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Film: Humanoids from Outer Space
Year: 2018
Director: Siôn Griffiths
Writer: Siôn Griffiths
Starring: Kayley Roberts, Emily Jane Roberts and Joe Foot
Review:
This short film I checked out when writer/director Siôn Griffiths reached out asking if I’d be willing to review it. I came into it blind, but he did inform me this was actually released on YouTube as a series of shorts that together make the version I watched.
We start this film with someone who looks to be an astronaut. He is moving along with a stick and is poking at things.
It then cuts to Wales, where we have two couples. There is Bobby Joe (Kayley Roberts), Mary Jane (Emily Jane Roberts), Will (Joe Foot) and John (Arwel Bullock). A meteorite crashes and two of them go to check it out. They touch it and are turned into creatures with murderous intentions.
In the United States, Dr. Wood (Jamie Alexander) tells two FBI agents about where it crashed. Agent Lugosi (Dan Papia) is sent there to secure it and bring it back. This is much easier said than done.
The first thing that struck me is that this is a throw back to the 1950’s B-movie, sci-fi films. I’m not the biggest fan of them, but I do find them somewhat enjoyable. I have to give this film credit in that it makes the footage look old. It is shot pretty much in black and white, but not in the traditional sense. It is quite over the top as well, fitting it into that motif.
Something else I really liked about the film is the back-story that is filled in by Dr. Wood. I’m a big fan of alternative universes. This film gives the ‘true’ reasons for all of the wars. I found this to be quite interesting. There are some logical arguments that could be made with this for sure. This is definitely one of the strongest parts of the film.
Pacing for the film was pretty solid as well. Being that it was a short, there wasn’t a lot of time and they didn’t pad the film. It moves at a pretty good pace and it kept me interested. The ending was a little bit outrageous, but it was fitting for the film for sure.
The acting for this film is hard to judge, because they are parodying the films of the past. They are going over the top, but that actually fits the tone of the film. I thought all of the people that first see the meteorite were fine. My personal favorite performance is Alexander. I thought his character and the knowledge he shares was good. He was one of the only intelligent characters in the film. The other one I liked was the Chief (Iago McGuire). He plays his role over the top, but I liked his character.
Something else I won’t judge too harshly was the effects. The film was made with a small budget, so they worked with what they had. I do believe there looked to be possible green screen, which I’m not the biggest fan of. The costumes for the people that have turned were funny to me. That really made me think of the film’s this is parodying. The guns they have are clearly toys as well. This also made me chuckle, but the effects to make them seem real was lacking a bit. I did really like how the film looked though, as it seems this was possible filmed back in the day.
Now with that said, this is a fun film that is parodying the sci-fi horror films of the past. I thought it actually has an interesting story and reasoning behind why there are wars. It is paced well and moves at a good rate throughout. The acting is a bit over the top and some of the effects are cheesy, but that really just adds to what the film is trying to do. I did like how the film was shot and looked. The score was solid for what they were going for as well. If this sounds like a film that that’s up your alley, I’d recommend giving it a viewing. I found this to be slightly above average effort.
To watch the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LJU6uM81h4
My Rating: 6 out of 10