Alien Raiders and Alien Psychosis – not your usual “alien” movies

Who says you need aliens, UFOs, laser guns, and anal probing in a movie with the word “alien” in the title? Although the anal probing is what keeps me coming back for more.

The lack of big bug-eyed guys dancing to Meco’s disco version of the Close Encounters theme gives this double feature room to enter the horror realm rather than stay stuck in sci-fi prison. It also saves a whole lot of money on special effects…

ALIEN RAIDERS (2008)

alien raiders cover

This tight little indie focuses on folks trapped and terrorized in a grocery store, just not exactly by aliens.

alien raiders keith

They are held captive by a rogue group of gun-toting scientists that believes a secret species of aliens is walking among them in human form that must be revealed and destroyed.

alien raiders read

This means using any means necessary to determine if the hostages are human or not.

alien raiders finger cut
“Let’s see you try to anal probe us now, bitch!”

Luscious Mathew St. Patrick—David’s boyfriend Keith on Six Feet Under—is the local sheriff, overseeing the standoff from outside the store. Why the hell did his career not take off after Six Feet Under ended?

alien raiders six feet under keith

In a way, this is a simplified version of the Alien or The Thing concepts.

alien raiders dissect

There’s no telling who can really be trusted because someone has something foreign growing inside them. And when it eventually shows itself…EEK!

alien raiders monster

This is just good old fashioned freaky mutant human goodness, with no traditional alien concepts to make it cliché, even if you do see the twist coming from a mile away.

ALIEN PSYCHOSIS (aka: Alone We Are Not) (2018)

alien psychosis cover

This one has been on my “to see” list for a while because I got good horror vibes from the films I’ve already blogged about by indie director Jason Mills (and added some of them to my DVD collection).

Alien Psychosis runs only 73 minutes long, and most of that time is spent demonstrating the paranoia of the sexy as hell leading man.

alien psychosis lead

He’s military man who returns to his home (which seems to be in the middle of nowhere) to be with his pregnant wife.

Pretty soon, he starts hearing sounds and seeing fleeting figures around the house, both outside and inside. It’s implied that he questions whether any of it’s real or all in his head due to post-traumatic distress. What’s concrete is that none of it is on camera. We simply don’t get to see anything he’s experiencing.

alien psychosis brother

That’s just one of the things that makes this film feel incomplete. The main man has some bad blood with his brother-in-law, but it isn’t quite demonstrated intensely enough to justify what transpires between them at the end of the film. His neurosis never quite peaks enough to truly cause enough conflict between he and his wife before all hell breaks loose. And most importantly, his “psychosis” about what he thinks might be going on in the house is never fully realized enough to make the viewer feel terrified, and it is never even directly linked to the idea that he might think there are aliens coming for him.

alien psychosis masks

The climactic scene is definitely an intense moment we need, but it throws us for a loop once more. For aliens are out and masked intruders are in! Yes, suddenly the film turns into a violent home invasion film for a brief instant…then switches back to the idea of aliens…then keeps us wondering if it really is all in the main man’s head…then throws us one more final twist that doesn’t tie any of it together.

alien psychosis 1st abduct

Watching Alien Psychosis is kind of like reading a book but skipping the most crucial chapter. Or watching a movie with one eye closed…

alien psychosis eye stab

About Daniel

I am the author of the horror anthologies CLOSET MONSTERS: ZOMBIED OUT AND TALES OF GOTHROTICA and HORNY DEVILS, and the horror novels COMBUSTION and NO PLACE FOR LITTLE ONES. I am also the founder of BOYS, BEARS & SCARES, a facebook page for gay male horror fans! Check it out and like it at www.facebook.com/BoysBearsandScares.
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