HOME |  CULT MOVIES | COMPETITIONS | ADVERTISE |  CONTACT US |  ABOUT US
 
 
 
Newest Reviews
American Fiction
Poor Things
Thunderclap
Zeiram
Legend of the Bat
Party Line
Night Fright
Pacha, Le
Kimi
Assemble Insert
Venus Tear Diamond, The
Promare
Beauty's Evil Roses, The
Free Guy
Huck and Tom's Mississippi Adventure
Rejuvenator, The
Who Fears the Devil?
Guignolo, Le
Batman, The
Land of Many Perfumes
Cat vs. Rat
Tom & Jerry: The Movie
Naked Violence
Joyeuses Pacques
Strangeness, The
How I Became a Superhero
Golden Nun
Incident at Phantom Hill
Winterhawk
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City
Maigret Sets a Trap
B.N.A.
Hell's Wind Staff, The
Topo Gigio and the Missile War
Battant, Le
Penguin Highway
Cazadore de Demonios
Snatchers
Imperial Swordsman
Foxtrap
   
 
Newest Articles
3 From Arrow Player: Sweet Sugar, Girls Nite Out and Manhattan Baby
Little Cat Feat: Stephen King's Cat's Eye on 4K UHD
La Violence: Dobermann at 25
Serious Comedy: The Wrong Arm of the Law on Blu-ray
DC Showcase: Constantine - The House of Mystery and More on Blu-ray
Monster Fun: Three Monster Tales of Sci-Fi Terror on Blu-ray
State of the 70s: Play for Today Volume 3 on Blu-ray
The Movie Damned: Cursed Films II on Shudder
The Dead of Night: In Cold Blood on Blu-ray
Suave and Sophisticated: The Persuaders! Take 50 on Blu-ray
Your Rules are Really Beginning to Annoy Me: Escape from L.A. on 4K UHD
A Woman's Viewfinder: The Camera is Ours on DVD
Chaplin's Silent Pursuit: Modern Times on Blu-ray
The Ecstasy of Cosmic Boredom: Dark Star on Arrow
A Frosty Reception: South and The Great White Silence on Blu-ray
You'll Never Guess Which is Sammo: Skinny Tiger and Fatty Dragon on Blu-ray
Two Christopher Miles Shorts: The Six-Sided Triangle/Rhythm 'n' Greens on Blu-ray
Not So Permissive: The Lovers! on Blu-ray
Uncomfortable Truths: Three Shorts by Andrea Arnold on MUBI
The Call of Nostalgia: Ghostbusters Afterlife on Blu-ray
Moon Night - Space 1999: Super Space Theater on Blu-ray
Super Sammo: Warriors Two and The Prodigal Son on Blu-ray
Sex vs Violence: In the Realm of the Senses on Blu-ray
What's So Funny About Brit Horror? Vampira and Bloodbath at the House of Death on Arrow
Keeping the Beatles Alive: Get Back
   
 
  UFOria Starry-Eyed Surprise
Year: 1981
Director: John Binder
Stars: Cindy Williams, Harry Dean Stanton, Fred Ward, Beverly Hope Atkinson, Harry Carey Jr, Diane Adair, Robert Gray, Ted Harris, Darrell Larson, Peggy McCay, Hank Worden, Alan Beckwith, Andrew Winner, Pamela Lamont, Joe Unger, Charlotte Stewart
Genre: Comedy, Science Fiction, RomanceBuy from Amazon
Rating:  5 (from 1 vote)
Review: Sheldon Bart (Fred Ward) is something of a drifter, travelling through the Southern states in his car, funding his lifestyle and the upkeep of his vehicle with the cash he steals from vending machines. Not only that, but he has no qualms about shoplifting from supermarkets in the belief he'll get away with it because he thinks he looks like country singer Waylon Jennings, but today, while carrying out his petty crimes, he meets Arlene Stewart (Cindy Williams), a cashier who pricks his conscience...

The story with this little film goes that it was completed back in 1980 and shown to a meagre amount of punters before it was decided by the studio that they didn't really know what to do with it, so shelved it for the next five years. It was believed there was no market for it, so why it was finally released in 1985 is unclear, other than Universal thinking they might as well try to get some money out of the thing, though there was not exactly a huge public clamour for it to come out. When it did, just as the suits had predicted, UFOria did very little business.

However, a small cult built up around the film, so while you could go through life without meeting a fan of this movie, they are around, much like the space brothers Arlene fervently puts her faith in, as far as the plot went. This muses over the nature of religious doctrine and compares Christianity to the worship of space aliens, if you could call that kind of thing worship, though writer director John Binder evidently did. This was to be his only film in that capacity, though he worked in the industry for many years afterwards, just not on anything all that blockbusting, with his script for odd cattle mutilation thriller Endangered Species his highest profile effort.

If you can call that high profile, but he obviously had an interesting sensibility in how he approached character and the situations he placed them in. If UFOria had been a hit, who knows what kind of projects he might have offered the world, but in truth what he had here was rather mild as a comedy, slight as romance and none too substantial as science fiction. Actually for most of it you could be forgiven for not noticing it was sci-fi at all, as its attitude towards Arlene's ideology - Jesus was an alien, Adam and Eve were ancient astronauts, that sort of business - is more a lovable facet of her personality rather than to be taken seriously.

Sheldon and Arlene get to know each other as she spots him faking an injury at the faith healing sessions of charlatan Brother Bud Sanders (Harry Dean Stanton) to part the faithful from their cash, and rather than this turn her off Sheldon completely she ends up going to bed with him almost immediately. One thing leads to another, and he starts to fall for her, even if he does find her kooky at best, yet once Arlene begins to make plans to be taken up into a flying saucer out in the desert, Brother Bud sees an opportunity to make more money, much to her dismay. Will Sheldon follow his heart or his wallet, is the question that presses on the viewer's mind, but this was so goodnatured that the bad behaviour on display barely registered, mixing country music with a just plain folks sensibility then working hard not to send them up, yet still remaining at a distance both benevolent and mellow. It wasn't a lost classic by any means, but it amused. Music by Richard Baskin.
Reviewer: Graeme Clark

 

This review has been viewed 4145 time(s).

As a member you could Rate this film

 
Review Comments (0)


Untitled 1

Login
  Username:
 
  Password:
 
   
 
Forgotten your details? Enter email address in Username box and click Reminder. Your details will be emailed to you.
   

Latest Poll
Which star probably has psychic powers?
Laurence Fishburne
Nicolas Cage
Anya Taylor-Joy
Patrick Stewart
Sissy Spacek
Michelle Yeoh
Aubrey Plaza
Tom Cruise
Beatrice Dalle
Michael Ironside
   
 
   

Recent Visitors
  Stuart Watmough
Paul Shrimpton
Darren Jones
Mary Sibley
Enoch Sneed
Mark Le Surf-hall
  Louise Hackett
Andrew Pragasam
   

 

Last Updated: