(1977)
Directed by Don Dohler
Starring Don Leifert, Tom Griffith, Mary Mertens, Richard Dyszel, Anne Frith, Richard Geiwitz, Eleanor Herman, and George Stover.

Even if you didn’t know that this film’s budget was around $4000, it is still amazing on just how entertaining, not to mention how well made, this film is. This is the first film from the East Coast King of Low Budget Filmmaking, Don Dohler. If you haven’t heard of that name and enjoy low budget and more importantly, creative filmmaking with little money, then check out his earlier work.

Made in Baltimore in 1976, Dohler used the help of friends, family, and other people who had interests in filmmaking that he had met up while publishing a small press magazine called Cinemagic. This magazine was a guide for people who wanted to get started in making their own films. While Dohler and company didn’t have a lot of money, they had something even more important! They had the desire and talent to put out a movie that would be entertaining . . . and maybe even make some money for them. Hell, it even made the cover of Famous Monsters, issue #143. I guess that would be a good sign, don’t you think?

Granted, some of the acting isn’t the highest of quality. But for a film of this budget, it still is pretty good. I’ve seen a lot worse in some major films coming from Hollywood. The actors do very well in giving that feeling of a small town, where everybody knows everybody. When something happens to one of the locals, the word spreads quickly. The actor playing the mayor, Richard Dyszel, is also known as Count Gore De Vol, a horror host in the 70s’& 80’s in the Washington area. Of course, you have George Stover, a Dohler regular who is still showing up in his movies, as well as Don Leifert, who was also the title character in Dohler’s Fiend.

The basic plot is about an alien spaceship that crashes out in the woods outside of a small town. The alien crew was carrying some different alien species to their home planet, but somehow crashed on Earth. These three, very different looking aliens, start to attack the locals. A strange guy from the local observatory shows up saying that he can help. But he seems to be hiding something more.

One of my favorite parts of the movie is the makeup designs for the alien creatures. This is a great example of what can be done when the ambition and desire is more important than the money. The guys who came up with, and sometimes even acting in their own makeup suits, created some really original and cool looking creatures. One creature stands about eight feet tall, using leg extensions that are covered in the makeup. The result is a really cool looking monster; very reminiscent of something from Harryhausen, but today probably would have probably been a CGI effect.

I’ve always been a fan of Dohler’s work ever since seeing this title, as well as Nightbeast (1982) mainly because they were just fun films. Very creative and unique, showing how to work around a very low budget but doing it enough to give an entertaining little film. I know a lot of people were inspired by his earlier work, so check this one out, as well as some of the titles that he directed.