatra Entertainment
Release Date: Sept 7th

Not every movie about UFOs deals with conspiracies. The sci-fi stoner comedy Escape From Area 51 momentarily plays with the storm Area 51 movement–which was what caught my attention–before dealing with the plot at hand. This movie’s story pairs well with Shae Sterling’s Alien Addiction for its low brow humour. I’m certain there is no family connection with David Sterling, the producer behind this work. It’s doubtful that director Eric Mittleman, who also co-wrote with Ted Chalmers, Carlos Perez and Robert Rhine, even knows of the New Zealand made film.

Curiosity seekers may well be hard pressed to find something to like about this work. It’s basically a T&A schlocky feature with a lot of sexual innuendo that will get fans of Donna D’Errico (Baywatch) giggling. She plays the alien who was locked up at the facility and when she makes the mistake of using her alien tech; it draws Sklarr’s attention (Chris Browning, Sons of Anarchy). He’s been scouring the galaxy because there was a War of the Worlds between their civilizations in the past… Well, maybe; I had to make this joke somehow.

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A Halloween Guide to Ancient Aliens

This program is going on 15 seasons strong and it’s showing no signs of stopping. It may slow down as it’s running out of ideas, but for Halloween time, I thought it’d be fun to glance back at those episodes that truly have a paranormal theme.

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Usually Ancient Aliens and the supernatural (ghost busting) do not go hand in hand. When they do, it’s mostly about parallel universes, how entities can travel about interdimensionally (wormhole travel), or why certain classes of angels and demons are actually aliens in disguise. However far-fetched the hypotheses are, they are just that until proven by some grandiose revelation that convinces everyone to believe. That means that the entity is tired of hiding and has finally revealed him or herself to the world.

In this age of the Internet, the alternative is to find overwhelming testimonies from many witnesses of varying occupations to say, “oh my gosh, this (fill in the blank) is real.”

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It’s An Alien Addiction, not Abduction with Shae Sterling!

Rico himself is part Maori and these people are extremely welcoming people. When I designed the aliens, they were naturally inquisitive and not mean spirited at all–quite playful, really. So mixing those two elements together naturally made a unique and fun relationship, the heart of the film.

Ancient Aliens

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

On Demand, Blu-ray and DVD

Release Date:
September 29

Gravitas Ventures

Shae Sterling is a tremendous talent in New Zealand. He’s worked with international talents like Snoop Dogg and is better known for his music video work with local artists. He’s also collaborated with Stan Walker (The X Factor) and the list does not end there! Plus, he’s the director of the documentary sports racing series High Octane. To become a fully fledged filmmaker, however, means making a proper debut with the crazy stoner comedy, Alien Addiction!

Going into making genre films isn’t without its own unique set of challenges–especially concerning special effects–but I feel he’s done a remarkable job. 15 years is more than enough in one industry to develop one’s skills. A different question is whether this film would play with UFO lore from this region. This country is famous for one instance–The Kaikoura Lights–but as for whether this movie would explore this further or stand on its own is a decision this director no doubt had to figure out. His choice to do sit-com is much needed when the there’s been a lot of similar films released this year.

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2016’s Invasion Earth Finally Lands on Home Video Four Years Later…

Not to be confused with Blackout: Invasion Earth, the similarity made work, Invasion Earth, by writer/Director James Twyman originality came out 2016 and is more about the people and their lives than the fate of the planet being saved by freedom fighters.

Ancient Aliens — Available on Amazon USA

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Release Date:
August 4, 2020

Midnight Releasing
VOD & DVD

Not to be confused with Blackout: Invasion Earth, the similarity made work, Invasion Earth, by writer/Director James Twyman originality came out 2016 and is more about the people and their lives than the fate of the planet being saved by freedom fighters. The juxtaposition is light. Perhaps the actual threat is about them as ne’er-do-wells. Trying to break free from their demons is just as difficult as getting ready to deal with an alien threat.

The official trailer suggests the space invaders are omnipresent throughout, but that’s far from the truth. What’s out there is visualized like The Colour Out of Space—in vivid blues and purples. It’s a good way to contrast between the slow parts (in regular colours) and the high action.

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Aliens are Behind The Blackout Invasion Earth in North America!

I was left asking a lot of questions after Blackout Invasion Earth. Whether the next work examines and answers what War (What is it Good For?) will help bridge the cliffhanger like ending.

The Blackout Invasion Earth DVD — Available to order on Amazon USA

Shout! Factory
Available on VOD and Home Video
June 2, 2020

Since the dawn of civilization in the Russian-made film, The Blackout, an alien agency manipulated the future of Earth for their own agenda. For the international release, titled Blackout Invasion Earth, the plan is not about conquering but rather preparing how this planet will fall. An opportunity is missed to make this film distinctly Russian. When this country is vast, a few mysteries like where the Volgogard Discs came from or why those people camping on Dyatlov Pass were found dead could have been explained before the action begins.

Main protagonists Alyona (Lukerya Ilyashenko), Olya (Svetlana Ivanova) and Oleg (Aleksey Chadov) learn about the ancient alien agenda when they subdue Eid (Artyom Tkachenko). He claims to “come in peace.” Thankfully, he sides with the humans.

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Predator: The Essentials to release Dec 12 alongside The Predator Dec 18th!

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Dark Horse Comics has a new collection of Predators to unleash to an unsuspecting public. The trade paperback Predator: The Essential Comics vol 1 is set to release December 12th on Amazon.com and bookstores near you. This set of stories offers the essentials for fans to enjoy alongside the coming home video release of The Predator, December 18th! (click here to buy)

It is also perfect to sit alongside last month’s release of Aliens: The Essential Comics vol 1. Who knows, perhaps the third in the set will see the two deadliest species of the universe go face to face. The omnibus collections are getting harder to find since they are out of print.

“Concrete Jungle,” the first story should have been Predator 2, the movie. This tale by Mark Verheiden has a lot to enjoy, from establishing the fact Dutch Schaefer, from the movies, has a brother (his first name is never mentioned) to setting the fact these aliens have been visiting Earth for some time. The setting is New York City than Los Angeles, and for Schaefer, a cop, after an encounter with these hunters, he soon hears about what his brother has been up to. The connections to the movie seem slim, but it’s enough to at least give the Predator franchise a continuity.

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