Dark Corners - Don Dohler's The Alien Factor: Review
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- Опубликовано: 23 июл 2024
- They brought terror from beyond our galaxy! We review Don Dohler's The Alien Factor (1978).
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Summary: A spaceship containing specimens for an intergalactic zoo crashes on Earth near a small back woods town. The specimens escape, and soon town folk are turning up mutilated. Very low budget feature was the first for Baltimore filmmaker Don Dohler.
Written by & starring Robin Bailes @robinbailes
Directed and Edited by Graham Trelfer
DARK CORNERS OF THIS SICK WORLD S07E10 
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I absolutely love this movie. It's ineptly shot, poorly acted, has goofy monsters (except the stop-motion Lemoid), and has a soundtrack that sounds like a dying Casio. But I get the feeling that everyone involved with the movie had fun with it and genuinely tried making a good movie.
They failed, but they did try.
I agree. It's great. (Well.. . not 'great' but you know what I mean). It's a fun way to spend an hour or so. You can watch the full movie on RUclips.
Despite its bad movie reputation, I'm glad that Robin mentioned that The Alien Factor has an interesting premise and the monster designs are generally good. An ambitious project that just couldn't have the budget to match.
The Crater Lake Monster has some good stop-motion dinosaur scenes and even The Monster Of Piedras Blancas has a good costume design.
Any film, shot in some podunk, USA town, on a grocery shopping budget is worth my time. Feels very much like Larry Buchanan's films in its charming ineptness. A personal favorite since first viewing it decades ago.
That Tie deserves top billing
The Alien Factor was filmed in my home state of Maryland, not too far from where I used to live. The actor playing the town's mayor also played a weekday afternoon kid's show host named Captain 20 and a Saturday night horror host named Count Gore de Vol. Such great childhood memories. 😊
From channel 20 in Bethesda.
@@johnpendarvis7885 Yes! 😊
used to watch this film a lot, I still do. It became my main source of inspiration and a personal favorite.
I'm glad you like this movie and I hope you will consider buying the remastered Blu Ray version of THE ALIEN FACTOR from Amazon or eBay. The movie looks sharper than ever and the Blu Ray is also chock full of extras….including an audio commentary with fourteen voices on it from cast and crew members.
@@georgestover7360 thanks for putting the blu-Ray out! Never thought I would ever see it widescreen, much less looking as good as it does!
I was probably at the perfect age when I saw this... about 11 or 12 when it played on Galaxy Theater on Channel 41 Saturday night. Despite having watched plenty of *Twilight Zone* and *Outer Limits* episodes, I wasn’t too jaded as to expect anything (so those “typical boring alien attacks” were pretty scary for me). I also appreciated the twist, as it never occurred to me that he could have been an alien too (I thought the “telepathy scene” explained why he was able to defeat the monsters). It probably helped that I saw this before *Night of the Living Dead,* so the downer ending was still a bit shocking.
Regardless, thanks for putting it out there and not ruining the video with too much DNR! 😉😁
@@TheRealNormanBates Thanks for your nice comment. I'm glad you liked the Blu-Ray. It took a lot of work to edit the audio commentary and produce all those shorts. Very time consuming at my age!! LOL I don't know what DNR means, however, at the end of your comment.
@@TheRealNormanBates Thanks for your nice comment. I'm glad you liked the Blu Ray. It took a lot of hours and work to edit the audio commentary and do those short subjects. I'm not sure what DNR means except for "Department of Natural Resources." LOL
@@georgestover7360 it means “digital noise reduction”. In the early days of blu-Ray, most companies would use DNR to get rid of the film grain to create a clean, crisp image.
This worked well with some releases, like *High Plains Drifter,* but you had other releases on blu-Ray like *Near Dark* where so much DNR was used making the digital transfer that it took on a waxy, almost smeary look.
A lot of companies have either dialed the DNR down or stopped using it altogether. *The Giant Spider Invasion* blu-Ray is pretty guilty of using so much DNR all of the HD detail is almost scrubbed out.
While I do like a “little” bit of it when used sparingly, I prefer the detail over the artificially smoothed image.
TL;DR: I’m glad you didn’t tinker/mess around and screw up the video quality.
The second half actually looks pretty fun! Wish I had a typewriter that sounded like a historical battle.
I loved the story plot about capturing different aliens from around the universe
Many people have a fondness for this film, probably because they saw it on TV when they were younger. If you like this movie, you may want to buy the remastered Blu Ray version from Amazon or eBay. The movie looks sharper than ever! The Blu Ray is also chock full of extras….including an audio commentary with fourteen voices on it from cast and crew members.
We grew up with his films and we love them ty
Ahh, Don Dohler. My sister and i saw 'Fiend' as kids and used to talk about the 'Ready Brek Monster' with the red glow. This one looks just as genius.
I Love it! I always have since seeing it as a kid in the late 70's. I own the George Stover signed blu ray and I Love it!
Thanks. I saw this train wreck decades ago on late night TV, and thought it was just about the most ridiculous movie I'd ever seen. The zoo angle is pretty interesting. But the 'I'm also an alien' thing was handled (a little bit) better 9 years later in *_The Hidden._* tavi.
Laser blast had a pretty cool alien
I love this movie the same way I love "Plan 9 From Outer Space."
I still have a "Famous Monsters of Filmland" issue with the cover of the alien from The Alien Factor. I didn't see the film until many years later. The film is indeed hokey but I love it. Call it dumb and cheesy but it has something that today's horror films don't have - atmosphere!
I have that same issue!
Bought that issue as a kid at Safeway.
Creepy looking aliens.
I've certainly used manual typewriters that sound like the Battle of the Somme!
The 2001 sequel, Alien Rampage is on RUclips.
Cinematic Titanic is the best filter to enjoy this movie through.
“It’s Three Dog Night!”
Priceless. This is my go-to movie for riff laughs.
Wow !...That cop's wig looks really realistic, not at all too big, too thick or improperly parted.
I watched this movie on Amazon Prime a few nights ago. I really liked it, but then again I'm a sucker for super low budget so bad they're good movies.
Damn, Don Dohler....I used to have "Fiend" on VHS, and was fascinated at how cheap it felt. Again, an interesting idea, but...
I am in love with this film. I have it on DVD and I watch it regularly along with most of Dohlers filmography (He`s one of my favorite Director/Writer). I would love to see Robin review Don Dohlers last film before his death, it`s called "Alien Factor 2"!
Laser Blast has GREAT aliens
I've always liked this movie, even though I can admit that it's not very good. I first learned about it when I bought an issue of Famous Monsters of Filmland with the final alien on the cover. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see it until many years later.
I love your reviews of these really low budget bad films. Some I've seen and a few I really have to look up.
It's been Years since you did a DD film. But everyone needs to catch their breath between arduous experiences.
I love this movie because of the monster/alien design. They look very original. I wish modern alien movies were more creative instead of giving us the same "grey skin, big eyes" or Giger-insipred designs over and over
The Brain (1988) had a cool monster
We watched this when I was a kid. We were sad when the good alien got killed. 😢
“Took it out back, chained it up & shot it in the head”. I’m listening at work with earbuds & folks wonder why I’m laughing 😂
Don Dohlers' masterpiece, especially the bar band.
It is what it is, it's funny and quarky. Loved it
The actor who played the mayor was ''Dick Dyszel''. Dyszel not only had parts in several of ''Don Dohler's'' films...But he was also a well known (Washington D.C TV personality) during the 1970s and 80s.
i love this movie
The mayor (4:56) is portrayed by Dick Dyszel, Creature Feature horror host (Washington D.C.). RUclips: Count Gore De Vol
@John Herkert That's right! Dick Dyszel was also the local ''Bozo the Clown'' on WDXR-TV in Paducah, Kentucky. Prior to him getting hired by WDCA and then moving to Washington in 1972.
Hilarity From Beyond Our Galaxy From Dark Corners! Many Thanks For All Your Hard Work!
Good Alien, Bad Movie? I think that Tor Johnson has a genuinely creepy look in Plan 9 From Outer Space, a fact somewhat reaffirmed by the popular Halloween mask that came from same film.
I would watch this movie, then act it out. I lived in Utah so the snow was perfect. Miss being a kid.
ThAt animal thing reminds me of the some kind of battle ship line repeated in the giant claw. Can that be considered a trope?
I had this near exact same idea of the zoological alien spaceship crash except it was set in Russia at the Tunguska impact. An international team is sent to investigate the crash via a dirigable and find a massive spaceship with a bunch of weird alien animals some of them which had escaped. Didn't get much further than that.
Hay question does this guy do tripy sci-fi films think this one would be good
time after time
Aaaaaaah! The spawn of CINEMAGIC Magazine!
Hilarious film. I watched it last night.
I remember this movie got a lot of ink after it came out. A magazine for low budget did big article of the costumes from this flick. Plus during the big video boom of the early 80's this movie showed up in every Mom & Pop video store.
This movie is a neat visual feast.
I saw this on KTLA 5 back in the 80s. My reaction was "I want to go back to Az".
KPHO 5 in Phoenix had better scifi.
Sweet typewriter noise!
The creature looks like the god monster with less fluff
This “review” actually made me chuckle quite a bit. It had a reasonable amount of levity to its delivery. But, as usual with this type of negative recognition, I'm left scratching my head.
I carefully listen to the babble and read all the comments, after which I'm left wondering, "How many of these peeps are viewers rather than doers?"
