In high school, I was a massive fan of the grindhouse film Hobo With A Shotgun, probably to an annoying degree (sorry about that guys!). So obviously, I was delighted to find out its director Jason Eisener was heading a spin-off of his V/H/S series segment “Slumber Party Alien Abduction.” I was completely unaware that “Slumber Party” was one of his creations, primarily due to Eisener’s incredibly variable style. This newest venture is also borderline unrecognizable as a spin-off, but I’m glad Kids vs. Aliens is still pretty darn good.
A Sibling Story Meets Alien Chaos
Kids vs. Aliens follows the strained relationship of younger brother Gary (Dominic Mariche) and older sister Sam (Phoebe Rex). With their neglectful parents away, Sam’s attempt to throw a Halloween party to fit in spirals out of control. It gets even worse when aliens attack the gathering and take victims under the waters of the nearby lake.
The greatest hallmark of how different Kids vs. Aliens is from “Slumber Party” is in its incredibly different aesthetics. Muted camcorder footage has been traded up for much more professional wares, at the cost of verisimilitude. The found footage aspect has been dropped almost entirely, bar a few references to the kid’s home movies. Now we get an incredibly bright tone and very high saturation that makes costumes and lighting pop with a big flash of color. The vibes of the set design are bespoke when paired with this, giving us the most colorful Halloween party I’ve seen on screen in a while (you know, before it all gets jacked up). As a result of the trade-up, we also get some genuinely impressive underwater segments that I know had to be a pain to film but came out great.
A Shift from Terror to Campy Fun
The change in aesthetics also shows a clear shift in the film’s goals. Whereas “Slumber Party Alien Abduction” was terrifying and heartbreaking, this movie never aims for pulse-pounding fear. Outside of similar shots and mirroring plot, the tone is nothing like the original short film. This was admittedly disappointing at first since that was my main point of comparison.
My closest point of comparison now for this would be something like Psycho Goreman. This movie evokes much of the same charm that film had without inheriting its flaws. My second closest point of comparison would be a Goosebumps book if it had a parental advisory sticker. Which, make no mistake, is a good thing! When I came to terms with what this film was, I could enjoy it as a purely campy good time.
Stellar Cast with Comedic Chops
Beyond technical stuff, I greatly enjoyed the cast, all of whom have great comedic timing. Gary, Jack, and Miles are the central grace of this movie, delivering a bunch of surprisingly hilarious lines naturally; I didn’t expect to laugh as much as I did, but everybody just hit their beats right on time. Just like Mariche, Rex also sells herself nicely. You buy her as a wrestling junkie and devoted sister who secretly loves being the star of his homemade monster movies. Even when she’s swinging around an incredibly fake-looking sword, she’s giving a pretty good performance. And when things get serious, they can all pull back and deliver on sincere and sometimes sad moments.
You hear that?
It’s the sound of a film where someone gets liquefied, being more sincere than half of the big-budget releases this year.
A Memorably Vile Villain
The main human antagonist Billy (played by Calem MacDonald), is also so memorable because he must have the worst case of an anti-social personality disorder I’ve ever seen on film. He is downright evil in a way that becomes funny, then doubles back on being despicable again twice over. When he isn’t running for his life, he’s devoted to killing a group of kids who have done nothing to him other than be around. His consistency is incredible, and I don’t care if it’s bad character writing. I love it!
So, how are the aliens putting them in danger then? All right, mostly, heavily carried by how nasty the movie is willing to get with its special effects. You get some silly creature acting that’s a lot more haunted house than haunting, but I’m not complaining. Acid slime melting people and mutating ooze is the real star of the show, however, with everything looking the right level of viscous to make you go “ewww” at least once. The way some characters go out in this is messy, prolonged, and meanspirited in the best of ways.
Synth-Wave Soundtrack Hits the Right Notes
The last thing I should note is the music by Andrew Gordon MacPherson, a synth-wave-heavy soundtrack. It’s effectively equal parts Power Glove and Power Rangers, which fits the movie’s look nicely. It stands out as a pretty good addition to the catalog in a burgeoning era of horror, where I’ve noticed many filmmakers lean on the music to evoke feeling rather than accentuate it. While it is sometimes a bit louder than I would prefer for a scene, it’s a well-made OST that doesn’t try and force a mood. It just strikes the right balance it needs to.
In the end, Kids vs. Aliens may not utilize the full potential of its horrifying premise in the way its short film counterpart did. When it comes to scares, it’s severely lacking. But, as I’ve made clear in many of my reviews, being scared is rarely the end-all-be-all of a great horror movie, and you shouldn’t let that determine whether you see this one. Eisener’s latest endeavor is goofy and tongue-in-cheek, but incredibly heartfelt and well-made too. Its clunkiness in spots is definitively outweighed by its charm, so this is me saying it as strongly as I can: watch it.
Make sure you catch Kids Vs. Aliens on Shudder starting April 14th!
