THE ALIEN FACTOR (1978)

One of two films I've seen by the Baltimore-based DIY filmmaker Don Dohler, this one is less painful than 1985's The Galaxy Invader. But that's not saying much.

The plot: a spaceship carrying specimens for an interplanetary zoo crashes near a small town in rural Maryland. Soon, people start turning up mutilated. One Benjamin Zachary (Don Leifert) turns up, claiming to represent a nearby observatory, and promises to hunt down and kill the aliens. In the hands of professional filmmakers, and with a budget higher than one of my net paychecks, that premise could have made for a decent sci-fi movie. Instead, it made for this one—a 16mm calamity with relentlessly grainy photography.

Even at 80 minutes, the film is rife with padding. There's plenty of footage of characters walking (and walking and walking) through the woods while vexatious Moog music blares on the soundtrack. There's also a scene in a bar featuring a fifth-rate rock trio and two female fans go-go dancing like they're on Quaaludes. The cast, composed entirely of greenhorns, delivers their lines in a fashion straight out of the “What Not To Do At Your First Audition” school. And the female characters spend way too much time screaming.

As to the aliens: one is a humanoid insect whose costume, I've read, was made by spray-painting cardboard with enamel. The second is a Bigfoot-like furball, except with tiny little feet (I'm guessing stilts). The third is a surprisingly well-executed stop-motion reptile monster with destructive psychic powers. Finally, there's the dying pilot of the downed spaceship, who for some odd reason is dressed in a jogging suit.

Still, for its many flaws, The Alien Factor exuded a raw energy and homespun enthusiasm that captivated me. Try as I might, I simply cannot hate this film. Still, I could have done without all those goddamned walking scenes!