Falling

The Falling (aka. Alien Predator) (1986)

Wait someone actually named their movie Alien Predator? That is freaking awesome in an I’m going to exploit another much better movie sort of way. I mean it would only have been better if they had made this Predator 2 or Alien 2 or Breakfast Club 2. So what about the movie, which I watched under the less cool The Falling title?

The story here has 3 Americans traveling Europe in their sweet RV. They have some engine trouble, which always seems to happen when you can least afford it to. The head into the local town for parts and breakfast, only to find that the locals are acting a bit odd in that I’m going to kill you and bleed from my hair sort of way. It turns out that an alien life form crashed nearby and has been turning the locals into crazy ass incubators for it kiddies. Luckily one NASA guy is around to inoculate them against the alien menace, but there are still the homicidal townies to deal with.

So what do I think of the Falling? Honestly it is an average movie, but I did have fun with it. The story borrows from many other horror flicks that I’ve seen. You have the whole stranger in town being menaced sort of thing going on. And yes the only road out of town is blocked by the crazed killers. That of course reminds me of the things that I learned from watching The Falling.

1.If you ever drive into a town that only has one road in or out leave. Don’t stop for gas or go looking at the sites, just turn your butt around and get out.

2.Road trips with your friends might seem cool, but they never end well. If someone says, “Hey lets drive across ______ it will be fun.” Don’t go. Again it never ends well.

3.If while camping you notice your fellow campers are odd or if they don’t answer when you call for them jump in your vehicle, no matter how broken and leave immediately.

I hope that my meager attempts to be funny got my point across. Not only is the alternative title not original, but neither is anything else. What this movie does have going for it are some fun special effects, excellent pacing, and goofy likeable characters. Yeah sure I knew what was going to happen and the twist ending didn’t at all surprise me. But I was interested and at point laughing at what I was watching. So I was entertained by this flick, in spite of some flaws. Toss in some funny generic ‘80s style music and you have a good time.

Though after saying all this I will admit that there is a car chase that doesn’t fit with the movie and at times I think the humor hurts the atmosphere that the movie is trying to build up. I guess for me that is the difference between a solid recommendation and the one that I’m going to give. If you are looking for a bit of cheese that you haven’t seen before and dig direct to VHS flicks then rent The Falling.

2 ½ out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer