Idiot-Deluxe
"Frank... boy, I'm as nervous as a hog on a grill. You got good news I hope?" Now THIS is Inspired Dreck!The Galaxy Invader - Is a highly entertaining slice of z-grade Sci-Fi, that was wrought from the singular imagination of the late-Don Dohler, who was a one-of-kind talent and a true god among (amateur) film directors. Yeah right, enough BS already, let's be perfectly clear about it - Don was none of those thing's. But it must be said, the man sure knew how to put together a low-budget Sci-Fi film, which are typically inept, have dismal production values and are always laughably terrible - and he made several such films over the course of 20-plus years. The "Dohler Stable", is a small collection of amateur films, which consists primarily of bottom-shelf Action/Sci-Fi-fare. Not surprisingly, The Galaxy Invader falls right in line with that grand Dohler tradition, it's of a profoundly amateurish make and the capper is the movie was shot direct-to-video, on a shoe-string budget, with dated video equipment.The film centers around the Montague's, a highly dysfunctional, not entirely clever redneck family, who live in an isolated, farm house out in the wooded, rural, regions of Maryland. This family of five is dominated by the ever-affable, on-the-verge-of-dying-from-liver-failure, Joe Montague; a loathsomely, detestable, full-blown, alcoholic, country bumpkin. Joe's the kind of surly drunk who gets his jollies by yelling at and threatening his family on a daily basis - often with shotgun in hand. However, at the same time, it's also due to Richard Ruxton's incredibly entertaining performance, as the inimitable Joe Montague, that The Galaxy Invader really bring's home the laugh's! Joe's just a riot in virtually every scene he's in and time and again -with a supreme omnipotence- proves himself to be an A-rate scumbag; so much so in fact, that I've come to this conclusion - rarely, if EVER, has a more vivid depiction of a foul-tempered, red-neck been seen in the movies.As Joe Montague, Richard Ruxton simply takes his role to the next-level and I very much wish he played nothing BUT roles like this, as the entertainment-value of his acting is through-the-roof! And then there's Joe's T-shirt... well, just watch the film, then you'll see what I mean; and while I'm on that note there's another thing you could bet on and that is had this movie taken place 100 years earlier old Joe would've been sporting a coon-skin cap. Betcha' money. Aside from Ruxton, there is another notable acting performance, Don Leifert's performance as the shady and scheming Frank Custor, whose almost as detestably smarmy as Joe - but not quite; both of their characters are prime examples of wretched red-neck's in-the-movies. The rest of the cast, whose acting is passable at best, is filled out by a familiar stable of regional actor's who had worked with Dohler before - including Dohler's son and daughter.The plot of this movie involves an "alien being" (aka some very average-sized guy, clumsily running around in a TERRIBLE looking rubber suit) which landed it's ship (which we never see), in the woods, close to the house that Joe built. Predictably and considering the type of people it encounters shot's are fired, with little in the way of thought put behind their action's and well the first round goes to the humans - I must say it's a bit sad to see the Monatgue's representing the human race. Because of their instinctual irrationality and underlying greed things quickly get complicated, especially when Joe's friend and business partner Frank Custor comes onto the scene. After that, the next we see is hillbilly hi-jinks and a hootin' and hollerin' good time erupts out yonder in the woods; as a hunting party, put together by Joe and Frank, start their hunt for the alien. However, because of interference caused by a second party, Joe's plans don't pan out quite as he had hoped.The effects seen in this movie, just like the suit, are dismal, in fact there even worse then some other Dohler flicks I've seen - and that's saying something. There is the cheap, plastic, alien gun and the glowing white orb, that acts as the guns power-source and then you have the pyro-technics (if that's the word you want to use here) used by Dohler's elite crew, which pretty much look's like fireworks to me - in any case whatever they used they look quite weak. This movie whether it was to save money or for the sake of convenience, was shot-on-video, which I can assume means either Beta or VHS tape - whichever, the films sub-par image quality is certainly suggestive of vintage, low-res, video as it's source - which is evidenced in every frame of this movie. This invariably means a grainy low-resolution image, combined with extremely poor contrast levels and because of that The Galaxy Invader looks unmistakably 80's to the max and not the better half of the 80's, either.In the end The Galaxy Invader most definitely IS a cheap and crappy movie that, despite it's humble origin's, is quite entertaining - much more so than it has any right to be.P.S. - I highly recommend the Rifftrax version, but either way this movie really brings the laughs, because oh it's bad!
