Star Beast: Alien Grindhoused

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 :)

enjoyable enough

The film's deliberate pacing really lends itself to an extended edit. Well done with the musical cues and the choice of cuts and stitches. The grindhouse esthetic is pretty well realized as well. The care shown comes through in the diversity of sources used.

Watched this today and found it overall a lot of fun. The grindhouse style allows all sorts of licence to be taken with sources and plot, and that is certainly in evidence here. Some of the deleted footage used helps give the movie a feel of being a slightly ropey 70s movie (after all, that's why footage often gets cut - it's not good enough!), The more visible (and risible) Alien creature shots also help this, dragging the tone down closer to "Xtro" territory, The addition of a little gratuitous sexual content works well to help evoke a low budget 70s feel too.
The music tracks are the main feature of this edit. For me, they work well except for the climactic battle. To this point, the movie felt very 70s to this pop music ignoramus, but then the selection for the finale jarred badly for me, it was SO 80s.
If the tone of this edit was slightly tongue in cheek to start with, for the final few minutes the tongue bursts right through and wreaks havoc!
Recommended.

I've been on a grindhouse fanedit binge as of late, and I decided to watch two of Gieferg's edits: This one and Three ----ing Bears. I personally thought this was the weaker of the two, and sadly, not one of the better grindhouse edits I've come across. But it is what it is, and if you're a die-hard Alien fan, you'll probably enjoy this take on the film.

I'll start with the good. It wasn't boring. The first half of the film is basically Alien, but with a funky '70's soundtrack. For me, the grindhousing of the film begins at around the second half (starting with the infamous chestburster scene). And that second half pretty much saved this edit. I enjoyed seeing the added violence and sexual content/nudity that's been thrown in here. Seeing just how messed up Alien could've been is enough fun to justify seeing this, especially for the fans. I also enjoyed seeing a bunch of outtakes to reduce the acting talents of everyone involved. The alternate ending was an unexpected surprise, but for what it is, it worked.

But with that said, somebody has to talk about the weak spots. My biggest problem with this edit is immersion. While the film gets it right most of the time, when it gets it wrong, it gets it so wrong that it turns you into an angry nerd, complete with the phrase, "What were they thinking?" And I think it comes down to the song choices. I've actually talked with Gieferg over my review of Three ----ing Bears, and his main inspiration for his grindhouse edits comes from TMBTM's Jaws - Sharksploitation Edit, which also featured music that wasn't just limited to x decade. I understand the logic behind this, but at the same time, it's a double-edged sword. When done right, the music ends up being mostly invisible, as in the case of Three ----ing Bears. But when done wrong, the songs stick out like a sore thumb.

The biggest sore thumb I came across was the inclusion of Lenny Kravitz's "Fly Away" in the final 15 minutes. Regardless of what your thoughts are on the artist, why is that in here? I'm guessing that Gieferg was running low on song picks (There are a lot of songs in this edit, so it's a fair assumption), but I think this edit could've been improved if he'd stretched out a little more and searched for a more retro alternative. To me, putting Lenny Kravitz in a grindhoused version of Alien is like putting a Britney Spears song in The Wizard of Oz. It feels so out-of-place and it leaves you wondering why it was chosen. I've also been told that the inclusion of Thriller has divided some too, although I didn't mind that song choice. Still, I feel it's worth bringing up as it applies to what I'm saying here.

If you're somebody who wants a pure, unadulterated and immersive grindhouse experience, where every single detail has been thought out to look like a badly made 16mm funfest from the '60s and '70s, you might be better off looking elsewhere. However, if you're willing to keep an open mind and let go of any judgments you have, you'll probably enjoy it. For all of its faults, I can't honestly say I hated this. I still recommend it. Maybe not as strongly as other reviewers have, but I do recommend it. Just don't expect too much and I think you'll have a good time.