''InAlienable'' is a 2007

science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interstellar ...

with horror and comic elements, written and executive produced by

Walter Koenig Walter Marvin Koenig (; born September 14, 1936) is an American actor and screenwriter. He began acting professionally in the mid 1960s and quickly rose to prominence for his supporting role as Ensign Pavel Chekov in ''Star Trek: The Original S ...

, and directed by Robert Dyke. It was the first collaboration of Koenig and Dyke since their 1989 production of ''

Moontrap ''Moontrap'' is an American 1989 science fiction film from Magic Films. Written by Tex Ragsdale and directed by Robert Dyke, it was released on April 28 at WorldFest Houston. A comic book adaptation, featuring the film's production notes, was rel ...

''. Koenig said that "the story really involves that relationship between the human being and the alien. At first, it's assumed that the alien sa parasite growing in a host, but because it has some of the human DNA, it's significantly more than that. Even though it comes from another world, it's a part of our world. Really, it's a love story."

Plot

Dr. Eric Norris remains wracked with guilt after a terrible tragedy that cost him his family, and when he learns that an alien parasite is not only growing inside him but shares his DNA, he develops a fiercely paternal bond with the creature. The alien "might regenerate into a surrogate son to replace his own child who was lost years earlier." Koenig plays the

antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the chief foe of the protagonist. Etymology The English word antagonist comes from the Greek ἀνταγωνιστής – ''antagonistēs'', "opponent, competitor, villain, enemy, riv ...

, a scientific research institute administrator who dislikes Norris because he had been mutually in love with Norris's wife, who died; he blames Norris for his own now bleak life and enjoys insulting him. Norris, new love interest Amanda, and attorney Howard Ellis must defend the new child, Benjamin, from being imprisoned by government forces or, worse, destroyed. The courtroom trial covers such issues as

habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...

and

miscegenation Miscegenation ( ) is the interbreeding of people who are considered to be members of different races. The word, now usually considered pejorative, is derived from a combination of the Latin terms ''miscere'' ("to mix") and ''genus'' ("race") ...

. At first horrified by the growth within him, Eric Norris comes to love the child that he "gives birth to" and names Benjamin. When a court trial begins to take Benjamin away from him, all sorts of arguments are raised about the real meaning of the word "alien." A disturbed man, Emil (

Andrew Koenig Joshua Andrew Koenig (; August 17, 1968 – February 16, 2010) was an American character actor, film director, editor, writer, and human rights activist. He was known for his role as Richard "Boner" Stabone in ''Growing Pains''. Early ...

, Walter Koenig's son), brings a gun into the courtroom and shoots Benjamin, to the loss of all concerned.

Cast

... Dr. Shilling *

Alan Ruck Alan Douglas Ruck (born July 1, 1956) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Cameron Frye, Ferris Bueller's best friend, in John Hughes's film ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' (1986); Stuart Bondek, a lecherous, power-hungry member of ...

... Dr. Proway *

Bonnie Aarons Bonnie Aarons is an American actress and writer. She is best known for her roles as the bum in ''Mulholland Drive'' (2001), Baroness Joy von Troken in ''The Princess Diaries'' (2001) and its sequel, '' The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement'' ...

... Blue Skinned Woman *

Marina Sirtis Marina Sirtis (; born 29 March 1955) is a British actress. She is best known for her role as Counselor Deanna Troi on the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' and four ''Star Trek'' feature films, as well as other appearances ...

... Attorney Barry *

Erick Avari Erick Avari (born Nariman Nariman Erach Avari; 13 April 1952) is an Indian-American actor whose roles in science-fiction and action productions include ''Stargate'' (1994), '' Independence Day'' (1996), and ''The Mummy'' (1999). Early life E ...

... Howard Ellis *

Courtney Peldon Courtney Peldon (born April 13, 1981) is an American television and film actress. Early life and education Peldon was born in New York City, New York. Her younger sister Ashley is also an actress. Both she and Ashley became involved in the ent ...

