| Alien from L.A. | |
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One-sheet for Alien from L.A. |
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| Directed by | Albert Pyun |
| Produced by | Yoram Globus |
| Written by | Regina Davis Albert Pyun Debra Ricci |
| Starring | Kathy Ireland William R. Moses Richard Haines Don Michael Paul Thom Mathews Janet Du Plessis Simon Poland |
| Music by | Jim Andron Simon LeGassick Anthony Riparetti James Saad |
| Cinematography | Tom Fraser |
| Editing by | Daniel Loewenthal |
| Release date(s) | February 26, 1988 |
| Running time | 87 min |
| Country | United States South Africa |
| Language | English |
Alien From L.A. is a 1988 science fiction film that stars Kathy Ireland as a young woman who visits the underground civilization of Atlantis. The film was featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000.
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Wanda Saknussemm (Ireland) is a nerdy social misfit with large glasses and a squeaky voice who lives in Los Angeles and works at a diner. After being dumped by her boyfriend for "not having a sense of adventure", Wanda is informed by a letter that her father, an archaeologist, has died. She flies to northern Africa and while going through her father's belongings, she finds his notes about Atlantis, apparently an alien ship that crashed millennia ago and sank into the center of the Earth. Wanda comes across a chamber beneath her father's apartment and accidentally sets off a chain of events that ultimately cause her to fall into a deep hole.
An unharmed Wanda wakes up deep within the Earth to find Gus (William R. Moses), a miner whom she protects from being slain by two people. Gus, who has a very inconsistent Australian accent, agrees to help Wanda find her father, whom she believes is alive and trapped underground. Wanda soon discovers that both she and her father are believed to be spies planning an invasion of Atlantis. During her adventures, Wanda's appearance changes from nerdy to attractive (by removing her glasses and using a steam vent to clean her skin). People from the surface world are referred to as "aliens" by Atlanteans, and when Wanda is overheard talking about Malibu Beach by a low-life informant (Janie Du Plessis), she soon becomes a hunted woman and must dodge efforts at capture, both from the mysterious "Government House" and from thugs in the pay of the crime lord Mambino (Deep Roy). Much mention of Wanda's "big bones" are made during these sequences.
Wanda's efforts at escape are aided by Charmin (Thom Matthews), a handsome rogue who (briefly) assists her flight and falls for Wanda. She is ultimately captured by the evil General Pykov (Du Plessis again), who wants to kill both Wanda and her incarcerated father. The Atlantean leader decides to free Wanda and her father, provided they remain quiet about Atlantis. Gus shows up and helps the duo escape while fighting off General Pykov and her soldiers. Wanda and her father board a ship that takes them back to the surface and the film ends with Wanda on the beach, wearing a bikini and a sarong. She refuses the advances of her ex-boyfriend and is soon reunited with Charmin, who inexplicably appears on a motorcycle.
The last name of Wanda and her father, Saknussemm, is a reference to the character of Arne Saknussemm from the Jules Verne novel Journey to the Center of the Earth. The sequel movie (originally unrelated, but grafted on as a sequel early in production) was also titled Journey to the Center of the Earth
The film was mocked on a 1993 episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Targets for jokes included the ridiculous Australian accent employed by Gus, Kathy Ireland's annoying squeaky voice and lack of acting talent, the design of Atlantis, which evoked numerous films such as Blade Runner and the Mad Max series, Charmin's name, and much, much more.
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