Matty surrenders to the charms of Fred Olen Ray’s compelling sci-fi action quickie.
Despite its omnipresence in video stores during the early ‘90s; its status as a DVD bargain bin staple here in the U.K. at the turn of the millennium; and a Blu-ray release from Scream Factory in 2017, Fred Olen Ray’s ALIENATOR still flies under the radar.
A charming and endlessly watchable blend of space opera, prison of the future hijinks, sylvan thriller, chase caper, and Terminator (1984)-tipping robosploitation, Ray stalwart Ross Hagen stars as a snazzily dressed intergalactic terrorist who crash lands in the oft-used Topanga Canyon. In pursuit of him is the eponymous cybernetic bounty hunter (bodybuilder Teagan Clive — phenomenal looking in a fetishistic, Heavy Metal-inspired outfit). Then something of a Ray regular (see: Moon in Scorpio (1987), Angel Eyes (1993)), sheriff John Phillip Law heads up the earthlings caught in the enjoyably explosive crossfire. The remainder of the film’s sprawling ensemble is populated by various other members of the director’s stock company, including but not limited to: Robert Quarry, Hoke Howell, Fox Harris, and the then Mrs. Ray, Dawn Wildsmith.
A mite meat n’ potatoes in terms of framing and fluidity, Alienator is nonetheless atmospherically shot by Ray mainstay Gary Graver, and boasts several well-staged action set pieces. The real pleasure, though, lies in Ray’s refusal to explicitly state which of his spacemen characters — inhabited by the helmer’s Haunting Fear (1990) player Jan-Michael Vincent, Ray perennial Jay Richardson, and horror heroes P.J. Soles (Halloween (1978)) and Joe Pilato (Day of the Dead (1985)) — are actually good and bad. Presenting a subversive, Starship Troopers (1997)-esque realm where right and wrong appear interchangeable, and political alignments are questionable at best, Ray handles the ever shifting dynamic between the creepy Hagen and fascist prison commander Vincent brilliantly, imbuing this unofficial semi-remake of cult favourite The Astounding She-Monster (1958) (an allusion furthered by the casting of said picture’s star, Robert Clarke) with the same compelling sense of ambiguity and character focus that typifies his work on Armed Response (1986), Inner Sanctum (1991), The Shooter (1997), and the aforementioned Haunting Fear.
Essentially two movies in one, Alienator began life as a six day, $150,000 slot-filler called ‘The Huntress’. Initially just the woodland stretch of the film [1], ‘The Huntress’ was extended to incorporate a new space station subplot at the behest of distributor Heritage Entertainment, who pumped an additional $150,000 into the project after they decided that they wanted Vincent in it, presumably for additional name value. The fact Ray blends both strands so seamlessly is further testament to his skills as a storyteller and dramatist.
Rechristened Alienator by producer/veteran schlock peddler Jeffrey C. Hogue (Monster a-Go-Go (1965)), Ray’s enjoyable romp was released on U.S. tape by Prism Entertainment on 8th February 1990 following almost six months of release date pushbacks. Funnily, the film landed on British cassette a few months later through another — albeit wholly different — shingle called Prism. [2]
USA ● 1990 ● Sci-Fi, Action ● 87mins
Ross Hagen, Jan-Michael Vincent, John Phillip Law, Teagan Clive ● Dir. Fred Olen Ray ● Wri. Paul Garson
[1] Like his surreal slasher flick Scalps (1983), Ray designed ‘The Huntress’ as a ‘kids and an RV’ cheapie.
[2] Also of interest: in Germany, David Schmoeller’s The Arrival (1991) was issued as ‘Alienator 2: Der Killer Aus Der Galaxis’.
The Schlock Pit 
By total concidence, I purchased an Italian release DVD of ALIENATOR just a few weeks ago. Although a fan of the film, have to confess I’ve always thought the space opera subplot is a substantial drawback – if the movie had just been about a bunch of teenagers encountering an alien hunter in the woods, then ALIENATOR would have been a lean, effective sci-fi action/thriller in the same vein as Graydon Clark’s WITHOUT WARNING (1980) and Ray’s subsequent co-directed effort STAR HUNTER (1995). But the space prison scenes weight the film down considerably with unnecessary baggage.
Plus Ray simply chooses (admittedly, somewhat cheekily) not to address the extreme unlikelihood that an alien race on the other side of the galaxy would (i.) look human, and (ii.) speak English. Frustratingly, the former aspect could have been easily resolved with just an additional line of dialogue, either explaining that Earth is a BATTLESTAR GALACTICA-style ‘lost colony’, or alternatively that prisoners were dumped on the planet eons ago without equipment or supplies and left to fend for themselves, and the survivors became Mankind’s ancestors. Admittedly, the language aspect is briefly addressed when one of the teenagers observes that when Kol (Hagen’s fugitive) speaks, it’s like “watching someone who’s been dubbed,” suggesting that Kol isn’t actually speaking English, but instead possesses telepathic abilities that enable him to be understood by whoever’s listening, but sadly this intriguing concept is never raised again.
However. the element that really drags down the space prison sequences is Jan-Michael Vincent. His drinking problens throughout his career are well documented, such as repeatedly turning up on set during filming of Graydon Clark’s THE RETURN (1980) so drunk that the script had be rewritten on an almost daily basis, with most of his scenes and dialogue going to co-stars Cybill Shepherd and Martin Landau. However, Ray clearly didn’t have time to do something similar on ALIENATOR, and so it’s painful to watch Vincent slurring his words while swaggering around the set and barely bothering to give a performance.
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