28 reviews
Very disappointed
Firstly I would like to start this review by saying under normal circumstances this would be the kind of B movie I would thoroughly enjoy and I had been looking forward to seeing this as I was a fan of the directors work. Sadly it turns out to be a pretty poor effort all round. The acting is good from all the young cast but the story is non existent and the fx and production values are bargain basement. The aliens look terrible and the faces just look like a Halloween mask with no moveable features. Gore wise it's very tame and apart from the odd moment it doesn't deliver much of anything. I like to support small indi horror but even at 75 mins it's a chore to get through.
- blackestofsmiths
- Jan 21, 2023
- Permalink
Shoddy writing and ending
A alien invasion is not a problem for a group of kids aspiring filmmakers
A group of kids filming a movie and having the times of their life during Halloween season sounds like a fun thing to watch. Now to that add a alien invasion in the middle of a teenager's party and it turns into battle to survival with some enjoyable moments. The most remarkable part of this film is the cast, they delivered an excellent and fun performance that leaves you wanting to see more of them. This comes as a surprise since both the story and script are messy and lack of coherence proving even more the talent of the young cast.
The level of gore and practical effects is the expected for an indie b horror movie like this but works. The neon colors and costumes combined with the good acting can make you forget about the awful characters like Billy, the Dad, the Mom and flat story. This is the type of horror film that you would watch when you want to have a good time without having to think much.
The level of gore and practical effects is the expected for an indie b horror movie like this but works. The neon colors and costumes combined with the good acting can make you forget about the awful characters like Billy, the Dad, the Mom and flat story. This is the type of horror film that you would watch when you want to have a good time without having to think much.
- amandamunozdav
- Apr 12, 2023
- Permalink
How to make a good short into a rotten film.
This is a film that started as a great short in the V/H/S series of films. Here's the formula to this highly derivative crappy film. 1. Take the interesting idea of teenagers sitting for younger siblings and expand this to stereotypical rebellious and anarchists teens using others just to party. 2. Expand the alien action to see more of them and their inane actions of horror that really make no sense. 3. Turn the lead garbage teen into a sniveling self-centered sociopath. 4. Try to redeem by having the teen sister recognize her bad behavior toward her younger brother. Production quality is low to the point of the aliens looking like their skin is saggy costumes. And they lost the camera on the dog which was one of the best elements from the original short. Go back to V/H/S and watch better films.
- jmbovan-47-160173
- Apr 15, 2023
- Permalink
A bunch of. Liars!
I'm going to say 600 words just so another FOOL don't waste $6.99 on this lame movie. Whoever is rating it more than TWO is lying! The acting is fine. THAT IS IT! The story is totally 1st grade. The aliens costumes are from the 1950s, The bad guy is a complete worthless human being and any girl that is as smart as the heroine wouldn't fall for such a loser. The parents... geez. Anyway, this movie is TOTALLY LAME so save your money and do not watch it.
I'd like to see her in something else but man, what was ANYONE thinking to make this crap! Ok, I got 45 more words to use. DO NOT WATCH THIS IT IS STUPID!
I'd like to see her in something else but man, what was ANYONE thinking to make this crap! Ok, I got 45 more words to use. DO NOT WATCH THIS IT IS STUPID!
Potentially undelivered
- BandSAboutMovies
- Apr 30, 2023
- Permalink
Cheap fun on a budget.......
For an movie obviously on a low budget, it was fun. Had an old school 80s Peter Jackson feel. It was so stupid it was fun. If you take it that way you might enjoy and have a laugh at the same time. Take it for what it is, a bit of fun, some cool cheap action. Old school SciFi/horror in HD 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣. Cool way for some young actors to get a crack and have a blast. Cheesy props and weapons, fun looking aliens, terrible story........gotta love it. Plenty of old score gore, blood and guts. Oh and the over the top school hunk who is a bully really steals the show 🤣🤣🤣. But the winner of the show is the ending.....cliff hanger of epic proportions.
