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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.

Alien Addiction

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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Playing at Fantasia 2020: The Prophet And The Space Aliens

Rael may be kooky. He’s not at all spooky. The cult is hardly ooky. What we see in The Prophet and the Space Aliens is simply about family. That’s where this documentary shines. We see the people as they are together rather than the devotion which follows this self-proclaimed prophet everywhere.

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Playing at Fantasia Digital Film Festival 2020 on August 23, 2pm. Buy your virtual ticket here.

Rael may be kooky. He’s not at all spooky. The cult is hardly ooky. What we see in The Prophet and the Space Aliens is simply about family. That’s where this documentary shines. We see the people as they are together rather than the devotion which follows this self-proclaimed prophet everywhere.

Although this person believes in UFOs and that all the major figureheads from world religions are from space, the insights offered don’t say too much why. As for explaining the other nuances of how this life path works, none of it comes through as preachy. Viewers are left to decide if this oddball religion is for real or not. For the most part, this film by Yoav Shamir is more biopic than gospel.

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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.

Alien Addiction — 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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On Aliens, UFOs & Proximity with Eric Demusey

Eric Demusey is a Los Angeles based filmmaker making his directorial debut with a young adult sci-fi drama Proximity.

Arrives on VOD
May 15, 2020

DVD Release
July 7, 2020

Eric Demusey is a Los Angeles based filmmaker making his directorial debut with a young adult sci-fi drama Proximity. As part of the creative team who made the fantastic intro title sequences you see on Stranger Things, Game of Thrones and Tron Legacy, his experience showed he was ready for the next step. Plus, his passion is not limited to special effects work which gave him his start. Nearly everyone working in this industry has a story to tell.

Eric Demusey

Instead of focusing on getting people to believe in UFOs, this movie explores the lasting effects of those who have been abducted and experimented upon for unknown reasons–hence the title. In this tale set in today’s trying times, this creator does not rewrite Fire in the Sky.

I was reminded of this story because of the introduction–where loggers in Alaska are whisked away by a UFO and the trauma we witness is far worse. Fast forward a few years later and change the setting from the boonies to a metropolis, Issac (Ryan Masson) gets his moment with an alien encounter, and tries to figure out what this all means. What he deals with has less to do with horror and more with trauma management.

When considering this movie was made on a budget, Demusey has to be creative in how to make those special effects shots work without overspending. For fans of FX films and UFOs, this movie has a lot of detail to love, and I spoke to him courtesy of Shout! Factory.

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Oren Peli’s Area 51 Lacks Videogame Style Punch

Area51 By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Okay, I admit it. As a paranormal investigator (not a ghost hunter), I was intrigued with the movie that Oren Peli made with his breakout hit Paranormal Activity. He got a few concepts right in terms of what goes on during a haunting and he also got other things wrong — namely in the fact that Dr. Fredrichs, the supposed investigator, ran with his tail between his legs. The way the cameras are set up and the editing created some good suspense. The back story that was told, spread between the first movie and the latest, provides a great reason to stay tuned. In wondering what this writer/director can do with Area 51, which took years in the making, suggests that this producer has lost his touch. Where’s the suspense? Where’s the drama?