Star Beast: Alien Grindhoused

Star Beast takes Alien and transforms it into something else entirely.

Very well edited, video and audio. The grindhouse effects are well executed and varied considerably throughout - it's not just a generic constant effect, and it's also not overdone. Clearly a lot of consideration went into it. The quality is actually very good (high bitrate), which I prefer, and it doesn't hurt the grindhouse effect at all. The rescore makes this feel like a completely different film, with a number tracks in particular standing out - you'll know when you watch it. Those two ending tracks! Amazing.

Some additional footage I'd never seen before has been added during several scenes, including at iconic moments, which was great to see. These slid into the edit well (better than they would've in an EE) because of the fact that the whole film is grindhoused. Not a big fan of the original Alien but was very curious to see what Gieferg would do with this and he doesn't disappoint. It just gets better and better the longer it goes. Very imaginative work, with a number of sources having been used here to achieve the desired story alterations, as well as additional bits of dialogue. That ending was something else! And it's also hilarious at times too. Star Beast is everything you expect from FanMix and more.

Note: due to some... interesting additions, this is not a family friendly edit - adults only ;)

This is the first Grindhouse style fanedit I have watched. Alien feels like such a great fit for this kind of thing. I was not disapointed. This is great fun. Loved the soundtrack, it gives it a great vibe and would like to have it on my spotify player. The oversaturated visual style really works well for the grindhouse mood as well. The rough deleted scene footage did not feel out of place thanks too the editing style. Some hilarious and unexpected twists especialy towards the end will make this stick in my memory for years.

The only problem with this edit is that the original is superior in narrative, visuals and audio. But I dont think this was meant of a fix 0r replacement for the original. More a fun alternative.

This was Great Fun! Alien gets a Grindhouse treatment! The mix of grain/dirt/damage is very well made and it's fun to see this well shot film can be so dirty looking. 100% Grindhouse. The music was fun as well and I enjoyed this ride a lot.
It will never replace the original but this edit is not meant to do that.
This will take you on a completely different journey.
I loved the missing reel part and maybe there could be more reels missing so the edit could be trimmed down more and have a higher action packed pacing.

I highly recommend this edit!
Keep up the great work!

QUALITY

Quality is often difficult to rate with a Grindhouse edit... it's MEANT to look bad... right? From my perspective, the majority of this looks like a nice crisp scan of a filthy print - works for me. Obviously some deleted scenes are worse for wear, which actually works for the concept. My only real qualm is that the first "MUTHER" segment seemed to have no processing whatsoever when showing the computer screen - no grain etc. - and looked exceptionally clean and hi res (I assume this wasn't intentional since later instances do have added wear). Otherwise, it's suitably grindhousey.


VISUAL

Some interesting stuff going on here (particularly toward the end), and I'm curious where some of the footage was from. The intro looks great and a lot of the visual degradation feels appropriate for the concept. Some of the "washed out"/over-exposed grading I found to be too harsh on the eyes when there were bright/flashing lights, or torches waving about etc. (and sometimes white walls), but there was nothing jarring in terms of cuts. Extra footage is well integrated and is only obvious due to the lower resolution of deleted scenes.


AUDIO

As a way around the original score, some scenes are basically silent except for the new music - no hiss, no foley. This doesn't sound right to me, and the music itself can come across too clean as well. Key sound effects will often poke through, which is good, but some added "film hiss" would help a lot in selling this. Sometimes when these effects poke through the original film hiss pokes through with it and it kind of exposes the absence of foley here.

I found there to be a bit of volume fluctuation at points, mostly the first half: dialogue or sound fx being too loud, while music would be very quiet, or vice versa (music drowning out quiet dialogue). To a certain extent the "grindhouse" vibe allows for imperfection, as that's kind of the point, but some of the audio just seemed too full and crisp and then not at other times. I mainly noticed this near the beginning; it felt like less of an issue for most of the second half. In short, I think some of the audio could have done with more "wearing"/degradation, and a lack of consistency with that is what I assume to be the reason for fluctuating levels. Between the two, the visual work is definitely more convincing of the Grindhouse vibe.

In terms of cuts and trims made, nothing was obvious or jarring.


NARRATIVE

No plot holes to speak of and the new narrative bits work well. Lines are dropped in occasionally to make the characters "worse" as is often the thing with Grindhouse. These are well integrated, but other parts of dialogue almost negate the added lines sometimes. It felt to me like some simple cuts or trims to lines could have gone a long way to changing up the characters a bit more and making their attitudes come across differently. There's still quite a lot of concern and compassion and decency shown on the whole, which sometimes mildly jars with an inserted f-bomb or whathaveyou.

Another comment I have is on the pacing: the original Alien is a slow-paced film, but it gets away with this because of the score and tone and atmosphere. Here, the tone is different, the score is different, and while trims have been made, it sometimes felt like a slog (the original doesn't). Part of that, i think, is a fairly restrained approach to tweaking much (not all) of the original narrative, beyond rescoring (and the rescoring itself changes the vibe and draws interest away from some of the original film's character development); I think there are still some conversations that could be trimmed down, without really hindering the core narrative, that would aid this.


ENJOYMENT

I have to admit I am not as hot on the Grindhouse craze as a lot of people are, but Alien is a favourite of mine and I have enjoyed a couple of the "classic" Grindhouse edits from fanediting history - so I couldn't not check this out. Overall, I enjoyed it, but some parts more than others. I would have loved to have seen more narrative bending ala the final act.

I don't want to spoil anything for others, but I'll just say that the new Ash plotline is very amusing and got a few chortles out of me. Seedy, for sure, but that kinda comes with the territory. The ending is significantly different as well, and you should stick around after the credits.

Thanks for the experience, Gieferg :)

So, this edit was a trip! I watched the version with trailers before the feature. Definitely should be noted the theatrical is a rated R movie but the edit is like a hard-R. The tone is generally lighter but there is more graphic content. So if you're looking for a double feature with another grindhouse fanedit, this'll do but put the kids to sleep first (I would say the same about the theatrical honestly).

Audio/Video Quality:
That said, it's got a very accurate grindhouse feel and the added content is part of that. There were some moments where compositing wasn't ideal, and moments where I wish there was slightly more damage, so one point off Audio/Video Quality, but a lot of effort was put into the look overall and the flaws were in parts that were necessary to tell the changed story, so it's still a high 9.

Visual Editing:
The cuts that were supposed to be seamless were, and the ones that had attention drawn to them helped bolster the authenticity and added to the presentation.

Audio Editing:
The music changed the tone a lot, some songs are stuck in my head days later. I didn't love all of them and not all are necessarily period appropriate but it all worked for the edit's intentions.

Narrative:
Plot changes from the original help it stay fresh, and the changes were the best parts. The original movie is slow paced and at some points I felt like the edit could have been cut down for faster pacing to fit the new punchier tone, like before they wake up, some of the waiting to see what happens to Kane or some of the wandering looking for the title creature later on. Use of deleted material and some other unexpected additions and grindhouse staples also helped keep it pretty fresh. Still a 9

Enjoyment:
I like Alien and am very familiar with it, so that familiarity made me impatient with some of the slower parts, even with the new score. But despite what I would consider a dip in "energy" in the middle, the edit has an attitude and identity of its own, is well-edited with a lot of passion and creativity, and surprises which I hope I haven't spoiled. I loved the end, and I stuck around after the credits. I hovered between 8 and 9 but am going with 9 because this is the kind of edit I like to see, changing the story and trying to give as different an experience from the original film as possible, rather than "fixing" any perceived flaws or gripes. Great job, hope to see more!