- malcnicholson
- Apr 30, 2023
- Permalink
There's a reason some stories are better off as short films/segments! [+40%]
Jason Eisener blends his love for pro-wrestling and grindhouse horror into an extended version of the V/H/S 2 segment that doesn't quite hit the mark. While the man's passion for these pop-culture phenomenons is largely evident, I think the plot and characterizations are super thin (especially that of Samantha and Billy) and the practical effects are a tad too silly, often bordering on the comical. Maybe, that was the intention after all? Like, an anti-Spielbergian approach to showcasing a Gen Z & Gen Alpha ensemble, i.e. Foul-mouthed kids versus horny, anarchist teenagers.
However, the film lacks conviction in delivering the goods. I'll give you an instance as to why. When the film is showing the "home movies" that the kid characters are making, it's alright to use shaky cam and extreme close-up shots as that would befit the setup. But then, why shoot straightforward action set-pieces too in shaky cam? Some of it is borderline nauseating. The main antagonist (no, not the aliens) is out-of-this-world despicable - no effort has gone into the writing or the performance. I like Eisener's work on Dark Side of the Ring, but as a feature filmmaker, I'm yet to see something truly remarkable coming from him.
However, the film lacks conviction in delivering the goods. I'll give you an instance as to why. When the film is showing the "home movies" that the kid characters are making, it's alright to use shaky cam and extreme close-up shots as that would befit the setup. But then, why shoot straightforward action set-pieces too in shaky cam? Some of it is borderline nauseating. The main antagonist (no, not the aliens) is out-of-this-world despicable - no effort has gone into the writing or the performance. I like Eisener's work on Dark Side of the Ring, but as a feature filmmaker, I'm yet to see something truly remarkable coming from him.
- arungeorge13
- Dec 18, 2023
- Permalink
hard to...
Define whos the goal of audienhces to this freaking halloween kids horror movie, because it on the verge of adult horror gory content that may make mayhem around the saturday night dinner in front of the tv next weekend.
Ita an invasion from space vs crazy amjerican wrestling kid warriors and a bunch of punks that raid the childrens house for a halloween party. What most of them dont know is the alien prescence...
its a b-movie, its light and noise, lots of screaming kids, and completely absent of the adult part of the human race. Its merely filmed in dark smoky conditions, far to much closeup filming of faces, but the costumes and gory effects a durabel enough, even for a grumpy old man.
Will there be a sequel, i hope so, cause they almost say so. A small recommend.
Ita an invasion from space vs crazy amjerican wrestling kid warriors and a bunch of punks that raid the childrens house for a halloween party. What most of them dont know is the alien prescence...
its a b-movie, its light and noise, lots of screaming kids, and completely absent of the adult part of the human race. Its merely filmed in dark smoky conditions, far to much closeup filming of faces, but the costumes and gory effects a durabel enough, even for a grumpy old man.
Will there be a sequel, i hope so, cause they almost say so. A small recommend.
Tell them Jack Jack sent them
- nogodnomasters
- Jun 13, 2023
- Permalink
Crazy B-movie party all the way through!
I loved this movie, I thought it was so much fun! I watched this an hour ago in a theater, so it is still fresh in my mind. The highs of this movie are the charming DIY gore and creature effects, the great cast of kid actors, the lighting/camerawork, the soundtrack and the color correction. The lows of this film are very minor and only consist of a style over substance and plot ( the style is the substance) and the fact the movie has a large Halloween vibe even though it showed at my theater during late January. The movie has a very fast pace that made it feel like a thirty minute short film to me. I love indie films like this and I suggest you give it a watch.
- arlolimbers
- Jan 27, 2023
- Permalink
Fun Romp of Aliens Attacking
This was a movie that I tried to fit into my schedule when it came to the Gateway Film Center, but I couldn't make it work. It went on a list of ones to potentially see this year. Duncan from the Podcast Under the Stairs enjoyed this so that helped me make sure to not miss it as well. Other than that, the title made me think about the segment from V/H/S/2 of Slumber Party Alien Abduction. I'll come back to this as well.
Synopsis: an all-time rager of a teen house party turns to terror when aliens attack, forcing two warring siblings to band together to survive the night.
