Outpost Earth

Aliens wipe out the world and a small band of humans try to survive and find a way to fight back.

This isn't an original story, but it is a classic one, and while being low-budget, this movie tells the story well. The locations are excellent, the main actress did a really nice job and the main actor was an interesting anti-hero type. This movie is kind of like Lo-fi music. If you need polished work to enjoy something, this probably won't be for you.

What is going to stick out for most people about this movie are the aliens and their spaceships which are done using old school techniques: stop-motion, models hanging from strings, guys in suits, etc. and for some, these are going to look ridiculous, but there is a huge difference between inexpensive effects and bad effects. These effects are actually very creative and well-crafted and they are used well to tell the story. For me they are a million times better than much more expensive, poorly done CGI effects that really serve no purpose other than filling time that you see in so many movies.

I would actually rate this higher except there was a main plot element that I found problematic. Overall though, great effort.

Survival Lesson: Booze is valuable - For barter, dulling pain, cleaning wounds, and perhaps even interfacing with alien tech.