udar55 Burnt out Hollywood musician Bobby Sinclair (Robert Carradine) and his girlfriend Iris (Cherie Currie) get wrapped up in a government extraterrestrial conspiracy after she starts "hearing" sounds coming from a nearby old Army facility in the Hollywood hills. With the help of old timer Dan (Keenan Wynn), the duo break into the facility and discover it runs seven stories into the ground and a trio of captured aliens are housed on the bottom floor. Naturally, the government isn't too happy with them there, until they find out Iris is on the same wavelength as the aliens.Obviously inspired by Steven Spielberg's CLOSE ENCOUNTERS..., this one is interesting in that it takes the darker "fourth kind" approach whereas Spielberg went lighter with E.T. shot in the same year. This features likable leads and the script that moves pretty fast but also injects some unpretentious philosophy. Interestingly, this resembles the later STARMAN (1985) in many regards, right down to the oppressive military and a reflective orb coming down in the middle of the desert for pick-up. The aliens are played by three kids painted brown and they are all good in their silent roles. Director Mike Gray certainly has had an interesting career. He did some documentary work in the early 70s, wrote THE CHINA SYNDROME, made his feature debut with this and then moved onto writing/producing sci-fi TV stuff like STARMAN and STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION. Features a great score by Tangerine Dream.

Woodyanders Burnt-out, reclusive folk singer Bobby Sinclair (an excellent performance by the always fine Robert Carradine) and kindly psychic Iris Longacre (nicely played by the fetching Cherie Currie of the Runaways) free a trio of bald, mute, diminutive extraterrestrials -- Gamma (Dov Young), Beta (Joshua Oreck) and Delta (Christian Morris) -- from a top secret army base run by cold-hearted military jerks and help the little guys get back to their home planet. Deftly directed by Mike Gray (who also wrote the intelligent script and previously penned the outstanding screenplay for "The China Syndrome"), with terrifically vivid and engaging performances from the two exceptional leads, unusually well-drawn characters, plenty of touching heart and warmth, and a neat synthesizer score by Tangerine Dream, "Wavelength" makes the grade as a shamefully underrated and overlooked low-budget sci-fi gem. Keenan Wynn contributes a marvelously cantankerous turn as crusty old prospector Dan, plus there are nifty bits by Robert ("Parasite") Glaudini as coolly pragmatic scientist Dr. Wolf and Bobby ("The Supernaturals") Di Cicco as Bobby's good friend Marvin Horn. Pleasant, quirky and simply lovely (the scenes with Bobby and Iris helping out the aliens are very moving and endearing, with the sequence where everyone chills out around a campfire qualifying as the definite delightful highlight), this unsung sleeper deserves to be better known and more widely seen.

johnmorghen After viewing this film for the first time (and with an open mind), I feel the need to defend it against the general naysayers who condemn it, claiming that it is nothing but a rip-off. Unfortunately, this film has just about been buried by several bad reviews, and the fact that "E.T." was released just prior to this film, didn't help it, either.The fact is, it's nearly 20 years down the line, and people are still comparing it to "E.T.". I certainly don't feel that this is a rip-off of "E.T.", nor do I feel that it bears much resemblance. It may be true that this film was made with the intent to cash in on the alien/science-fiction trend of that period, but then again, when doesn't that happen in Hollywood? If we are going to compare films about extra-terrestrials, then this one ranks more closely to Steven Spielberg's earlier accomplishment, "CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND".Overall, I enjoyed this film. Robert Carradine and Cherrie Currie (of The Runaways fame) turn in some solid performances, which rise above most films of this caliber. Keenan Wynn, reprising his usual stubborn old man role, is always worth watching. Tangerine Dream provides the music for the film, and as usual, their score is especially effective, and works best in the most critical areas.One has to appreciate the intelligence that the film has, which clearly indicates that this was not just another "hatchet-job" rushed effort, that some would suspect.The end result is, by no means, tremendous. But, this film is extremely underrated, and is at the very least, worthwhile entertainment.If you get a chance, give it a shot.

Barnabas Substituted for expensive, spine-tingling special-effects, are an engaging story and credible performances, particularly from Cherie Currie. If you like seeing what a capable independent filmmaker can do with a limited budget - I recommend this film.