We start this on a fishing boat. This is a small crew and they're attacked by aliens. It then shifts over to the family that we're following for this. Gary (Dominic Mariche) is making a movie along with his friends Jack (Asher Grayson) and Miles (Ben Tector). Gary's older sister is tasked with watching her younger brother, but also takes part in what they're doing. Her name is Samantha (Phoebe Rex).
They have an old barn where a wrestling ring amongst other things are kept. This group is filming there when another group shows up. They're older and bullies. Billy (Calem MacDonald) is their leader. He is joined by Trish (Emma Vickers) and Dallas (Isaiah Fortune). Billy seems interested in Samantha, which throws her off. It also upsets her brother and his friends.
What we learn as well is that Gary and Samantha's parents are away for work. Gary breaks his arm, which upsets them and they blame their daughter for not being there. What they don't realize is that she is taking on their job. Billy complicates this more when he hits on Samantha. He goes as far to convince her to throw a party.
The siblings are at odds. The party also gets out of control. It pales in comparison though when the aliens from the beginning attack. Gary, Billy and others are taken back to the spacecraft. Samantha is forced to step up to save them before it is too late.
That is where I'm going to leave my recap and introduction to our characters. Where I want to start is that ahead of seeing this, I thought this sounded like that segment I brought up earlier from V/H/S/2. When the credits in the beginning started, I noticed names that were associated with that anthology. Settling in to write this, I did see that the director/co-writers did Slumber Party Alien Abduction. It makes sense.
Now with that set up, what I like is that they did a good job at taking that short and then expanding on it. I should say that the first-time watching V/H/S/2, I didn't care for it. It was one that I rated near the bottom. With a second viewing, my stance changed and I appreciated it more. What I remembered was that the older sibling didn't care for the younger one which made issues. I like that this captures that, but it develops it more. Samantha has fun with her brother and his friends. It isn't until she gets that taste of being with the popular crew that she changes. If I do have an issue here, the low running time doesn't develop this enough. It's not a major issue though as it feels real enough.
Having brought this up, let me talk about this group of kids. What I like is that it feels like my group of friends when I was closer to that age. We were into video games and things that would be considered 'weird'. I will say I've always been a chameleon where I could hang out with different groups with no issues. These kids have fun and embrace being who they are. I forgive Samantha as she is in that awkward age. You want to fit in and be popular. I'll credit Mariche, Rex, Grayson and Tector.
Moving then to the other group. Billy and Trish are bullies. I think they go a bit into the 'evil villain' which can be a bit much for high school kids. Dallas just seems to go along with them. What I will say though, I love what Billy does when the aliens attack. He feels like a scumbag that would use those around him to survive. I did appreciate that. I'd say that MacDonald, Vickers and Fortune were all solid as well.
Then the only other group would be the aliens. I'll shift this into the effects here. The look of them is fine. It fits the idea that we would have for them. What I like is that we don't linger on them so we can't critique it too hard. We get images of it as things get manic when the attacks happen. That is done strategically to hide them as well as raise tension. There are good effects that we get as we reach the climax. One involves melting, another when the characters fight back. I did enjoy that as they looked practical. I'd say that the use of lights for the aliens and the cinematography were also good. The soundtrack adds to it with driving tension with the lights as well.
I'm not sure that is much more that I need to say about this one. In conclusion, this is a fun movie. It is fast paced, doesn't take too long to get into it and ends in a flurry. I like the characters that we have on both sides. It is interesting that they're against each other until a more dangerous group shows up. The acting is good. No issues there. I think that this is also well-made. This is one that I would recommend giving a viewing. It isn't great, but it is a fun watch.
My Rating: 7 out of 10.
Synopsis: an all-time rager of a teen house party turns to terror when aliens attack, forcing two warring siblings to band together to survive the night.
We start this on a fishing boat. This is a small crew and they're attacked by aliens. It then shifts over to the family that we're following for this. Gary (Dominic Mariche) is making a movie along with his friends Jack (Asher Grayson) and Miles (Ben Tector). Gary's older sister is tasked with watching her younger brother, but also takes part in what they're doing. Her name is Samantha (Phoebe Rex).
