ALIENATOR (1990)

Thanks to films like DEADLY PREY and THE LAST SHARK, I like some cheap ripoffs of popular films, but sadly, ALIENATOR is complete rubbish from beginning to end.  It's total garbage.  It says made in 1990, but I don't believe it.  Not that it really matters, ALIENATOR could've been made in 1890 and it would still be a smelly turd of broken hopes and wasted time. 

Way off in space somewhere, a war criminal is sentenced to be death, but, before he can be executed, he escapes and makes his way to Earth where he's run over by some people driving around in the woods in a RV.  They take the injured man to a park ranger and suddenly a freaky-looking creature with a laser starts shooting at them.

Other stuff happens, but none of it matters.  The entire film is shit.  The script seems like it was written on the spot, the forest scenes are boring, the space station scenes look like they were filmed at a power plant, the acting can barely even be defined as acting, the special effects look really cheap, P.J. Soles slumming.

From the opening scene to the closing shot ALIENATOR is a massive bore.  Not even worth laughing at.  Skip it and never look back.

DIVE BOMBER (1941)

Made prior to America's involvement in WWII, DIVE BOMBER is an extravagant propaganda piece filled with wall-to-wall with airplanes, bombastic music blaring, cigarette smoke, dedicated men willing to give the greatest sacrifice for their country and women who just love a man in uniform.  The story is pretty entertaining: a military doctor (Flynn) wants to solve the problems of altitude sickness, especially the blackouts that occur during a steep dive.  He enters flight surgeon school, but his dashing ways clash with pilot/teacher MacMurray (whom he had a previous run-in with) and senior doctor Bellamy.  After some headbutting they see how dedicated he is to the cause and help him.

DIVE BOMBER is dated, but I still enjoyed it.  The vivid Technicolor photography wonderfully captures all of the great older aircraft and Navy ships as well as the sprawling military base.  Strong acting and the interesting subject matter make the film fly by despite the 132-minute running time.  Is it historically accurate?  I have no clue, but it is a fun watch. Check it out!

As best I can tell this is the filming location.

CANYON PASSAGE (1946)

Set in a frontier town in 1856 Oregon, CANYON PASSAGE doesn't really have any canyon passages but it does have a whole bunch of smaller stories going on.  Most, if not all, of them involve freight company and general store owner Dana Andrews.  He's courting one girl when it's obvious that his best friend's girl likes him much better; his friend is in debt thanks to gambling debts; Ward Bond wants to kill him; his businesses are barely getting by; there's a house to build and Indians are a constant threat.

CANYON PASSAGE is a passable western, but I can't really see any reason why I would want to watch it again any time soon.  The characters (with the exception of that annoying singing dude) were fine, but the story (or should I say stories?) didn't really do anything for me.  Good acting, reasonable pace, beautiful scenery, familiar faces from a strong cast...too bad about the weak script.  Entertaining enough for a single watch.