Films involving aliens admittedly do spark my interest and there are some fun ones out there, and some obvious masterpieces (won't name them at the risk of sounding unfair). Low-budget alien films on the most part do not have a good reputation and it is not hard to see why with most of them being intelligence insulting and making one seriously question how much effort went into it.
While far from the worst case, compared to the attempts especially made by SyFy and The Asylum (and a couple of others), 'Alien Reign of Man' does nothing to convert my general negative feelings on low-budget alien films. It's an incredibly bad mess and came incredibly close to having no redeeming qualities because of how much it does wrong and in a way that's jaw-droppingly awful. Oddly enough though there were a couple of small things that just about stopped it from falling into that category.
'Alien Reign of Man' is saved from total doom by the photography, even if far from exceptional, having some atmosphere and skill and actually not making me nauseous.
There is the odd fair costume and a few effects that look as if effort was made into them.
However, they are completely eclipsed by everything else being so dreadfully done. 'Alien Reign of Man' has a very drab look, and that a vast majority of the costumes are shoestring budget and that the rest of the effects are at best afterthought-looking pathetic further cheapen it, which makes the effort that went into the photography a waste. Editing was choppy too.
The music is too loud, very annoying and doesn't fit with the atmosphere at all, actually sounding like it was written for something else. The sound effects are bizarre and muffled, which does affect the dialogue and the balance between that and the sound. The dialogue is extremely stilted and without any bite, intrigue or urgency. That is when it is comprehensible, unfortunately most of the time it is not.
Something that affects the story coherence too. Further bad news for a story that's already paper thin, slow as molasses (and that is an insult to molasses) and well overdone on the ridiculousness. The characters are like robots in personality and have nothing interesting or distinguishable about them. The direction is pancake-flat.
While the actors are not entirely to blame, they throughout, and without exception, look as unfamiliar and indifferent to the material (characters and dialogue) as the viewer is.
Overall, a couple of small redeeming qualities but generally a big mess. 2/10 Bethany Cox