They have an old barn where a wrestling ring amongst other things are kept. This group is filming there when another group shows up. They're older and bullies. Billy (Calem MacDonald) is their leader. He is joined by Trish (Emma Vickers) and Dallas (Isaiah Fortune). Billy seems interested in Samantha, which throws her off. It also upsets her brother and his friends.
What we learn as well is that Gary and Samantha's parents are away for work. Gary breaks his arm, which upsets them and they blame their daughter for not being there. What they don't realize is that she is taking on their job. Billy complicates this more when he hits on Samantha. He goes as far to convince her to throw a party.
The siblings are at odds. The party also gets out of control. It pales in comparison though when the aliens from the beginning attack. Gary, Billy and others are taken back to the spacecraft. Samantha is forced to step up to save them before it is too late.
That is where I'm going to leave my recap and introduction to our characters. Where I want to start is that ahead of seeing this, I thought this sounded like that segment I brought up earlier from V/H/S/2. When the credits in the beginning started, I noticed names that were associated with that anthology. Settling in to write this, I did see that the director/co-writers did Slumber Party Alien Abduction. It makes sense.
Now with that set up, what I like is that they did a good job at taking that short and then expanding on it. I should say that the first-time watching V/H/S/2, I didn't care for it. It was one that I rated near the bottom. With a second viewing, my stance changed and I appreciated it more. What I remembered was that the older sibling didn't care for the younger one which made issues. I like that this captures that, but it develops it more. Samantha has fun with her brother and his friends. It isn't until she gets that taste of being with the popular crew that she changes. If I do have an issue here, the low running time doesn't develop this enough. It's not a major issue though as it feels real enough.
Having brought this up, let me talk about this group of kids. What I like is that it feels like my group of friends when I was closer to that age. We were into video games and things that would be considered 'weird'. I will say I've always been a chameleon where I could hang out with different groups with no issues. These kids have fun and embrace being who they are. I forgive Samantha as she is in that awkward age. You want to fit in and be popular. I'll credit Mariche, Rex, Grayson and Tector.
Moving then to the other group. Billy and Trish are bullies. I think they go a bit into the 'evil villain' which can be a bit much for high school kids. Dallas just seems to go along with them. What I will say though, I love what Billy does when the aliens attack. He feels like a scumbag that would use those around him to survive. I did appreciate that. I'd say that MacDonald, Vickers and Fortune were all solid as well.
Then the only other group would be the aliens. I'll shift this into the effects here. The look of them is fine. It fits the idea that we would have for them. What I like is that we don't linger on them so we can't critique it too hard. We get images of it as things get manic when the attacks happen. That is done strategically to hide them as well as raise tension. There are good effects that we get as we reach the climax. One involves melting, another when the characters fight back. I did enjoy that as they looked practical. I'd say that the use of lights for the aliens and the cinematography were also good. The soundtrack adds to it with driving tension with the lights as well.
I'm not sure that is much more that I need to say about this one. In conclusion, this is a fun movie. It is fast paced, doesn't take too long to get into it and ends in a flurry. I like the characters that we have on both sides. It is interesting that they're against each other until a more dangerous group shows up. The acting is good. No issues there. I think that this is also well-made. This is one that I would recommend giving a viewing. It isn't great, but it is a fun watch.
My Rating: 7 out of 10.
- Reviews_of_the_Dead
- May 31, 2023
- Permalink
Another Homage To Cult 80's Schlock - With The Same Problems
Horror has seen a resurgence in the last several years/decade. But so has the relentless onslaught of homages to the campy, garbage 80's horror/sci-fi films. Some do it very well, some are awful, and this film is somewhere in-between. I found it fun but at the same time too drawn out and overall, hard to watch in the sense of it being bad. Being directed by the guy who made Hobo with a Shotgun, expect it to be intentionally bad, and then see that they may have tried a bit too hard to make it schlocky.
Que to clichés, foul mouth pre-teens and teens, huge house party, evil of some sort ruin it, kids band together to defeat said malevolence. The acting was good but everything else either was just below average or flat our bad. What kind of script was this? Did a foul mouthed 12 year old like the ones in the film write this. They couldn't have added more foul language if they tried. Sure we swore as kids, but this was trying to hard.