... Amanda Mayfield *

Patricia Tallman Patricia J. Tallman (born September 4, 1957) is an American actress, stunt performer, and studio executive best known for her starring roles in ''Night of the Living Dead'', '' Star Trek'' and ''Babylon 5''. She is the former CEO and executive ...

... Dr. Klein * Richard Hatch ... Eric Norris *

... Emil *

Gary Graham Gary Graham (born June 6, 1950) is an American actor, musician, and author. He may be best known for his starring role as Detective Matthew Sikes in the television series ''Alien Nation'' (1989–1990) and five subsequent ''Alien Nation'' televi ...

... Andreas Cabrosas *Priscilla Garita ... Miriam *

Jay Acovone Jay Acovone (born August 20, 1955) is an American actor. Among his most famous roles is Charles Kawalsky in the TV series Stargate SG-1. Personal life Acovone was born in New York City. His family later moved to Mahopac, New York where his par ...

... Gerhard *Gabriel Pimentel ... Benjamin (younger) *

Lisa LoCicero Lisa LoCicero (born April 18, 1970) is an American actress, known for her role as Sonia Toledo in ABC soap opera ''One Life to Live'' and Olivia Falconeri in another ABC soap opera ''General Hospital''. Career Her first notable role was Jocelyn ...

... Dr. Magee *

Randy Barnett Randy Evan Barnett (born February 5, 1952) is an American legal scholar. He serves as the Patrick Hotung Professor of Constitutional Law at Georgetown University, where he teaches constitutional law and contracts, and is the director of the Georg ...

... Richard Herd *Jarrett Grode ... Medical Employee *Philip Anthony-Rodriguez ... Braxton *

J. G. Hertzler John Garman Hertzler Jr. (born March 18, 1950) is an American actor, author, screenwriter, and activist best known for his role on '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' as the Klingon General (later Chancellor) Martok, whom he portrayed from 1995 unt ...

... Dr. Lattis *Judy Levitt ... Judge Deville *Jeff Rector ... Professor Jeffries *Johnny Drocco ... Security guard #2 *Gelbert Coloma ... FBI *Robert Olding ... Medical Assistant #1 *Amanda Chism ... Protestor *Vitaliy Versace ... Restaurant Patron *Ceilidh Lamont ... Lawyer *Anthony Fitzgerald ... Zachary - in Court Room *Frances Emma Jenkins ... Lab Worker *Kyle Robertson ... Press Photographer #2 *James Runcorn ... Bailiff *Jennifer Gabbert ... Hospital Employee #1 *Brandon Ford Green ... Court Clerk *Jett Patrick ... Adam *Matt Lasky ... Burly Medical Tech *George Anton ... Restaurant Patron *Bruce Van Patten ... Courtroom observer *Shweta Thakur ... Bar Customer *Jeremy Clark ... Protester *Bradley Laise ... Benjamin (older) *Patrick Gough ... Security #1 *Paul Danner ... Sci-Fi Guard *Peter Renaud ... Labworker *Jonah Runcorn ... 10 Year Old Boy *Marvin Rouillard ... Important Man *Jett Patrick Williams ... Adam *Ashley Walsh ... Nurse *Oliver Rayon ... Courtroom Patron *Bob Ross ... Court Observer *Noe Sanchez ... Janitor *Zahra Zaveri ... Bar Customer *Jane O'Gorman ... Bar Patron *Giovanna Silvestre ... Laboratory Employee *

Tim Russ Timothy Darrell Russ (born June 22, 1956) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, and musician. He is best known for his roles as Lieutenant Commander Tuvok on '' Star Trek: Voyager'', Robert Johnson in ''Crossroads'' (1986), Casey in '' E ...

... news anchor

Production

The screenplay was written by Walter Koenig of the original ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

'' series. He told '' Starburst'' magazine that he was watching the 2000 World Series with friends, one of whom had appeared in ''

The Blob ''The Blob'' is a 1958 American science fiction horror film directed by Irvin Yeaworth, and written by Kay Linaker and Theodore Simonson. It stars Steve McQueen (in his first feature film leading role) and Aneta Corsaut and co-stars Earl Rowe a ...

