Overlords of the U.F.O.

Overlords of the U.F.O.
1976
Director: G. Brook Stanford
Writer: W. Gordon Allen
Stars: W. Gordon Allen, Trevor James Constable & Juan Fava
Unrated - Approx 94 Min
Scientific News/Tower Investments International Ltd.


PROOF!  The E.T.'s have found us and they're not all friendly!

This is an "animated" segment, believe it or not!

Run!  It's the Overlords!

If you come here on a regular basis you know how I feel about UFO's, aliens and the whole shebang.  They creep me the hell out, yet I'm obsessively fascinated by them.  It's been that way since I can remember.  I used to take out the same three or four books about UFO's from the Fitchburg Public Library when I was a kid.  I must have read those books a thousand times.  Then in Jr. High through High school (way back in the day glo soaked 90's)  schoolyard and lunchtime conversation was filled with talk of the latest UFO/Alien shows that popped on the FOX network at an alarming rate.  Of course the most famous of these specials was the Alien Autopsy (Fact of Fiction?) special from 1995.  You know the one.  It was hosted by Jonathan Frakes and it is considered to be one of the most controversial specials ever aired.  I won't lie....back in those days I was in full Mulder mode.  I wanted to believe everything.  Clearly the whole thing was a hoax...the creators even came forward and admitted it.  I digress.


UFO documentaries are nothing new.  The earliest known UFO Doc that I know of is a thirteen minute Telenews reel that was shown in theaters in 1952 entitled The Flying Saucer Mystery.  From there there have been many, MANY documentaries covering every aspect of the UFO phenomena.  Today I want to talk about Overlords of the UFO.  Quite possibly one of the weirdest, wonkiest and outright most ridiculous of all documentaries produced on the subject.

BAM!  Wood paneling!  This is SOOO 70's!

Huh.  It's an alien!

Hosted by W. Gordon Allen, Overlords explores the idea that UFO's are not from outer space but are in fact craft sent from another plane of existence by inter-dimensional beings.  As the doc asks about a quarter of a million times:  Who are the Overlords of the UFO?  Who the hell knows.  This thing is all over the place!


According to Mr. Allen, "The UFO" (as he puts it) is an inter-dimensional craft that is able to materialize into the fabric of our universe.  The pilots of these UFO's are said to be robotic servants to these Overlords though the reasoning for sending slave scouts is never really explained.  There is a metric shit ton of information flying at you at all times, yet it's all wonky talk that makes no sense.  However it's spoken with strict authority and given and pure fact, which is odd.  All the incredible claims made in this documentary are just put out there as fact....as if they've officially and without dispute answered the question "Are we alone?" with a resounding "NO!".

Stanton Friedman is one of the only sane people to appear in 90's minutes.

"I saws a flying saucer!"

BAM BAM!  More wood paneling goodness!

Somehow Uri Geller appears in the final third of the film.  We watch as he bends metal (Keys and such) with the power of his mind....using biometric energy or some such thing.  Apparently that's how the Overlords of the UFO power their crafts....biometric energy.  That could explain why electronic equipment fails when UFO's are around......but then why don't your keys bend?

Uri Geller?!??  WTF?  Here, bend my keys.....

Cattle mutilation is also touched upon and the theory is placed forth that cattle mutilations are not the result of extraterrestrials, but in fact because of giant invisible flying "critters" (as they are called) that come down from the atmosphere and feed on the cow's soft tissues, regurgitating their bones and leaving them behind for dismayed farmers to find.  Holy shit, I can't believe I just typed that last sentence.


Of course there are also many terrible photographs of UFO's peppered in.  Most are quite blatantly fake (I'm looking at YOU, Ummo UFO!) and others are just indecipherable....but there are plenty of them!  There's artists renditions of outer space and psychedelic colors swirling around as we listen to sounds from another planet.  It's all really trippy.

This "photograph" was hailed as the best photo evidence ever.  Good grief.

A shot of the "Ummo" UFO.  Apparently they like to put runes on their craft.

