| Voyage of the Rock Aliens | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | James Fargo Bob Giraldi |
| Written by | Edward Gold James Guidotti |
| Starring | Pia Zadora Craig Sheffer Tom Nolan Ruth Gordon Michael Berryman Alison La Placa Jermaine Jackson |
| Music by | Jack White |
| Cinematography | Gilbert Taylor |
| Editing by | Malcolm Campbell |
| Release date(s) | 1984 |
| Running time | 97 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Voyage of the Rock Aliens is a 1984 film directed by James Fargo. It stars Pia Zadora and Craig Sheffer.[1]
Contents |
A guitar-shaped spaceship streaks through the skies. Aboard is robot 1359 (voiced by Peter Cullen) searching the universe via a Rhemascan monitor for the source of rock and roll music that the ship's crew had heard. He finds it on earth, where Dee Dee (Pia Zadora) and Rain (Jermaine Jackson) are singing a ballad to each other. 1359 wakes the crew and orchestrates a visit to the planet. A rocket-based telephone booth lands on earth and Absid (Tom Nolan) with his group of aliens (Rhema) exit. The humanistic aliens force robot 1359 to make himself less conspicuous by taking the form of a fire hydrant. Only the Sheriff (Ruth Gordon) witnesses their landing, and she instantly becomes obsessed with alien invaders.
Dee Dee (Pia Zadora), a young singer who is in love with Frankie (Craig Sheffer), the leader of Speelburgh's local high school rock and roll band, The Pack (Jimmy and the Mustangs), sings her heart out at the beach to best friend Diane (Alison La Placa). Dee Dee's dream is to sing with the band; Frankie loves her but doesn't see things quite the same. Meanwhile, something with tentacles resembling the Loch Ness Monster is living in a seething pool of water that was once a placid lake and extends its extremities hauntingly through the town.
As the aliens search the planet for signs of life, they encounter Dee Dee, Frankie and The Pack at the local maltshop. Absid loses his head (literally) over Dee Dee and decides to win her heart while his cohorts search for specimens such as flowers, leaves and cow chips. Meanwhile, Stovitz (Patrick Byrnes) stumbles upon two crazed mass murderers, Chainsaw (Michael Berryman) and The Breather (Wallace Merck), as they make their escape from the local asylum.
Feeling dejected by Frankie and his refusal to let her sing, Dee Dee succumbs to the charms of Absid, who agrees to let her join his band at the Heidi High Cotillion Dance. Frankie and The Pack arrive at the high school early to keep the aliens out... but their tricks aren't enough to divert the alien powers that they're up against—the aliens teleport into the bathroom by way of toilets. Dee Dee finally gets her chance to sing, but a battle of the bands begins between the aliens and The Pack, bringing a whirl of music, dance and special effects to the screen.
Absid and Dee Dee sneak off to the lake. While the tentacled creature searches the banks with its ominous suction-cup arm, Absid tries to convince Dee Dee to fly back to his planet. Hesitating, she agrees to visit the ship via the telephone booth. Once there, she learns that she'll have to give up all human emotion to live on the alien's planet.
Meanwhile, Diane encounters Chainsaw at the high school. Although the crazed killer initially intends to make her his next victim, a short circuit with his rusty chainsaw botches the plan. Love blooms as Diane helps Chainsaw fix his chainsaw.
Bolting back to her true love, Frankie, Dee Dee finds him trapped in a school hallway by the Breather. Frankie manages to fend of his rival, only to be attacked by the monster from the lake, which has gotten loose and enveloped the entire high school with its tentacles. With his machinery now repaired, Chainsaw comes to the rescue.
As the movie concludes, the aliens board their ship and Absid decides to leave the humans "a little alien persuasion." He fiddles with the buttons on his Rhemascan monitor to clear out Speelburgh's pollution and turn the brutal Pack into a group of boy scouts. With this, the creature in the lake heads out of town, skies clear, flowers bloom and Frankie and Dee Dee sing and dance their way into the smogless sunset.
The original script by James Guidotti, Attack of the Aliens, was conceived as the ultimate b-movie spoof. "It's a little like sitting home and watching TV late on a Saturday night, all the while switching channels from 5 to 9 to 11 and to 13," Guidotti explained.[2] "On channel 5 they're airing an old Beach Party movie; on 9 one about alien invaders; on 11 a film about a mad, homicidal maniac on the loose; and on 13 a rock 'n roll program." When Guidotti's script was spotted by executives at the production company Inter Planetary Curb, Vice President of Development Edward Gold[3] and consultant Charles Hairston polished the script, turned it into a musical,[2] and the film went into production under the title Attack of the Rock 'n' Roll Aliens.[4][5]
Pia Zadora was first cast as a result of her previous work on stage and screen.[6] With Zadora attached to the film, they began fleshing out the cast. The Frankie character sings two songs in the film, but producers wanted someone with acting experience, so Craig Sheffer was offered the role, which he chose over a TV series, another film and the Broadway play Torch Song Trilogy (the latter of which he took after Rock Aliens had wrapped).[7] Sheffer initially had another theory as to why he was cast: "The funniest part is that I thought they hired me for my long hair," Sheffer revealed.[8] He and other cast members were in for a rude awakening when the filmmakers sent them to the barber shop.[8][9] Similarly, Tom Nolan was chosen to portray alien leader Absid based on his acting background rather than singing abilities.[9]
Then-president of Curb Records Dick Whitehead needed a techno band for the film and learned of Rhema through an acquaintance.[10] Whitehead, star Pia Zadora and their entourage flew to Arizona to hear the band play, and they were quickly cast in the film.[10] After scoring poorly on a screen test, Rhema bassist Bobby Freeman was not asked to participate in the film.[9]
Principal production of the film took place in Atlanta, Georgia for 9 weeks in 1983.[9]
In April 1984, Pia Zadora and Jermaine Jackson headed to Italy[11] aboard Zadora's personal jet[12] to shoot a music video for their duet When the Rain Begins to Fall. Although the song already appeared in the movie (with Sheffer lip-synching Jackson's part), the plot of the music video had absolutely nothing to do with the film, and there was an entirely different cast and crew, it was decided that the video would be tacked onto the end of the film.[11] Ultimately, the filmmakers wound up synthetically injecting the music video into the film as part of the opening sequence.
A soundtrack album was released by Curb Records in 1984. The cover of the album downplays the film in favor of the hit single When the Rain Begins to Fall, prominently featuring Jermaine Jackson and Pia Zadora. Many of the songs heard in the film are not on the album and numerous songs have different arrangements. In many countries, the album was released on vinyl and cassette; in Germany it was also issued on CD.
The film was released on VHS in the USA and Japan in February 1988 by Prism Entertainment.[19][20][21]
In the UK it was released on VHS by Raven Home Video in 1997.[22]
In 2005, the movie was issued on DVD in the UK by Moonstone Pictures.[23] Fans have complained about the quality of this release, which appears to be transferred from video.
In 2009, the film was issued on DVD by Alive/CMV Laservision in Germany.[24] Subtitled "Let's Dance Tonight," this version features a very clear full-screen print with German and English audio options, as well as the theatrical trailer and alternate opening/ending scenes. Although it's the same version as that released in the USA, the film runs a few minutes shorter as a result of PAL speedup.
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