1987 sci-fi noir
Bad Movie Rating: 4/5 (Josh: 5/5; Johnny: 2/5; Fred: 5/5; Lisa: 5/5)
Rating: 4/20
Plot: After two halves of a painted space frisbee somehow make it to Earth, a gang starts making dangerous drugs with them. It's up to the titular alien private eye, his fedora, his Spock ears, and his leather jacket to get to the bottom of things.
I don't know if it was just this particular Youtube upload or the movie, but this was really murky and difficult to see. I believe the blame should probably go to writer/director Vik Rubenfeld. Apparently, he wasn't allowed to direct another movie after this one because he had no idea how to make a movie the audience could actually, you know, see.
This is the type of movie where you can tell the director wanted to make a science fiction movie with cool aliens and weapons and shit but only had the budget to buy cheap plastic Spock ears at a Spencer Gifts and film in a darkened studio.
Big credit goes to Rubenfeld for trying to tackle the War on Drugs though. He knew Nancy Reagan would be watching and attempted to have a bit of an anti-drug message here. It's ludicrous and incoherent and doesn't need aliens or private eyes or Frisbee halves, but it's still a nice effort and parents from the late-80's owe the guy a rigorous pat on the back.
Despite not being able to, you know, see the movie, this is a worthy good-bad movie to check out solely for the performance of John Alexander who plays Scamma. I'm not sure why he decided his alien character needed to sound like Igor, but he did and it was glorious. I think I might have giggled every single time the guy had a line. I had to check out the guy's filmography to see what else he's in. See what you notice here:
Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (one of the movies that my dad, in an effort to spend quality time with me, dropped me off to see as he went off to do other things): He plays a "primate leader"
Return to Oz: Cowardly Lion and Wheeler, whoever that is
The Bride: Circus performer
Gorillas in the Mist: Mime
Jeeves and Wooster, Baby's Day Out, Fierce Creatures, Planet of the Apes: some sort of ape or gorilla
The Country Bears: Big Al
The Haunted Manson: Tea Ghost
Zathura: Robot
Hellboy II: a goblin
Mighty Joe Young: Mighty Joe Young
He's in other things, but it seems like he's not allowed to play human beings. Although technically, mimes are human beings, I guess.
Whatever you want to say about this movie, you'll at least have to admit the main character--the alien private dick, emphasis on the "dick"--has style.
OK, I'm going to take that back and allow you to have whatever opinion you want about the main character's fashion sense.
BMC'ers were pleased with the sound effects and the synth-heavy score. I was more pleased with those ears, especially when connected with a line about how if the alien private eye gets them "clipped," people will think he's an asshole if he goes back to his home planet. He was sort of an asshole on this planet, by the way.
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