Another shot of the "Ummo" ship

This is......a........jellyfish?  Or a UFO.  I'm not sure which.

Oooh, shiny!

A classic "Bell" shaped UFO.  There is video of this one!  All wobbly on a string like.

There's also plenty of  nightmare fuel as artist depictions of UFO encounters and abductions.  These aren't your normal artist renditions of that you would expect to see....they're boldly colored and there is something unsettling about them.  It's hard to put my finger on what exactly what makes them so, but I would definitely NOT want these hanging on my wall.

I don't know exactly what is being depicted here and I don't want to.

That UFO is friggin EVIL looking!  Look at the blood red light!

Nope, I was wrong.  THIS ONE is evil looking!  It's got eyes for Christ's sake!

An artists rendition of the invisible air critters shitting out cattle skeletons.  Joy.

An alleged robotic humanoid UFO pilot.

This brings me to an interesting point about this doc.  It's incredibly ridiculous, it's completely devoid of any actual fact and yet there is something sinister and unsettling about it.  Maybe it's the sounds from Ummo, who knows.  I watched this at about three in the morning, which is the appropriate time to watch something like this.  At times it feels a bit like In Search of.... other times it feels like I should be on some serious mind altering drugs to understand what the hell they are talking about.

W. Gordon Allen looking all authoritative 'n' shit.

So wonky and cliched.  Love it.

The long and short of it is that you NEED to see this.  If you are at all interested in UFO's, the paranormal, or 70's bat shit craziness, then this is for you.  It's easily found in it's entirety on YouTube....or if you want the complete Overlords experience, then you need to pick up a copy on VHS for about $14.99 on Amazon.  Then take it to a room with shag carpeting and wood paneling, immerse yourself and drink the Kool-Aid, man!


GORE
What?  No, dude...this is a documentary on UFO's!

T&AYeah.....not so much.

MONSTERS
Well.  There's pictures of aliens.  And invisible air critters.  So that counts.  Right?


Final Thoughts

Like I said, you should watch this.  It's a trip and a half.  Just make sure that you're watching it on a 19" tube TV on a VCR while in a den with shag carpeting and wood paneling.  Perfect.

Incident In Lake County: Alien Abduction - A Cornucopia of Other Worldly Fright

Alien Abduction:  Incident in Lake County
1998
Directed by Dean Alioto
Written by Dean Alioto & Paul Chitlik
Starring Benz Antione, Kristian Ayer & Gillian Barber\
Unrated  -  Approx 93 Min.

Taglines:
None

Alternate Titles:
Incident in Lake County - US Alternative Title
Extrañas criaturas (Strange Creatures) - Argentina
Alien Abduction - Australia
Estranhas Criaturas (Strange Creatures) - Brazil 

Alien Abduction: The McPherson Tape - UK

Back in the 90's there was a resurgence in the fascination of aliens and UFO's.  You couldn't change the channel without hitting on a show about UFO sightings, reports of abductions, specials about Area 51, Groom Lake and Alien Autopsies.  It was a pretty awesome time to be a UFO enthusiast!  It was toward the end of this extra-terrestrial boom that we were treated to this little slice of found footage terror.  About a year before The Blair Witch Project took the world by storm, Incident at Lake County quietly aired in people's home via cable channel UPN and promptly freaked out people like me.

Just your typical dysfunction family Thanksgiving!

The brothers go to check the fuse.  

If you read this blog at all, then you know I'm freaked out by aliens.  Fire in the Sky nearly killed me when I saw if for the first time.  Shows like Unsolved Mysteries and Sightings routinely kept me cautiously looking skyward when driving down a lonely country road by myself at night.  Then this came along.  It was presented the same as the Alien Autopsy special, in that a preamble states that the authenticity of the video is up to the viewer to decide, yadda yadda....you know the drill.

