"Alien Raiders" DVD Review - Written by Anthony Thurber

Alien Raiders
Year: 2009
Director: Ben Rock
Studio: Raw Feed Films/ Warner Home Video
Stars: Carlos Bernard, Mathew St Patrick, Rockmond Dunbar.
MPAA Rating: R
Running Time: 85 Mins.





“Alien Raiders” is the latest film, from the gang at Raw Feed films. The company responsible for such entertaining horror films, such as “Rest Stop”, “Sublime”, and “Otis”.

The film takes place in a grocery store, where it’s about closing time. Before the store closes, a group of militants start killing some people and taking the rest of people hostage. But these aren’t your typical group of militants, as they group of scientist, who have tracked and discovered an alien infestation that’s happening, in this supermarket. The group is trying to find out, which of the people are human and which are extraterrestrials that are hell-bend, on starting an invasion and stop it. Before it gets any worse.

Film Review:

After watching “Alien Raiders”, I was left with one question. When is Warner Bros going to have a “Raw Feed” film come out in theaters, as they been one of the few bright spots, in the horror genre that’s been plagued with remakes, squeals and boring PG-13 films.

Ailen Raiders is one of the most intense alien invasion film, I’ve seen in a long time. It’s very suspenseful and gory. The credit for that has to go to director, Ben Rock, who’s direction helps makes this film, what it is, an intense and shocking thrill-ride. One of the things that made the direction excellent was the fact that the atmosphere was intense, which makes you think anything can happen. That’s what I want to see, in these types of films. Another thing that he does very well, he makes some of the shots look stylish, with the film intense action, as he doesn’t get too carried away and the it made sense. It helped made the situation, much more darker. The reason, Rock doesn’t get carried away, because he wants the story to take focus. You can have all the stylish shots in the world, but if it takes away from the story, you have no film, as everything becomes redundant and mind numbing. Thankfully, that was not the case. Also, the acting was very good, as it felt like an episode of “24” at times, with the intense action and acting. Rock utilizes that talent very well, as there are a lot of noticeable faces in this film like, Carlos Bernard (24), Mathew St. Patrick (Six Feet Under) and Rockmond Dunbar (Prison Break) . The performances matched the intense action that was happening. That why this was a great alien invasion flick.

The film also had a very good screenplay from Julia Fair and David Simkins. They created something original, from a tireless Sci-Fi subgenre. Yes, alien invasion films are a tireless subgenre of science fiction, because they all feel, like the same film. Not this one though, as there is a couple of things that make this different. First, the action was intense. You usually don’t see it, in this type of film. But what the screenwriters do was not make the story feel like “Invasion of the Body Santchers” all over again. Instead, they created a story that focused on intense action, while not getting bogged down with any mythology that would slow the film down. Second, they create suspense with the film’s action. It makes the pace of the film move well, as you’re sitting there and having fun. Not being bored and watching paint dry, like some of the films, in this subgenre. Finally, they do a good job developing the characters and the situation. It made the characters interesting while delivered up some intense moments. Also, you’re invested in the situation, as the action wasn’t predictable.

DVD Extras:

There is a good amount of extras on this DVD. First on this the DVD is an eight minute featurette “Hidden Terror: The making of Alien Raiders. It does a very good job, going into the production of the film, as the people involved talk about the film and have some of the aspects that went into the film story. Next on the Dvd, a three-minute featurette, Blood, Sweet, and Fears: The Special Effects of Alien Raiders. It goes into the detail, on how all the bloody effects were created. It was a very interesting featurette, as I liked how the director and the Special Effects supervisor go into detail, on why they wanted the effects to be scary and bloody. Next, the three featurette served as found footage videos. Tape # 9, Sterling Explains Aliens, Tape #12 Spookie’s job and Whitney’s blog. They all did a very good job giving background information, to those three characters. Finally, wrapping up this disc are trailers, for all of the Raw Feed films that are currently out on dvd, “Alien Raiders”, “Otis, “Believers”, “Rest Stop”. Rest Stop: Don’t Look Back” and Sublime”

Please don’t let the cheesy title fool you. Rent or Buy “Alien Raiders”. It’s suspenseful and intense alien invasion film that the scifi and horror fan will enjoy.

Review Rating: 5 Stars
Dvd Extras: 4 Stars