Certainly, some of them have made a movie, if only a short. If they have not, they should probably hold their technical critiques, at least. If they have, they certainly should be aware of the challenges of an extremely low budget, first time effort. With that in mind, here's my take-away:
I knew Don Dohler well, and can attest to the fact that he was not a fool. He knew exactly what he was going to tackle and how difficult it would be. All the phone calls, cajoling, assembly of bodies involved in the film, scratching for enough to buy film stock, -- yes, I said FILM, not video tape -- working around bad weather, arranging for the quickest processing possible, running rushes through the Moviola late into the night, and on and on. Even Don was fully aware of how Grade Z this movie was. But the real deal is this -- he had the stones to go for it!!!
How many might have stumped their own growth in a career because they just didn't have the STONES? By the way, have you met JJ Abrams, the Producer/Co-Producer of just about EVERY DAMN THING??? He lauds Dohler for giving him his first job. They both had the STONES!
I'm not thrilled about much of my so-called acting in the film, but I'm very happy that I did the Alien Factor. It was a learning experience I have used in many positive ways -- excluding my questionable “acting” logic in the following Nightbeast, however. (grin)
The better take-away might be that this tiny, no-budget shot still has legs some 41 years later -- there might just be something to taking a chance. Go for it!
Oh yes, and, of course, there are all the wonderful friends I made that have endured the same 41 years -- can't buy that!
We recently filmed a review of Nightbeast where we address this (a little) and are working on a larger piece about Roger Corman (having reviewed many of his films) that covers the similar topics to what you discussed. We also have an extended chat about all the films we review on Patreon where get a little deeper into the films and people behind them. I assume you have seen "Blood Boobs and Beast" if not, go check it out.
@@DarkCornersReviews thank you for the reply and the acknowledgement.
Thanks for the work on *The Alien Factor!* If you like, please read my reply to George Stover (on Night Factor Film’s post).
Maybe it is on the low budget side of things, but I’ll always enjoy it, childhood memories and all.
i haven't seen this since i was a kid now i know it's name.
"Devil Girl from Mars" -- not a particularly good film, but the alien woman was beautiful, sinister and novel.
Consider doing a top ten list of movies that use the same line multiple times with a montage and count. The giant claw bring The most egregious of it.
Please review Dracula 3D by Dario Argento.
Big animal, large animal, wild animal, some sort of animal. Can Anyone be more specific!??
Lon Chaney Jr? Cool. Too bad I came here too late.
Zack played by Tom Rush.
Please could you do either Machine Gun Kelly (1958) or the ST Louis Bank Robbery (1959)
Hahhahaha!! I saw this movie about 20 years ago and I don't remember it being this bad!
The typewriter is awesome.
2:22 that’s Donny himself isn’t it?
🎉
The characters in this look just like the ones in Nightbeast...
Don Dohler did a hell of a lot with a $6,000 .
Bad movie, good aliens? Laserblast!
DARK CORNERS You want a bad movie with cool aliens & zombies? Try CREATURE, aka TITAN FIND
you shuld do 3 dev abam (tirkish spider man )
the Mustache from Space.......
3,000 sub coming soon...;-p
We expect to it within days.
Can you look at king Cobra PS what is your favorite monsters movie :-)
Does 'The Thing' count?
An alien in a track suit. Really? Did he buy it here on earth or on altair?
The Prequel to John carpenters the thing kind of has this plot
Only the pilite and the other to creatures died
Holy fuck, the same actors in every movie.
The plot is kind of like laser blast sept the creature was a criminal
Starship Invasions doesn’t even have any interesting aliens, just humanoids, big heads & Christopher Lee in a onesie with a funny hat.
:48 Dohler doesn't know anything about proper lighting of a scene either
Lighting and sound (and usually acting, let's be honest) always give the amateurs away.
Those idiot humans should wake up at the end of the film to realize they have been transported into the latest exhibit for the interstellar zoo - especially the writer. It would have been fitting for Ron Serling to appear and ask, "Was this really about escaped exotic animals or a test to flush out the most deserving humans to be sent off to a zoo? You decide."
Of course WTF do you expect dude this is do it yourself 80s backyard grade Z sci fi ! there is no need for Oscar award winning acting yes everything is bad and that's why they are good and that's the main reason we love them hail DH
Were I an extra-terrestrial alien and managed to find out what jerks Terrans are about minor differences in appearance, I'd make myself appear to be whatever color human is in the majority where I'll have to work.
Zach looks a little like avery schriver
I think the typewriter sounds like a low budget Kung Fu movie !
THE INTRUDER WITHIN had a neat monster stuck in a boring movie.
"Badly acted, horrendously edited, and written by someone who has never heard people talk." In short, it's a DOHLER!
All true film experts agree that The Alien Factor makes The Godfather or Citizen Kane look like crap. The Factor was brutally snubbed by the Oscars. 😠
It's a Don Dobler film and that makes this both brilliant and awful
1st
Farmageddon.