The story was horrifying, again trying way to hard to be those Prom Night, Slumber Party Massacre, The Prowler, Nightmare on Elm Street 2 type films. The social hierarchy of "cool kids and dorks" is so over done, to the point where a character literally says dorks deserve to be taken by the aliens and murdering a child because "you ruined my party". Its just too much, again, "trying too hard" would be the motto of this film.
Que to clichés, foul mouth pre-teens and teens, huge house party, evil of some sort ruin it, kids band together to defeat said malevolence. The acting was good but everything else either was just below average or flat our bad. What kind of script was this? Did a foul mouthed 12 year old like the ones in the film write this. They couldn't have added more foul language if they tried. Sure we swore as kids, but this was trying to hard.
The story was horrifying, again trying way to hard to be those Prom Night, Slumber Party Massacre, The Prowler, Nightmare on Elm Street 2 type films. The social hierarchy of "cool kids and dorks" is so over done, to the point where a character literally says dorks deserve to be taken by the aliens and murdering a child because "you ruined my party". Its just too much, again, "trying too hard" would be the motto of this film.
- neener3707
- Apr 15, 2023
- Permalink
Unwatchable
- gojirafan-624-601361
- Apr 14, 2023
- Permalink
Boring
The second spin-off film in the V/H/S franchise and a feature-length adaptation of "Slumber Party Alien Abduction" segment in V/H/S/2.
A total let-down in quality when comparing with the original V/H/S/2 segment. Except with the eye-popping cinematography + visuals and cool retrowave music, this movie is a total waste of time. I didn't liked the distracting and annoying dopey teenage drama nonsense and the overall performances of the cast. Also the script and the direction were unbelievably messy and substandard.
The second spin-off film in the V/H/S franchise and a feature-length adaptation of "Slumber Party Alien Abduction" segment in V/H/S/2.
A total let-down in quality when comparing with the original V/H/S/2 segment. Except with the eye-popping cinematography + visuals and cool retrowave music, this movie is a total waste of time. I didn't liked the distracting and annoying dopey teenage drama nonsense and the overall performances of the cast. Also the script and the direction were unbelievably messy and substandard.
A total let-down in quality when comparing with the original V/H/S/2 segment. Except with the eye-popping cinematography + visuals and cool retrowave music, this movie is a total waste of time. I didn't liked the distracting and annoying dopey teenage drama nonsense and the overall performances of the cast. Also the script and the direction were unbelievably messy and substandard.
The second spin-off film in the V/H/S franchise and a feature-length adaptation of "Slumber Party Alien Abduction" segment in V/H/S/2.
A total let-down in quality when comparing with the original V/H/S/2 segment. Except with the eye-popping cinematography + visuals and cool retrowave music, this movie is a total waste of time. I didn't liked the distracting and annoying dopey teenage drama nonsense and the overall performances of the cast. Also the script and the direction were unbelievably messy and substandard.
- ashfordofficial
- May 12, 2023
- Permalink
Bad score. Some actors good, some idiots.
This COULD have been good. But the idiots who scored and edited really failed. Unless some of the actors were worse than they appeared. Which was really poor.
Possibly in total could have been exceptionally poor direction, writing and poor scripts.
Could have been a great theme, which relayed to a great movie.
The opening scene was absurd.
Meant nothing and distracted from the plot.
Cast dialogs were just...yuck! Schoolyard.
And you expect people to be invested to watch???
There have been a couple of kids at camp bs aliens movies, but this was just so poor, about a N level overall.
I feel very misdirected tjat this film received 4 more stars than valid by fake posters.
Possibly in total could have been exceptionally poor direction, writing and poor scripts.
Could have been a great theme, which relayed to a great movie.
The opening scene was absurd.
Meant nothing and distracted from the plot.
Cast dialogs were just...yuck! Schoolyard.
And you expect people to be invested to watch???
There have been a couple of kids at camp bs aliens movies, but this was just so poor, about a N level overall.
I feel very misdirected tjat this film received 4 more stars than valid by fake posters.
Quite the surprise...
The 2022 sci-fi horror movie "Kids vs Aliens" from writers John Davies and Jason Eisener turned out to be quite an enjoyable surprise. I had initially thought it was a family movie, given the movie's title. And as I hadn't heard about the movie prior to watching it, then I didn't know what I was in for.
Writers John Davies and Jason Eisener put together a very entertaining and enjoyable script and storyline for "Kids vs Aliens". And I have to say that I was genuinely entertained from the very beginning of the movie and right up to the end. So thumbs up to the writers on that accomplishment.
I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in the movie, but they had put together a good cast for the movie. The young actors and actresses carried the movie quite well with their performances.
The character gallery in the movie was fairly okay, and the Billy character, as played by Calem MacDonald, was really a dislikable character, which was a credit to the writing skills of John Davies and Jason Eisener.
Visually then "Kids vs Aliens" is also quite good. The movie starts out fairly vaguely with out of focus glimpses of the aliens, then slowly and gradually revealing more and more of the extraterrestrial entities. It was a nice way of doing it and it worked, so director Jason Eisener managed to do quite well. The special effects in "Kids vs Aliens" were good, and the aliens were rather impressive, well aside from their prolonged fingers, which looked very impractical.
Don't get discouraged by the movie's title, because "Kids vs Aliens" is a rather enjoyable and entertaining movie. It is definitely a movie that I will warmly recommend.
My rating of "Kids vs Aliens" lands on a six out of ten stars.
Writers John Davies and Jason Eisener put together a very entertaining and enjoyable script and storyline for "Kids vs Aliens". And I have to say that I was genuinely entertained from the very beginning of the movie and right up to the end. So thumbs up to the writers on that accomplishment.
I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in the movie, but they had put together a good cast for the movie. The young actors and actresses carried the movie quite well with their performances.
The character gallery in the movie was fairly okay, and the Billy character, as played by Calem MacDonald, was really a dislikable character, which was a credit to the writing skills of John Davies and Jason Eisener.
Visually then "Kids vs Aliens" is also quite good. The movie starts out fairly vaguely with out of focus glimpses of the aliens, then slowly and gradually revealing more and more of the extraterrestrial entities. It was a nice way of doing it and it worked, so director Jason Eisener managed to do quite well. The special effects in "Kids vs Aliens" were good, and the aliens were rather impressive, well aside from their prolonged fingers, which looked very impractical.
Don't get discouraged by the movie's title, because "Kids vs Aliens" is a rather enjoyable and entertaining movie. It is definitely a movie that I will warmly recommend.
My rating of "Kids vs Aliens" lands on a six out of ten stars.
- paul_haakonsen
- Apr 15, 2023
- Permalink
Not even laughable
I'm not sure if I've ever done a written review before but this is necessary to save valuable 75 minutes of other people's lives. HOT EFFING GARBAGE. This is the worst movie I have ever seen or ever will. Bar none. Makes Plan 9 look like Oscar material. The lead up is a bunch of bad child actors making their own lame Sci-fi movie. The irony is that the actual movie is even worse. I haven't checked yet but I strongly think children actually 100% put this together. Not 1 professional filmmaker involved. And shame on any of the clowns that posted a positive review. Go back to trolling on Facebook. Please don't watch; There's 0 redeeming value.
- ajarofclay
- May 8, 2023
- Permalink
Starting small, going big
No pun intended - and I am more referring to the short movie or rather segment this is based on. The same director did a shorter version of what is being seen here for I think one of the VHS compilation horror movies. I saw that and I liked the segment - as a full length movie it works too. You just have to suspend your disbelief and be ok with this not being politically correct.
We are rooting for the kids of course and the aliens may not look great - and also make not much sense considering how they are introduced and how they are portrayed later in the movie ... I am also not sure how parents will see the movie showing kids doing wrestling moves. Don't try this at home - no pun intended and something that could be a warning and all that .. to things shown ... on the other hand, wouldn't you want someone going after the aliens if they invaded? Thought so ...
