Memorable, crazy movie

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Currently, "Alien From L.A." is #98 on IMDb's Bottom 100 list.Wanda is a fear-ridden nerdy woman with a VERY annoying voice (Kathy Ireland). She loses a boyfriend because of her many fears and prays to God to give her strength. Soon after, she receives a free ticket to Zamboanga, North Africa (which, by the way, is in the Philippines--not Africa as you learn in the film). There she meets up with an associate of her missing father and she soon falls into a tunnel that takes her deep within the earth. She ends up in a bizarre New Wave version of Atlantis--a dark place with a very screwy sense of design and fashion. There, she is seen as an alien--and soon the residents of this xenophobic society are in a panic trying to capture her. Along the way, a semi-hunky guy accompanies on her mild adventures.While I do not think that this film deserves to be among the entries on IMDb's infamous 'Bottom 100' list, it is bad. There are three main problems: Kathy Ireland, the script and the design. The worst of these clearly is Miss Ireland. Who would have thought to have this supermodel portraying a nerdy idiot?! In this role, she plays it VERY squeaky--with a high-pitched voice that sounds like a four year-old. It is VERY annoying and very hard on the ears--as well as sounding very fake. It also serves to make her seem stupid. As far as the script goes, it was very, very weak and silly--and the dialog was cringe-worthy throughout. And it was made much worse so by the freaky New Wave clothing, hair, body paint and the like. It frankly looks like the film's designers and fashion consultants were the guys from A Flock of Seagulls--but with a bargain basement budget. Overall, the film is dopey and not worth your time unless you are like me and you enjoy seeing celebrities crash and burn in their film debuts.

I have set myself the task of seeing all the films on IMDBs bottom 100 as a kind of pet project and I was positively surprised when I got to number 97 (starting at #100). Alien from L.A is not so much a bad film as a mediocre one. It is like one of those B-movie adventure films with a lot of clichés, low budget special effects, cheesy dialog and poorly choreographed action scenes. I you don't take them seriously, and try to see the humor in them instead, those films can actually be entertaining, if a bit pointless. I found myself wanting to like this one but struggling. The crazy underground world full of strange visuals, where our protagonist - a geeky girl with an annoyingly squeaky voice - goes on lots of pointless little adventures is a bit too much for me. Alien from L.A. gets a 4 out of 10 for effort but falls a bit short of actually being lovable.

While I can't find fault with Kathy Ireland's decision to branch out of swimsuit modeling to get into acting, but is Alien from L.A. really the best she could come up with for her first movie? What better way to begin a career than to star in a movie that's a cheesy sort of Alice in Wonderland meets the Road Warrior with a twist of Bob Fosse for good measure? And to top it off, why not take one of the world's most beautiful women and give her the most annoying voice imaginable? She sounds like what you might expect if you fed helium to Mickey Mouse. I can't think of a better way to kick off an acting career! Alien form L.A. also features what I consider to be one of the stupidest, lamest, and most infuriating movie clichés ever dreamed up. How can losing your glasses and changing your clothes so completely change one's personality? Movies like Alien from L.A. would have you believe that you can go from mousy frump to supermodel with a new outfit. They don't get it – it's not about the clothes – it's about an attitude. You can't change your persona like you do your socks.Despite its numerous problems, there's still some fun to be had with Alien from L.A. If you're a fan of the thick, gooey 80s-style cheese, you'll find a heaping helping in this movie. From the Flock of Seagulls look of several of the characters to the synthed-up soundtrack – it's the 80s at its best (or worst as the case may be). As an added bonus, the movie features a healthy dose of campy humor that works if you take it the right way. I think too many people go into this movie expecting something quite different from what it is. They take the movie far more serious than it was ever intended to be. It's not perfect, but parts can be fun.

And the title says it all: a cheesy sounding title that is a cheesy sounding joke of a film known as "Alien from L.A." Why not just call it "Alien from South Africa," as this is the place where this movie was filmed? My advice for watching movies that have been featured on "Mystery Science Theater 3000:" do not watch the original version of the movie at all! Period! Always watch the movie with the theater shadow at the bottom of the screen, with a man trapped in space with his two funny, wise-cracking robot friends sitting at the lower right hand corner of the screen. It just seems better that way.Movie as it was originally seen: Awful! Movie as it was seen on MST3K: Genius!