December 6, 2015 | Awake & Dreaming

Extraterrestrial is a 2014 sci-fi horror film that was directed by Colin Minihan, based on a script by both Vicious Brothers. It stars Brittany Allen, Freddie Stroma, Jesse Moss, Aaja Savic and Melanie Papalia, as a group of friends that must defend themselves against an alien onslaught, with veteran actors Gil Bellows & Michael Ironside playing supporting roles. Emily Perkins also has a small role in the film.

We start the film with a woman running towards a gas station store in a small town out near the woods, asking to use the phone. The clerk does not open the store as it is closing time so she gets into a phone booth next to it but after she calls 911 she is attacked by an unseen creature. As the clerk comes to check after hearing her screams he finds the booth has been lifted into the air and watches it fall right back down. He calls the sheriff’s office who can’t find much evidence of what has happened. Later we see April who has come to stay the weekend in her parent’s old cabin in the woods and take photos of it as it is to be sold. Joining her are her boyfriend Kyle and their friends Seth, Melanie & Seth’s girlfriend Lex. On their way they are given a warning by sheriff Murphy for Kyle setting of fireworks while in the car. Once they reach the cabin the 5 drink and smoke marijuana. April & Melanie run into Travis, a Vietnam vet and old friend of April’s dad, who has all kinds of conspiracy theories.

As night descends Kyle proposes to April but she hesitates as she has a job offer in NY while he still is in college. Suddenly they see something crash in the woods and upon investigating find that it’s a UFO. After returning to the cabin they hear noises upstairs, and after getting April’s father’s gun find nothing but an open door. After finding an alien on the patio April shoots it to death. They then try and drive to town but find that the road is blocked. Lex is suddenly abducted as another UFO appears above them and beams her up. The rest flee back to Travis’ place, hoping for some answers. Travis gives them his theory in that the aliens and the US government have had a treaty since Roswell; they abduct people while the government is left in control to clean up the mess. They only have one rule: No Human must Engage Them. Since April shot one of them, it was considered a breach in the treaty, and now the aliens are out for blood. The kids run back to the cabin and board up the windows, while Travis stays behind to fight, only to get either abducted or killed.

Back the cabin, Seth mistakes the cops for aliens and shoot at them and he is handcuffed and put into the back seat of the car by deputy Mitchell. Sheriff Murphy investigates the barn nearby and finds Melanie’s dog lying dead and mutilated (just like some similar cases of cattle being mutilated in the area) and is startled by a alien who he shoots at but which escapes. It is revealed that Sheriff Murphy’s wife mysteriously disappeared and he finally believes that it was aliens that took her. As Murphy and Deputy Mitchell (Sean Rogerson) argue about Murphy’s wife, an alien appears in front of the car and controls Murphy’s mind to shoot Deputy Mitchell and himself. Before the aliens can get Seth, he is saved by April and they return to the cabin. Seth tells the group that they got into Murphy’s head before he abandons the group. As he is running though the forest he is attacked by the aliens who are about to abduct him. He handcuffs his arm to a tree but he is still abducted, and his severed arm is left dangling from the tree.

As the aliens begin attacking the cabin, Kyle locks April and Melanie in the basement so they don’t get abducted. Meanwhile, Kyle hides in the bathroom with a knife, hoping to ambush the aliens. When he walks past a mirror, an alien jumps out and abducts him. Melanie secretly overdoses on meds and dies leaving April alone. April, armed with a crowbar, prepares to face the aliens but she finds out that they are leaving and realizes they have taken Kyle. She signals the UFO by setting off one of Seth’s fireworks and she is abducted. April wakes up covered in slime and on another planet, where she finds out that the aliens are experimenting on humans. Seth is shown strapped to an operating table. He is covered in a strange slime and little larvae like robots, and has a triangle shaped drawing scarred onto his stomach. He is anally probed, and then dies from his wounds. April finds Kyle and revives him. They hug and the aliens return them to earth. Kyle and April walk through the woods and upon seeing soldiers, they run towards them. They are shot, and as they are dying, April gives Kyle the engagement ring, which he takes and puts on her finger before they are executed.

As the movie ends soldiers clear out the debris and dead bodies while a senior officer approaches a man in a suit (man in black) asking “What should we do with the bodies?”. The man in the suit replies, “What we always do”. This scene could be a hommage to the Men in Black and The Cigarette Smoking man from The X-Files. The film doesn’t really pick up and though has some promise, fails to deliver. The best scenes, uptil the final moments, are when Bellows or Ironside are on screen. 6.5 outta 10!

Olivier Giroud scored for both teams as below-par Arsenal battled past Sunderland to end a run of three Premier League games without a win. Arsenal were poor for long periods, but led when Joel Campbell finished from a Mesut Ozil through ball. Sunderland deservedly levelled through a free-kick that Giroud deflected into his own net. But Giroud made amends with a header from virtually the same spot, before Aaron Ramsey scrambled a late third. Sunderland, who have been dragged back into the relegation zone by Bournemouth’s win at Chelsea, can rightly feel hard done by after a performance of both disciplined defence and incisive attacking play.

Arsenal were hampered by the absence of both Santi Cazorla and Alexis Sanchez and looked ponderous going forward, while a shaky defence was indebted to the excellence of goalkeeper Petr Cech. Still, they climb to second in the Premier League, two points behind leaders Leicester. Giroud’s performance was almost Arsenal in microcosm – the own goal an error caused by Sunderland pressure, but ultimately enough quality to secure a victory that was barely deserved. A lacklustre first-half display looked set to be behind the Gunners when Campbell finished a seven-pass move underneath the on-rushing Costel Pantilimon. But they were ahead for only 12 minutes as the impressive Duncan Watmore won a free-kick on the left that was swung in by Yann M’Vila and accidentally steered home by the leg of Giroud. Arsenal showed little sign of improving in the second half, but, as in the first, one flowing move was enough to cut through an otherwise organised Sunderland defence.

Nacho Monreal was heavily involved as Arsenal came down the left, with Giroud stooping to head Ramsey’s cross into the same part of the net he erroneously found in the first half. The third, in the dying moments, was harsh on a Sunderland team looking for an equaliser. With visiting defenders outnumbered, Ramsey pounced to leave a scoreline that did not reflect the contest. With so many players out injured, Arsenal needed their most experienced men to perform and Ozil and Cech delivered. Virtually all of Arsenal’s attacking play went through Ozil, but it was the performance of Cech that was perhaps most telling.

So Arsenal are back in 2nd place with 30 points after 15 games played, 2 behind surprise leaders Leicester City and 1 ahead of Manchester City & Manchester United.