A wandering surveyor (Syd Brisbane) camping in the desolate Australian Outback suddenly encounters a mysterious young woman (Ullie Birve) one night. It turns out that she's an alien from the planet Epsilon, accidentally sent down to Earth, and stranded there for the time being. As they get to know each other, she berates him and the human species for their ignorance and wanton destruction of their own planet. Up to now, he'd never thought much about it, but she forces him to actually think about these things.
This ultra low-budget outing is going to be MUCH too slow, talky, and philosophical for some tastes, but as it is, it's an interesting take on alien visitation cinema. Yes, it does come off as pretty familiar: we've seen stories like this in such classic sci-fi flicks as "The Day the Earth Stood Still". We have a human being here who's largely shunned holding himself accountable, and is only (forcefully) reminded of his ignorance by this extraterrestrial visitor. It's also rather predictable that these two should fall in love, but Brisbane and Birve are so good and so engaging that it seems only natural that the man and woman should make a connection. (She comes off as thorny at first, but endears herself more to the viewer as time goes on.)
Framed by the storytelling device of having a narrator (played by Alethea McGrath) relating the tale to her granddaughters, "Alien Visitor" may not have true mass appeal, but it accomplishes a fair bit on its budget, what with all of its rather pointed dialogue, and its intimate & emotional content. In the end, it didn't leave this viewer unaffected, and it drove home the point that one person *can* make a difference in the world around them.
Seven out of 10.
This ultra low-budget outing is going to be MUCH too slow, talky, and philosophical for some tastes, but as it is, it's an interesting take on alien visitation cinema. Yes, it does come off as pretty familiar: we've seen stories like this in such classic sci-fi flicks as "The Day the Earth Stood Still". We have a human being here who's largely shunned holding himself accountable, and is only (forcefully) reminded of his ignorance by this extraterrestrial visitor. It's also rather predictable that these two should fall in love, but Brisbane and Birve are so good and so engaging that it seems only natural that the man and woman should make a connection. (She comes off as thorny at first, but endears herself more to the viewer as time goes on.)
Framed by the storytelling device of having a narrator (played by Alethea McGrath) relating the tale to her granddaughters, "Alien Visitor" may not have true mass appeal, but it accomplishes a fair bit on its budget, what with all of its rather pointed dialogue, and its intimate & emotional content. In the end, it didn't leave this viewer unaffected, and it drove home the point that one person *can* make a difference in the world around them.
Seven out of 10.