"Alien Terminator" review

Alien Terminator (1996)

Directed by Dave Payne

Writing credits Duke Lorr Dave Payne

Maria Ford.... McKay
Rodger Halston.... Dean Taylor
Emile Levisetti.... Pete
Lisa Boyle.... Rachel (as Cassandra Leigh)

"Alien Terminator" is another alien running amok in a lab movie. It comes from a long line of shameless "Alien" rip-offs. Notice how the two words in the title try to get you to remember two superior action flicks and hopefully plant seeds of hope in your brain that this movie can be just as good. "Hey, I've seen "Alien" and "Terminator" and I liked those movies. Why, I'm sure to like this one twice as much!" It's yet another cleverly devious way for B-movie filmmakers to rope you into seeing their cheap knock-off.

Cheap is certainly the word to describe "Alien Terminator". Four guys and two babes, (Lisa Boyle and Maria Ford), are in a lab underground. The mad scientist starts experimenting on a mouse and turns him into an Alien Terminator. The rest of the movie has the cast running away from the beast through many dark hallways.

"Alien Terminator" is a movie I have seen at least a dozen times before. It's a classic B-movie setup. You keep the cast in one location; there are lots of scenes of them walking down hallways looking scared, the monster pops his head in every 10-15 minutes to make sure you're still awake, etc. But it's all pretty dull and uneventful. The monster scenes are quick and hard to make out. There's no payoff scene since they couldn't afford to shoot a convincing monster attack or any bloody death scenes.

Overall, "Alien Terminator" is not worth watching. However, praise must be given to Lisa Boyle who manages to save the viewing experience from complete destruction by going topless twice. The first time she's having sex with her boyfriend and the second time she's taking a shower. These scenes were great. The rest was average.

SCORE: 1.5 out of 4 Boyles