The Alien Factor (USA, 1978) 80 min color DIR-PROD-SCR-CO-EDITOR: Don Dohler. MUSIC: Kenneth Walker. DOP: Britt McDonough. CAST: Tom Griffith, Don Leifert, Richard Dyszel, Mary Mertens, Richard Geiwitz, George Stover, Anne Frith. (Cinemagic Visual Effects)
This delightful $6000 wonder launched the directorial career of Don Dohler, whose micro-budgeted films nonetheless had impressive special effects and the “golly gee” enthusiasm of the 50s sci-fi that no doubt influenced him. It also began his association with a stock company he’d employ several times: a mustached character player Don Leifert, who faintly resembles Russ Tamblyn during his Al Adamson days; Richard Dyszel, better known as the TV horror host Count Gore De Vol; and of course, the versatile George Stover, who would appear in roles big and small for all of Dohler’s films. (Stover was also a familiar face in films by fellow Baltimore resident, John Waters!)
Overworked Sheriff Cinder (Tom Griffith, with a 70s porn moustache), is baffled by mysterious killings. Meanwhile, he is at odds with Mayor Wicker (Dyszel, overacting to the nth degree), who is afraid these murders will give their (fictitious) town of Perry Hill a bad name, especially when negotiations are being made to bring in a multi-million dollar complex. Dr. Ruth Sherman (Anne Frith, another Dohler regular) and her nephew Steven (Stover) determine that an animal did not commit these strange killings. In walks the mysterious Ben Zachary (Leifert), from the nearby observatory. He and the mayor go the hills to investigate where the former said a meteor crashed the other night. They discover a crashed spacecraft, and its alien occupant thrown clear onto the ground. Before the alien dies, he communicates telepathically with Zachary that his three zoo specimens escaped from the craft and are now roaming about!
Although the film was made on a shoestring, the special effects are quite impressive. (Still, it’s one of those movies where things explode offscreen.) Writer-director-producer-co-editor Don Dohler wisely put most of the money into makeup and post-production. In true DIY fashion, each of the three alien costumes was worn by its own creator- one of them the film’s cinematographer, Britt McDonough- his only feature! In this diverse rogues gallery we have the insect-like Inferbyce, the tall hairy Zagatile with five-foot-high legs (this is the creature that is found in someone’s basement!), and most impressively. the semi-translucent lizard-like Leemoid.
As Dohler had recounted many times, The Alien Factor had begun while staring down at death. On his thirtieth birthday, the office in which he was working was held up by bandits, and after having had a gun at his head, knowing he could have died that day, he realized how short life was, and decided to leave another mark in his career by making a movie. The Alien Factor wins appeal alone for having its heart in the right place. This enthusiastic tribute to 50s sci-fi has a lot of fun monsters and creative visual ideas, but also utilizes the “man, woman, scientist” archetypes found in the genre. The female protagonist of this piece is an ambitious young reporter Edie Martin (Mary Mertens) who is always snooping her way into the proceedings, and is reminiscent of the precocious, wisecracking females in the films of Howard Hawks who prove themselves among the boys.
To be sure, most of the cast isn’t in Oscar competition, but there is almost a documentary-like authenticity to this picture, as Dohler lets his fellow Baltimore residents simply act like themselves. As such, this becomes a snapshot of 1970s working-class Baltmore one wouldn’t see in the works of natives John Waters or Barry Levinson. Watering holes like the Anir Lounge (which feature glam bands like local talent Atlantis, plugging their 45 release of “Maybe Someday” and “Jump Back Crackerjack”), woody wagons, wicker furniture and hanging planters, with a cast of everyday people all strike familiar chords with the viewer. We are vicariously seeing snapshots of our collective pasts—we could be the people in this movie, and by the same token, we too could have made this.
Similar zero-budget pictures in the decade, like The Milpitas Monster and The Day It Came to Earth win appeal as infectious homages to 1950s sci-fi. However, The Alien Factor stands apart from other homegrown products because a lot of genuine craft went into its making. The movie is exciting to watch because Dohler the director knowingly gave Dohler the editor a lot of coverage to make a fast moving, economical picture. In addition to the impressive creatures, the mood of this little marvel is sustained by a neat electronic score by Kenneth Walker (Dohler’s early films all have a throbbing moog score to set the tone). The Alien Factor was made available to DVD, and a limited edition Blu-ray, by Retromedia, and also appears on Mill Creek’s 50-movie pack sets, Sci-Fi Invasion and Killer Creature Features.
Updated from a review originally featured in Vol. #1, Issue #22, “Cheap Horror Movies …and Why We Love Them”.
Greg Woods
Greg Woods has been a film enthusiast since his teens, and began his writing "career" at the same time- prolific in capsule reviews of everything he had watched, first on index cards, then those hardcover dollar store black journals, then an old Mac IIsi. He founded The Eclectic Screening Room in 2001, as a portal to share his film love with the world, and find some like-minded enthusiasts along the way. In addition to having worked in the film industry for over two decades, he has been a co-programmer of films at Trash Palace, and a programmer/co-founder of the Toronto Film Noir Syndicate. He has also written for Broken Pencil, CU-Confidential, Micro-Film, and is currently working on his first novel. His secret desire is for someone to interview him for a podcast or a DVD extra.