THE DAY THE WORLD ENDED is another lame TV movie released as part of a Creature Features set of '50s remakes. I've yet to see one I liked! Just the other movies in the series, this bears no resemblance to the movie it's a remake of, and in addition it has absolutely nothing to do with the world ending. It's another run of the mill alien on the loose outing, complete with weird townsfolk, poor attempts at humour and a psychic kid. Somehow, some notable actors have been roped into this mess, including Nastassja Kinski (TO THE DEVIL A DAUGHTER) looking aged as the doctor heroine and Randy Quaid (INDEPENDENCE DAY) playing another weirdo, this time the stepfather from hell.
The film has the whole 'is the alien real or not?' thing going on but it's so mundane, routine and downright boring that you end up not caring. The cast give bizarre, non-serious performances which takes away from any dramatic tension that might have been built as a result of their attitudes. The alien in the woods stuff has been done to death and close-up shots of the extraterrestrial's teeth have been ripped off from ALIENS. I'll admit that there's one decent set piece, a ferocious encounter in a toilet, but it's not worth watching the film just to see that. The best action would be go and watch some of the ORIGINAL '50s creature features like IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE instead just to see how fun and campy they are in comparison to this lacklustre cash-in.
The film has the whole 'is the alien real or not?' thing going on but it's so mundane, routine and downright boring that you end up not caring. The cast give bizarre, non-serious performances which takes away from any dramatic tension that might have been built as a result of their attitudes. The alien in the woods stuff has been done to death and close-up shots of the extraterrestrial's teeth have been ripped off from ALIENS. I'll admit that there's one decent set piece, a ferocious encounter in a toilet, but it's not worth watching the film just to see that. The best action would be go and watch some of the ORIGINAL '50s creature features like IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE instead just to see how fun and campy they are in comparison to this lacklustre cash-in.