We are rooting for the kids of course and the aliens may not look great - and also make not much sense considering how they are introduced and how they are portrayed later in the movie ... I am also not sure how parents will see the movie showing kids doing wrestling moves. Don't try this at home - no pun intended and something that could be a warning and all that .. to things shown ... on the other hand, wouldn't you want someone going after the aliens if they invaded? Thought so ...
Spoke to my inner child
- mondomanvhs
- Jan 27, 2023
- Permalink
Perfect first horror film for kids/teenagers stepping into the genre
Kids vs. Aliens (2022) was recently added to Shudder and tells the tale of a group of kids who make cool costumes, write random scripts and get into making movies. One of the kids older sisters also partakes in their efforts until a group of mean teenagers come, the sister saves the kids but in the process falls for the leader of the teenagers. As the sister is pursued by the young man, the young man convinces her to throw a party in her house while her parents are out of town; unfortunately for them, the party is the same night as an alien invasion.
This movie is directed by Jason Eisener (Hobo with a Shotgun) and stars Dominic Mariche (Are You Afraid of the Dark), Phoebe Rex (From), Calem MacDonald (Moonshine), Asher Grayson (Scaredy Cats) and Emma Vickers (Invisible).
The storyline for this movie reminded me of a mix of Super 8 and Turbo Kid. The cinematography, lighting, costumes and props were all very good...except the aliens 👽. The alien costumes were bad but still entertaining. The characters are well established as is the circumstances. There are some entertaining kill scenes, especially at the end, that contain solid gore, and a hilarious sex scene that had me cracking up. This has a Stranger Things element where it's a perfect first horror film for kids/teenagers stepping into the genre.
Overall, this is an above average addition to the horror genre that's fun for the entire family. I would score this a 6.5-7/10 and strongly recommend it.
This movie is directed by Jason Eisener (Hobo with a Shotgun) and stars Dominic Mariche (Are You Afraid of the Dark), Phoebe Rex (From), Calem MacDonald (Moonshine), Asher Grayson (Scaredy Cats) and Emma Vickers (Invisible).
The storyline for this movie reminded me of a mix of Super 8 and Turbo Kid. The cinematography, lighting, costumes and props were all very good...except the aliens 👽. The alien costumes were bad but still entertaining. The characters are well established as is the circumstances. There are some entertaining kill scenes, especially at the end, that contain solid gore, and a hilarious sex scene that had me cracking up. This has a Stranger Things element where it's a perfect first horror film for kids/teenagers stepping into the genre.
Overall, this is an above average addition to the horror genre that's fun for the entire family. I would score this a 6.5-7/10 and strongly recommend it.
- kevin_robbins
- Apr 16, 2023
- Permalink
Who on Earth votes more then one star for this?
Unfortunately, this does not work for me
Here's The 4K Lowedown on "Kids vs. Aliens" (TV-MA - 2022 - AMC+)
Genre: Sci-Fi/Alien
My Score: 4.8 Cast=2 Acting=4 Plot=6 Ending=5 Story=4 F/X=5 Pace=6 Tech=7 Alien=2 Intense=7
A teen house party turns to terror when aliens attack, forcing two warring siblings to band together to survive the night.
"There's dinos dead ahead...let's teach em how to die." I didn't realize this was a spin-off of V/H/S/2...that's pretty cool. Unfortunately, the movie wasn't cool at all for me. There were some things I liked but this movie should have been lit on fire and put on my front porch. It might land in the 'so bad it's good' category, but I can't recommend it...it was just bad for me.
My Score: 4.8 Cast=2 Acting=4 Plot=6 Ending=5 Story=4 F/X=5 Pace=6 Tech=7 Alien=2 Intense=7
A teen house party turns to terror when aliens attack, forcing two warring siblings to band together to survive the night.
"There's dinos dead ahead...let's teach em how to die." I didn't realize this was a spin-off of V/H/S/2...that's pretty cool. Unfortunately, the movie wasn't cool at all for me. There were some things I liked but this movie should have been lit on fire and put on my front porch. It might land in the 'so bad it's good' category, but I can't recommend it...it was just bad for me.