''. "We proceeded to have other conversations along the way about making a film that, at least initially, began the same way as ''The Blob'', with something landing from outer space. And I really took it from there." He told interviewer Chris Wood (who identifies the friend as Anthony Franke), "I wanted to examine the intensity of familial bonding. That was one thing. I also wanted to explore the concept of

civil Civil may refer to: *Civic virtue, or civility *Civil action, or lawsuit * Civil affairs *Civil and political rights *Civil disobedience *Civil engineering *Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism *Civilian, someone not a membe ...

and

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

. But the actual event that sat me down at the computer was when two friends of mine who didn't know each other joined me to watch the New York Yankees play in the World Series back in 2001. My friend Tony Franke had been in the original film of ''The Blob'' (1958) and Sky Conway had always been a big fan of the movie. Inspired by Tony's stories, Sky confessed to always wanting to shoot a film about a meteor landing with an alien presence aboard. I holed myself up in my room and took it from there." It took Koenig a decade to bring the film to fruition. He initially wrote the lead role for himself, but reevaluated his view "that the audience would buy me as a romantic interest", and offered it to ''

Battlestar Galactica ''Battlestar Galactica'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The franchise began with the Battlestar Galactica (1978 TV series), original television series in 1978, and was followed by a short-run sequel se ...

's'' Richard Hatch.Interview: Walter Koenig (Writer/Producer of ''InAlienable'')
ScreenStar movie news He also considered playing attorney Ellis: "In retrospect, I might have had a great deal of fun playing the lawyer — which, I have to admit, Erick Avari so brilliantly played — but I love comedy and I think maybe I could've brought something to it." He chose the role of antagonist Dr. Schilling instead: "I've played heavies before — I had a recurring role on '' Babylon Five'' as one — so I'm not unfamiliar with emotional mechanisms and mechanics that go along with it." Hatch talked about why he accepted the role: "It was very character-driven. It was about people and relationships. It wasn't

ust UST or Ust may refer to: Organizations * UST (company), American digital technology company * Equatorial Guinea Workers' Union * Union of Trade Unions of Chad (Union des Syndicats du Tchad) * United States Television Manufacturing Corp. * UST Gr ...

about some monster or strange creature; it was about human beings having to deal with very morally conflicted situations. I wasn't choosing ''InAlienable'' because it was a science-fiction piece, although I love science fiction. I was choosing it, as I choose any movie that I go watch, because it was about something meaningful. It was about real people having to struggle with issues that all of us have to face in our lives." Marina Sirtis of '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' and other familiar actors from sci-fi franchises were also willing to participate. Koenig's wife, son and daughter had roles on screen. It was shot on location in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

. It is the first feature film made by Renegade Studios, and was released over the internet on a

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...

basis."InAlienable" Set for Release
PRWeb,com, November 12, 2007 The film's debut public screening was cut short by Koenig, as the visual quality on the screen at ''Conglomeration! 2008'' was not up to his standards.

Release

This

direct-to-DVD Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...

film made its debut on the Internet on a

basis; it premiered online on December 15, 2008 with a nominal $2.99 fee charged for watching it.

Cultural allusions

* ''

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation ...

'' - Shilling says, "Norris's friend found a foreign organism attached to a piece of the meteor, and he gave it to him. According to what Norris told him, the thing has gotten inside of him and is growing at an accelerated pace. Norris believes that it is some sort of alien parasite that's determined to free itself and, in the process, kill him." Gerhard, a government scientist, wonders, "Didn't I see this on ''X-Files''?" * Attorney Ellis says to Amanda, "I know there're aliens out there. At least, I'm pretty sure there're aliens out there. I mean, how else would you explain

Andy Kaufman Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman ( ; January 17, 1949 – May 16, 1984) was an American entertainer and performance artist. While often called a "comedian", Kaufman preferred to describe himself instead as a "song and dance man". He has sometimes b ...

