A Good Start Devolves into Schlock Horror

A teen (Phoebe Rex) and her little brother (Dominic Mariche) battle nasty extraterrestrial invaders.

Yer Dead Productions

Extraterrestrials meet their match while raiding an out-of-control Halloween party in Kids vs. Aliens. Director/writer Jason Eisener adapts his short, Slumber Party Alien Abduction from the V/H/S/2 horror anthology, to a feature that squeaks in at an hour and fifteen minutes. Youngsters and teens elicit laughs with antics. The chuckles cease when snatch-and-grab baddies get down to grisly business. The premise runs of out steam in a lean film. A frenzied final act offers chaos.

Hapless fishermen get spooked when an intense yellow light crashes into the ocean beside their boat. The following morning, Gary (Dominic Mariche), clad in neon-spiked football armor and a helmet, films at his family’s farmhouse. Older sister Sam (Phoebe Rex) body slams Gary’s goofy pals in their wrestling ring. Pint-sized co-stars Jack (Asher Grayson) and Miles (Ben Tector) serve as dinosaur-masked foils to the valiant heroine.

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The shoot is rudely interrupted by the tattooed, cigarette-smoking Billy (Calem MacDonald) and his jerk friends (Emma Vickers, Isaiah Fortune). They bully the kids while mocking their costumed endeavor. Sam is embarrassed to be caught hanging out with her little brother. Billy turns on his sleazy charm which easily wins Sam’s affection. She’s intoxicated by the school bad boy.

Deadly Interlopers

Shudder

An accident leads to Sam being chastised by their parents (Jonathan Torrens, Jessica Marie Brown). She’s responsible for Gary while they’re out of town. Billy seizes a golden opportunity. He convinces Sam to throw an epic costume party. She’ll do anything to impress the hunky stud. His duplicitous intentions aren’t lost on a disgusted Gary. The bash lives up to Billy’s hype but attracts deadly interlopers.

Related: Exclusive: Jason Eisener and Dominic Mariche Want Audiences to be Inspired by Kids vs. Aliens

Eisener (Hobo with a Shotgun) loses his creative edge as the aliens attack. The film devolves when bloody theatrics become the focus. The standard horror trope of running blindly through dark woods takes over. You could be galloping at top speed like Usain Bolt and still be caught by ambling killers. These scenes are meant to be intense and engaging but fall short. A twist in the climax doesn’t achieve its purpose.

Lacks Critical Exposition

Kids vs. Aliens lacks critical exposition. I fully understand this is a B-movie on a budget, but the storyline needed a bridge. Eisener should have taken a page from The Goonies and Stranger Things. He establishes the characters, setting, and action without reason. The aliens are mindless. We learn nothing about them. There’s a gaping “why” missing from the film.

Kids vs. Aliens is a production of Cinepocalypse Productions, Bloody Disgusting, Shut Up & Colour Pictures, Yer Dead Productions, and Studio 71. It will have a concurrent theatrical, VOD, and digital release on January 20th from RLJE Films and Shudder.

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