''The Alien Factor'' is a 1978
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
horror film written, edited, produced, and directed by
Don Dohler. The film centers on a small town that is besieged by three
aliens that have crash-landed in the nearby forest.
Plot
A
spaceship crashes in a sparsely populated area of
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
and three horrific
aliens survive the accident. The grotesque extraterrestrials soon begin to terrorize the local residents, until one intrepid soul chooses to fight back.
Cast
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Don Leifert as Ben Zachary
* Tom Griffith as Sheriff Cinder
* Richard Dyszel as Mayor Wicker
* Mary Mertens as Edie Martin
* Richard Geiwitz as Pete
* George Stover as Steven
* Eleanor Herman as Mary Jane Carter
* Anne Frith as Dr. Ruth Sherman
Larry Schlechter and John Cosentino starred as the Inferbyce and Zagatile aliens respectively.
Production
''The Alien Factor'' was filmed in 1972 and was shelved for six years before it was finally released theatrically on May 1, 1978.
Release
Home Media
The film was released on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
by Retromedia Entertainment on February 26, 2002.
Image Entertainment
RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 34 ...
released the film on November 15, 2005 as a part of its Don Dohler Collection. It was last released by Mill Creek Entertainment on July 19, 2011.
Reception
''
TV Guide
TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news.
The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008.
Corpora ...
'' awarded the film a negative two out of five stars calling it "silly", also writing, "Only the undiscriminating will be able to sit through this one".
Dave Sindelar on his film review website ''Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings'' criticized the film's acting as "non-existent when it isn’t bad" and direction, which Sindelar equated to being "inspired by
Larry Buchanan
Larry Buchanan (January 31, 1923 − December 2, 2004), born Marcus Larry Seale Jr., was a film director, producer and writer, who proclaimed himself a " schlockmeister". Many of his extremely low-budget films have landed on "worst movie" lists o ...
" and concluded that the film would only be of interest for bad movie fanatics.
''Critical Outcast'' gave the film a negative review writing, "''The Alien Factor'' is undeniably bad, but it does have a certain energy to it, credit for a guy who went out and just did it. I would not really recommend you go out of your way for it. It is not a good movie, just admirable for the conditions under which it was made."
''
VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever
MusicHound (sometimes stylized as musicHound) was a compiler of genre-specific music guides published in the United States by Visible Ink Press between 1996 and 2002. After publishing eleven album guides, the MusicHound series was sold to London-b ...
'' awarded the film one and a half out of four bones, noting that the film had "decent special effects".
Sequels
The film titled ''The Alien Factor 2: Alien Rampage'' was not actually a sequel. The sequel-sounding title was chosen by Retromedia distributor Fred Olen Ray to market the film on DVD in 2002. The original title for ''The Alien Factor 2'' was ''Alien Rampage''. ''Alien Rampage'' was filmed in 1999 and was Don Dohler's comeback movie after an 11-year hiatus from filmmaking.
References
External links
TheAlienFactor.com– Official site
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Alien Factor, The
Alien invasions in films
American independent films
1978 films
1978 horror films
American science fiction horror films
Films about extraterrestrial life
Films shot in Baltimore
1970s English-language films
1970s science fiction horror films
1970s monster movies
1978 independent films
Films directed by Don Dohler
1970s American films