I'm glad that the Vicious Brothers, not really brothers but more of an artistic name for the duo, talk about ostentatious, got back to basics with this film. Essentially, their last film, Grave Encounters 2, the sequel to a pretty damn good Grave Encounters, was their attempt to show how clever and smart they were. It was so self-referential that it was the film equivalent of these two jerking off in front of everyone. They were essentially patting themselves on the back for making a good movie. That's what the sequel is essentially, the Vicious brothers were congratulating themselves for making a good movie. They had their heads up their ass and I'm kinda glad that they calmed down, or someone calmed them down, whichever it is, and they made a relatively straightforward alien invasion movie. And it's a pretty stylish one at that. It's obvious this film had a larger budget than both Grave Encounters, so they clearly played around with that a lot as the film, visually, at least, is really damn good. It's kind of ironic because one of the blurbs for the reviews on here that there should've been less self-indulgence. Clearly this reviewer did not see Grave Encounters 2. Perhaps Extraterrestrial features some of their self-indulgent tendencies, but I, perhaps being an idiot, who knows, did not pick up on them. Then again, isn't someone wanting to make a film a self-indulgent experiment. At least if you're a filmmaker that makes quality films. The only filmmakers that cannot claim they are doing this for their own indulgence are these directors that do these shitty, low-budget kids' films that no one watches. These people have no delusions of grandeur. But I digress. I thought the film is interesting, at least on a visual level. There was a point where I thought this film was gonna be fun genre fare. And I don't wanna say that it doesn't offer some fun little moments, but there was just something here that kept it from that. I honestly have no idea what it is or where it happened, but it wasn't as much fun as it was shaping up to be. Perhaps because I expected a little more humor out of it. There was some humor here, but it was minimal and prior to the aliens crashing on earth. The characterization and plot development is as cliched and generic as they come. There's nothing the film can do, visually, to blind me to that fact. There's even the whole 'government conspiracy' ending going on here, as if you thought these guys would come up with a clever ending instead of something that's been used, literally, for years now. The acting is fine, the highlight, obviously, being Michael Ironside. Small role, but he's still great in it. Everyone else is decent, I don't really have anything to complain about there. On top of the government conspiracy ending, we also get a bit of a tragic romance ending. To say that it felt out of place with the entire thing taking place during an alien invasion is an understatement. It makes sense with the entire arc April faces, but it still feels completely out of place. Another problem is also the fact that you never buy into these two being in love to the point where you're truly heartbroken about what happens. No matter if you use a sorrowful music score and use a slo-mo effect to make everything look more dramatic than it really is. It's actually really lame, but it is what it is. It's the ending they wanted to go with. Though, to be fair, how exactly do you end this movie once you bring in the government into it? Not a particularly satisfying way to end the film. There is some good gore though, not much, but what is there is good. This movie got worse as I reviewed it so I'm downgrading it to 2 stars. Some cool visual effects and genre thrills are simply not enough to overcome all of its flaws that I've just outlined. It's certainly watchable, I didn't pull my hair out, but I wouldn't exactly recommend it. If the first Grave Encounters is on there then watch that, it's considerably better.

The dark storylines of The Vicious Brothers, known for their cult favorites Grave Encounters 1 & 2, have returned in an entirely new way for their newest film, Extraterrestrial. Given the title alone, we know exactly where this film is headed, and it wastes no time getting there. The film begins with an alien abduction, setting the tone and making it seem as though this will be nothing short of formulaic. Thankfully, it throws "formulaic" out the window. Extraterrestrial is a disturbingly surreal trip through extraterrestrial life and its implications, yet always maintaining a darkly enjoyable tone of satire and humor. It is an incredibly fun and cringe-worthy experience, and much of its success relies on Drew Goddard's The Cabin In The Woods, considering its recent reintroduction to satirical horror. To be blunt, Extraterrestrial is basically what happens when you throw Cabin in the Woods and Signs into a blender, but that doesn't make it any less of a lucid and cerebral experience. The film begins with a group of friends headed to a secluded cabin in the woods for the weekend, much to the dismay of April, who was hoping to have a romantic weekend with her boyfriend, Kyle. The couple and their three friends arrive at the cabin before being warned by a police officer to stay out of trouble and keep to themselves, due to the recent extraterrestrial disturbances (shown in the intro of the film). Yes, formulaic indeed. The friends arrive at their destination and are quick to throw the party into full gear, filled with liquor bottles, pot smoke, and fireworks. As night falls, a friend filming the party notices a fire in the sky falling toward the woods nearby, creating a massive explosion upon collision. Drunk and nervously enthused, the group of friends drive toward the point of collision to find a crashed UFO. After finding a set of eerie footprints leading away from the crash, they speed back to their cabin, terrified by their findings. This, as expected, leads to alien attacks, abductions, and a surprising spew of horror and sci-fi satire. A side-plot of the film follows a cop as he investigates the recent disappearances that have been taking place in the town, with people claiming UFO sightings and abductions. Of course, it is not long before the group of friends find themselves talking to the cops about the events they witnessed, including the abduction of one of their friends. Extraterrestrial is a slow-burn film, taking its time to build intensity and doing so with such intricacy that the end becomes entire unpredictable. As an alien film, it feels like a slapstick throwback to early 60s alien cinema, embedded with its own mesmerizing and disturbing twist. The layers of Extraterrestrial are unmatched and encompass various concept and theories-some philosophical, some comical. Sure, at the end of the day, it's a b-horror flick with occasionally atrocious acting, but it's one that never loses the awareness of its outlandish nature. If it isn't taken too seriously in terms of character development and plot, it is a fantastically unprecedented watch. Extraterrestrial is fun and crazed, while maintaining an intellectual element of surprise, making it irresistibly gripping. It is also surprisingly artistic in its ambiance as it builds in suspense, and its dreamy CGI effects are quite stunning. At the end if it all, Extraterrestrial is a darkly enjoyable tale of aliens and the terror they entail, whether it's treaties with the US or the occasional abductions for experimentations (and of course, anal probes). Lastly, Extraterrestrial has one of the best executed and most disturbing final acts of any sci-fi horror film I've seen in the recent past. It deserves major credit for that.