Jim Carrey James Eugene Carrey (; born January 17, 1962) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian and artist. Known for his energetic slapstick performances, Carrey first gained recognition in 1990, after landing a role in the American sketch comedy te ...

?" *

Newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

s - Ellis, advising a letter-writing campaign to protect Benjamin, urges, "Avoid the tabloids at all costs. Especially ''The World'', '' The Globe'', and that rag, ''The Star''." While Koenig likely was using typical tabloid-type titles, ''The World'' might refer to ''

News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling En ...

'' or ''

World In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

'', and ''The Star'' likely refers to

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...

's ''

The Star ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

''. In the same conversation, Ellis refers to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'', and ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

''. *

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

Totalitarianism Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and reg ...

- Ellis asks the judge, "Would anyone dare suggest that the United States government has the right to detain, to conduct experiments on, and deprive a child the love and comfort of a parent just because he's different? What does that sound like to you, your Honor? Do I have to click my boots to make the point?" *

The Elephant Man Joseph Carey Merrick (5 August 1862 – 11 April 1890), often erroneously called John Merrick, was an English man known for having severe deformities. He was first exhibited at a freak show under the stage name "the Elephant Man" and then we ...

- Attorney Barry argues in court that "the Elephant Man was a human being... This creature is not a human being, not even remotely." * ''

Ozymandias "Ozymandias" ( ) is a sonnet written by the English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822). It was first published in the 11 January 1818 issue of '' The Examiner'' of London. The poem was included the following year in Shelley's co ...

'' - Attorney Barry quotes

Percy Bysshe Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley ( ; 4 August 17928 July 1822) was one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame during his lifetime, but recognition of his achie ...

's poem in court: "Would you want this thing crawling around out there? Would you want this thing marry your families? Look on my work, you mighty, and despair!"

Reception

The film received mixed reviews. The website Brutal As Hell wrote that the movie is "a film cheesier than a Kraft dairy farm and far more likable than it has any right to be," while faulting it for being "preachy, corny and overlong, with a shameless heart-string yanking climax." ''

Home Media Magazine ''Home Media Magazine'' was a trade publication that covered various aspects of the home entertainment industry, most notably home video distribution via VHS, DVD, Blu-ray, and digital copy. The magazine also covered news relating to consumer el ...

'' wrote, "Like an episode of '' The Outer Limits'', the story veers from expectations, merging traditional sci-fi motifs with the framework of a conventional

courtroom drama A legal drama is a genre of film and television that generally focuses on narratives regarding legal practice and the justice system. The American Film Institute (AFI) defines "courtroom drama" as a genre of film in which a system of justice play ...

... It's more thought-provoking than typical 'B'-movie fare, even if the proceedings are a bit hackneyed." ''

Total Sci-Fi Online ''Dreamwatch'' was a British magazine covering science fiction and fantasy films, books and television programmes. Published monthly by Gary Leigh (July 1983 to January 2001) and then Titan Magazines (2001 to 2007), it was a leading genre entert ...

'' granted only 1 star out of 10, saying, "At the core of ''InAlienable'' is an idea around which a terrific movie could be made, but unfortunately this isn't it." The website

DVD Verdict DVD Verdict was a judicial-themed website for DVD reviews. The site was founded in 1999. The editor-in-chief was Michael Stailey, who owned the website between 2004 and 2016, and the site employed a large editorial staff of critics, whose reviews ...

wrote, "A courtroom thriller masquerading as a sci-fi drama, ''InAlienable'' is an intriguing effort with higher acting caliber than one might expect... ''InAlienable'' is far from groundbreaking cinema, but Koenig plays around with a lot of interesting ideas and themes. Not only does he play the slimy Schilling with tang, he also builds up his story well, keeping us hooked most of the way... What anchors the film is Hatch's powerful performance, but Peldon also makes a strong impression as his partner and lover."

References

External links

InAlienable official website
*{{IMDb title, 1027874
InAlienable Original Soundtrack by Justin R. Durban
2008 horror films 2008 films American science fiction horror films 2000s science fiction horror films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films