Alien Terror (film)
| Alien 2: On Earth | |
|---|---|
 Italian theatrical poster | |
| Directed by |
Ciro Ippolito (as Sam Cromwell) Biagio Proietti (uncredited) |
| Produced by |
Ciro Ippolito Angiolo Stella |
| Written by | Ciro Ippolito |
| Starring |
Belinda Mayne Mark Bodin Roberto Barrese Benny Aldrich Michele Soavi Judy Perrin Don Parkinson Claudio Falanga |
| Music by | Guido De Angelis, Maurizio De Angelis (as The Oliver Onions) |
| Distributed by |
Cinema Shares International Distribution (1980, USA) Fiesta Films (1981, Canada) |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 92 minutes |
| Country |
Italy United States United Kingdom |
| Language |
English Italian |
Alien 2: On Earth, initially known as Alien Terror and Strangers, is a 1980 science fiction film, written and directed by Ciro Ippolito before the trademark Alien was registered. It was released following the success of the 1979 film Alien as an unofficial sequel, albeit having little connection to the film.
The film features a score by Guido De Angelis and Maurizio De Angelis, performed by the composers under the pseudonym Sam Cromwell. The film co-starred a young Michele Soavi, years before he became a famed Italian horror film director in his own right, and a cameo appearance by Ciro Ippolito himself (in the role of "Joe"). It was filmed in California, the Cinecittà studios in Rome, and in the Castellana Caves.
Midnight Legacy released the film on DVD and Blu-ray on March 22, 2011, with the title Alien 2: On Earth.
Plot
As the world awaits the return of a crew of astronauts from a deep space mission, a young woman named Thelma Joyce appears on a television talk show to discuss caves. Soon after her interview begins, Thelma has a horrible psychic vision. After the spacecraft returns to Earth missing its occupants, a girl on a beach discovers a weird, blue, pulsating rock. Her mother soon finds her with her face ripped off.
Thelma and her husband Roy meet up with their friends for a trip to explore a cave. The group stops at a roadside café to buy food and change into their caving gear. Thelma's friend Burt discovers a blue rock that he decides to keep in his pack.
The group arrives at the cave, and quickly rappels to the bottom to set up camp for the night. Before falling asleep, Thelma tells Roy that she feels that something horrible is about to happen, but Roy calms her down.
The next day, Thelma's friend Jill discovers the blue rock that Burt dropped while rappelling the previous day. Before Jill can touch it, the rock opens up and a creature attacks her face. Thelma senses what is happening and panics. Roy calms her down, then decides to go find Jill's body.
Roy rappels down into a hole and finds Jill, alive and with her face intact. He straps her to a lifter and she is lifted up to the rest of the group. Jill is set aside by herself, still unconscious. While the group is taking pictures of the many rock formations, a creature erupts from Jill's face and attacks Burt's neck. Burt is dragged upside down as the creature slices his neck repeatedly until his head falls off.
The creature quickly grows into a mature shape-shifting alien creature which incubates inside human hosts, and slaughters the group one by one, multiplying with each kill. Thelma and Roy manage to outrun the aliens and escape the caves. On their way back to the city, they discover a police car, but no police officers are in sight. They stop at the roadside café again, only no one is there. Roy tries to call for help on a payphone, but no operator is available. They get back into the car and continue to drive to the city.
Thelma and Roy finally get back to the city, but strangely, they can't find anyone. They stop at the bowling alley, only to find that it's empty, too. Roy goes to the back, only to be killed by an alien waiting there. The alien chases Thelma through the bowling alley, until she hits it in the head and leaves. Thelma runs through the empty city streets, calling for help but getting no answer. She finally stops yelling and sits down in an intersection. Suddenly, text shoots at the screen, warning the audience "You may be next!", meaning that the aliens have taken over Earth.
Cast
- Belinda Mayne as Thelma Joyce
- Mark Bodin as Roy
- Benedetta Fantoli as Maurine
- Michele Soavi as Burth
- Judy Perrin as Jill
- Donald Hodson as Mr. Raymond
- Ciro Ippolito as Joe
Release
The film was released theatrically in Italy on April 11, 1980 as Alien 2: Sulla Terra ('"Alien 2: On Earth") and in West Germany on March 19, 1982 as Alien, die Saat des Grauens kehrt zurück ("Alien, the seed of horror returns"). The English-dubbed version of the film premiered in the United States on the TCL Chinese Theatre, and was released theatrically in a limited way by Cinema Shares International Distribution (which distributed films such as Creature from Black Lake, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla and The Pod People).[1]
On March 22, 2011, Midnight Legacy re-released the English-dubbed version of the film on DVD and Blu-ray in the United States under its original title, Alien 2: On Earth, in a 30,000 copy pressing. The re-release includes fully remastered picture and audio. This version of the film is longer than any other version, and includes deleted scenes and trailers.
Critical reception
Adam Tyner of DVD Talk wrote, "James Cameron once summed up his followup to Alien as 'forty miles of bad road'. Alien 2, meanwhile, is 'eighty-four minutes of bad, period'."[2]
Daryl Loomis of DVD Verdict said, "Some people will say that Alien 2: On Earth is a blatant ripoff and some will say that it's a terrible movie. All of those people are right, but given my track record, nobody should be surprised that I love it."[3]
See also
References
- ↑ http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2011/03/22/hereafter-skyline-and-other-blu-ray-releases-of-the-week-032211/?mod=WSJBlog
- ↑ Adam Tyner. "Alien 2". DVD Talk. Retrieved 2011-03-24.
- ↑ Daryl Loomis. "Alien 2". DVD Verdict. Retrieved 2011-03-24.