A Chaotic, Cheesy, Canuxploitation.
Full disclosure: I'm friends with John Davies, who wrote this film.
He also wrote Hobo With A Shotgun, which was also directed by Jason Eisener.
This film was originally conceptualized as a short film that was released as part of the V/H/S series.
Before he expanded it into a feature length film, about a group of kids who are trying to make a film about wrestlers that are trying to fight a group of monsters.
The majority of them are of gradeschool age.
However, the main kid's older sister is in high school...and tries to fit in with the "cool crowd", by allowing them to throw a party at their house.
A plan that goes awry when they are attacked by aliens.
Whom they must defeat in order to save their little town...and, effectively, the world.
The whole thing is rather cheesy...quite chaotic...and somewhat incohesive.
But the creature effects on the aliens (and other monsters) are pretty darn cool.
With it's fast pace being entertaining enough...if you can handle the cheesy aspect of it.
Before criticizing it too harshly...you've got to realize that it's a children's horror (if that wasn't obvious enough) designed to scare adolescent aged children.
Which you could argue it's effective at.
But it's certainly not a masterpiece, or anything.
And it's definitely not as classic of a canuxploitation as Hobo With A Shotgun is.
But it's a fun, albeit incredibly weird, little film.
That is right where it belongs, being a straight to Shudder release.
It's certainly not a film that everyone will love.
But if you like homegrown films that utilize traditional effects, and have cool, non-CGI derived, creatures...it's definitely worth a watch.
Because what it lacks in cohesivity...it makes up for in fun.
3.5 out of 10.
He also wrote Hobo With A Shotgun, which was also directed by Jason Eisener.
This film was originally conceptualized as a short film that was released as part of the V/H/S series.
Before he expanded it into a feature length film, about a group of kids who are trying to make a film about wrestlers that are trying to fight a group of monsters.
The majority of them are of gradeschool age.
However, the main kid's older sister is in high school...and tries to fit in with the "cool crowd", by allowing them to throw a party at their house.
A plan that goes awry when they are attacked by aliens.
Whom they must defeat in order to save their little town...and, effectively, the world.
The whole thing is rather cheesy...quite chaotic...and somewhat incohesive.
But the creature effects on the aliens (and other monsters) are pretty darn cool.
With it's fast pace being entertaining enough...if you can handle the cheesy aspect of it.
Before criticizing it too harshly...you've got to realize that it's a children's horror (if that wasn't obvious enough) designed to scare adolescent aged children.
Which you could argue it's effective at.
But it's certainly not a masterpiece, or anything.
And it's definitely not as classic of a canuxploitation as Hobo With A Shotgun is.
But it's a fun, albeit incredibly weird, little film.
That is right where it belongs, being a straight to Shudder release.
It's certainly not a film that everyone will love.
But if you like homegrown films that utilize traditional effects, and have cool, non-CGI derived, creatures...it's definitely worth a watch.
Because what it lacks in cohesivity...it makes up for in fun.
3.5 out of 10.
- meddlecore
- Feb 2, 2024
- Permalink
So disappointed
What did I just watch? Seriously, this has to be the worst film I've watched this year and that's saying something as I've watched over 100. Did AI write this script? The dialogue was so corny and the plotline was just plain stupid. How can they get it so wrong after the short on VHS was so good?
It was so bad at times I was questioning if the whole film was actually a homemade movie being made by the children in the film which probably would've been a way better plot tbh. The script felt like it was written for a Nickelodeon Halloween film and the writers just threw in a whole heap of cursing and added a smidge of blood to pass it as an adults horror film. I have no idea how they managed to mess up this bad after Siren was quite enjoyable.
It was so bad at times I was questioning if the whole film was actually a homemade movie being made by the children in the film which probably would've been a way better plot tbh. The script felt like it was written for a Nickelodeon Halloween film and the writers just threw in a whole heap of cursing and added a smidge of blood to pass it as an adults horror film. I have no idea how they managed to mess up this bad after Siren was quite enjoyable.
- cmdown-50506
- Nov 21, 2023
- Permalink