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Released by: Vivendi
Released on: April 6, 2010.
Director: Kristoffer Tabori
Cast: James Marsters, Cindy Sampson, Sebastian Knapp, Sanny Van Heteren
Year: 2009
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The Movie:
This Maneater Series film of the month, the latest in the ongoing series of monsters versus b-level stars series that RHI has been producing for the Syfy Channel, has a pretty cool premise working in its favor. The plot is very simple - in a small western town a career criminal named Sam Phoenix (James Marsters) is just about to be hanged for his crimes. Before he shuffles of this mortal coil, however, a bunch of weird looking CGI aliens that look to have been rejected from Spielberg's War Of The Worlds remake appear and wreak havoc on the town.
As tough guys are getting decimated left, right and center, it soon becomes obvious that the only hope the surviving members of the town have lies with Sam. He leads a rag-tag group of survivors in a small scale war against the alien invaders with some help from a touch talking female bounty hunter named Rose (Sanny Van Heteren) and a hot chick named Abigail Pixley (Cindy Sampson).
The story is very basic here but the influence of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells runs deep and gives High Plains Invades a neat retro/vintage science fiction feel that goes a long way towards making it more enjoyable than it really had any right to be. The monsters are done entirely in CGI and this is painfully obvious more often than not, but at least what the filmmakers are rendering here are completely fictional beings, creatures that don't exist. You won't see shots here of CGI animals that could have been done with live animals instead, you'll instead see massive, hulking aliens. Sure, it'd have been neat to have seen them done with miniatures or practical effects work but in the low budget film world, that's not likely to happen anymore and while the monsters do look completely fake, at least the design work is kind of cool. The cover makes the film look considerably gorier than it actually is, however.
Marsters, best known for his work on Buffy and Spike, does a pretty good job in the lead. He makes for a likeable enough anti-hero and he's able to carry the film. He's got enough swagger and self confidence to bring to the part that he's believable in the role even if the supporting cast tends to be burdened with some hokey dialogue.
It all builds up to a conclusion that you'll see coming from a mile or two away and the story is very predictable. There are loads of inconsistencies in how the wild west is portrayed and the film obviously isn't too concerned with realism of believability, but it doesn't need to be. This is a film in which cowboys fight aliens, so realism isn't all that important in the first place. As far as mindless escapism goes, High Plains Invaders works just fine.
Video/Audio/Extras:
High Plains Invaders arrives on DVD in a 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. There's a little bit of shimmering evident on the picture but aside from that it looks quite good. There aren't any issues with mpeg compression artifacts nor are there any problems with print damage, dirt, or debris. Color reproduction looks nice and accurate and skin tones appear quite lifelike, though the image has had some color tweaking here and there to give it more of a period feel and during these moments detail goes a bit soft. There are some scenes that show some edge enhancement but thankfully it's not a constant problem, rather a sporadic one. Aside from that, High Plains Invaders looks fine, though the transfer is interlaced.
Audio options are supplied in English language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound with no optional provided. The audio quality is pretty good on this release with the dialogue staying clean and clear throughout the film. It's never a problem understanding the performers and the levels are all properly balanced. Surrounds are used well during the battle sequences and towards the end where the evil dog actually appears.
Aside from some trailers for other Vivendi DVD releases and a static menu with chapter stops, this release is completely barebones.
The Final Word:
While more gore would have gone a long way towards making this one more fun, the concept of an alien invasion in the old west is pretty nifty and Marsters makes for a likeable enough lead. More could have been done with the monsters but High Plains Invaders, despite the fact that it's one cliché after another, is an entertaining enough b-movie that you can't help but have fun with it.