We are introduced to a family getting ready to sit down to Thanksgiving dinner.  (Ah HA!  It's a Thanksgiving themed movie!  BRILLIANT!  They've fused aliens with my favorite food based holiday.  Those diabolical bastards!).  Young Matthew is playing around with a video camera and decides that he'll film the festivities.  Like pretty much any family, this one is dysfunctional.  Mom's alcoholic, the oldest son is a bit of a douchebag.....another teenage son is having naked time with his girlfriend upstairs....you get the idea.  As the turkey is being carved, there's a bright flash of light and the power goes out.  The three boys go out to check the fuses.  That's when they stumble across a landed UFO and aliens slicing open cows with a laser beam.  The aliens spot the boys and follow them back to the house, launching a campaign of terror upon the household.

It's hard to make out, but that's an alien cutting up a cow with a laser beam.  

It seems a little odd that the aliens would dick with these people for half the night instead of just abducting them or whatever they're going to do....but then again, for all I know, aliens are a bunch of douche-nuggets who get off on scaring humans.  Bunch of jerks.

I've got nothing.

Renee ain't lookin' so good.....

Anyway, aliens appear in the house, outside the house, etc in a series of fairly disturbing and poorly lit encounters.  Remember this whole thing is being shot via camcorder (with a light attachment).   The electricity in the house has been knocked out so we're pretty much seeing everything through flashlights and candles.  While it can be a bit frustrating sometimes, it certainly adds to the doom laden atmosphere that this film generates.  All in all, it's a pretty solid entry into the found footage genre that is worth a look.  Especially  if you're like me and equally fascinated and terrified by aliens.

That right there is Nightmare Fuel for a person like me.  Thanks alot!

Midnight Cinephile Tally

Death Toll:  One for sure.....the hot chick.  Why is it always the hot chick.  I don't think it's a spoiler to tell you that they all get abducted....after all it's in the title.  What became of them?  Who knows....maybe they're all dead and laying mutilated in a field somewhere.

Nude O Meter:  Well, technically there's one set of boobs.  However, they are pixilated.  Damn, gypped again.

Things That Go Bump In The Night:  Call them what you want.  Aliens, Greys, etc....these evil little bastards are definitely not just looking to phone home.  Fucking aliens, man.   They creep me out.


Final Thoughts
This definitely has to take the award for strangest Thanksgiving themed horror movie that I've ever seen.  Just the whole merging of turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie and alien abductions seems SO wrong to me on so many levels.  Oh well, at least it wasn't Christmas!

Final Rating
Three out of Five Pizza Rolls

Sixty Six Years of Roswell and Our Favorite Alien Flicks

Sixty-Six years ago the world was changed forever when a craft of unknown origin crashed into a ranch in Roswell, New Mexico. The crash itself occurred on July 7th and the days that followed became a media sensation.  On July 8th, the RAAF (Roswell Army Air Field) released a statement stating that they had recovered a crashed flying disc.  Shortly there after another announcement was made, stating that the debris was in fact from a weather balloon.  One of the greatest mysteries of the 20th Century was born....along with a whole ton of conspiracy theories.

We may never know what happened that night sixty-six years ago, but you can be sure that the legend will never die.  Roswell has been the inspiration for countless movies, TV shows, books, music, video games....hell even board games!  Hell, I'm a magician and I even know of a commercially marketed card trick that deals (get it?  Cards?  Deals?) with Roswell, Aliens and the famous Alien Autopsy video (which purports to show the autopsy of one of the occupants of the Roswell crash.

I could go on forever about aliens, UFO's, Roswell, Area 51 and such, but I won't.  You're here because you want to read about wonky flicks that are best watched at three in the morning.  So therefore, I am announcing that this week (July 7th - July13th) is Alien Week!

What can you expect from Alien Week?  Well, ALIEN STUFF!  Movies, books, games, hell maybe I'll even make a video of myself performing the magic trick I mentioned above!  The most exciting part (for me at least) is going to be the launch of the Midnight Cinephile podcast.  The first episode should be up by the week's end and will feature my good friend Dan from 3D Monster as we discuss our top ten alien movies!

It's going to be a ton of fun so I hope you will tune in and enjoy!  If you have any suggestions for Alien Week or would like to be a part of Alien Week, drop me a line!