DigitalRevenantX7
It's not everyday you come across an el cheapo film that was released on video the same year you were born & that has been relatively obscure for most of those ensuing three decades. The Galaxy Invader is that film.An alien spacecraft crashes in the woods near a hick town, bearing an alien explorer who is intent on investigating the planet's life. What it doesn't know is that a young science student & his mentor are hot on its trail, intent on giving it some knowledge on Earth life. But they are at least six hours away so the scaly green creature will be on its own. Enter Joe Montague. Joe is a redneck who cheats on others & wears the same artfully-torn T-shirt all the time. He never takes it off. While chasing his adult daughter with a shotgun for insulting him after he orders her to stay away from her boyfriend, who happens to be the son of one of his scam victims, Joe comes across the creature & steals its power orb (which it needs to power its weapon). Joe brings back the orb & shows it to his good buddy, Frank Custor – the local swindler, who has a white-trash girlfriend & a rap sheet about as long as your arm. Together the pair talk some drunken bar patrons to go hunting for the alien & sell it to the government for some big bucks. But three problems come to the fore – first, the alien is packing enough heat to outclass all of them; second, the alien is being helped by the scientists on its tail; and third – and this one's a doozey – the alien has recovered its power orb from Joe's house & is intent on teaching this group of rednecks a much needed lesson on manners.Director Don Dohler was the editor of an old 1970s magazine titled Cinemagic, which taught the young filmmakers of the time on how to achieve good-looking el cheapo effects at no budget (reminds me of the DVD of the Astron-6 feature Father's Day, which showed them making a fake tyre iron out of rubber tubing, a coathanger & dark paint). His first film was the 1978 feature The Alien Factor, which was quite cheap but had some striking effects work done on it. Dohler would go on to make half a dozen films before dying in 2006, all of which were really cheap.The Galaxy Invader was one of the earliest Alien knock-offs around but unlike the vast majority of these films, took a very different path to the alien nasty story – make the alien a benign one. Add to that some bad characterisation (although the actors do the best they can with such poorly written material) & poor pacing & a dumb story. The alien creature itself looks really shabby – you have no doubt that the creature is simply an actor (Glenn Barnes) in a heavy two-piece rubber suit (with suspenders to hold it up) that looks really fake. But the eighties were a magical time where the production values of your average Doctor Who episodes of the era bled into the independent genre film industry half a globe away. The early Cybermen models looked much more convincing than The Galaxy Invader's alien & they looked really threadbare.The film is available on YouTube, as well as several el cheapo DVD releases, so watch it if you can. It'll be a laugh riot you'll enjoy, despite being rather dodgy in the technical area.
wes-connors
A green alien, carrying one ball, inexplicably lands in rural Maryland. Director Don Dohler's blond son Greg (as David Harmon) sees the landing, and calls UFO enthusiast Richard Dyszel (as William Tracy) with the news. While young Mr. Dohler waits patiently by his car, for SIX HOURS, Mr. Dyszel drives out to the area. But, before the two can make friends with "The Galaxy Invader", local redneck alcoholic Richard Ruxton (as Joe Montague) has tied up the alien, and stolen his ball.Dohler and Mr. Ruxton's rebellious daughter, Faye Tilles (as Carol), want to give the alien back his ball, but Ruxton has discovered its power makes his gun shoot better. Ruxton, his family, and the local rednecks are hilarious. The alien isn't too bad, for a limited budget affair. From a technical viewpoint, most everything about this film is wretched, but the totality is not truly awful - it's not really "so bad it's good" and it doesn't have a redeeming thesis - but, it is entertaining in its way.**** The Galaxy Invader (4/85) Don Dohler ~ Richard Ruxton, Greg Dohler, George Stover, Anne Frith
