Voyage Of The Rock Aliens

(1984)
Director: James Fargo
Writers: Edward Gold, S. James Guidotti, Charles Hairston

Voyage Of The Rock Aliens is something special. Not necessarily good. Not necessarily bad. Just "special". The movie begins with a cheesy-looking robot scanning video feeds from other planets, trying to find the source of "this rock and roll" that the aliens manning the ship have become obsessed with finding. Cut to a music video of Jermaine Jackson and Pia Zadora's hit (?) duet When The Rain Begins To Fall, which is apparently about forbidden love in the post-apocalypse. Is this the rock and roll they've been searching for? No. Apparently not, because the robot then decides to go to Earth instead because "why not?". What follows is a fever-like arrangement of scenes that could only be a product of the 80's. The main plot concerns the previously mentioned aliens (Tom Nolan and new wave band Rhema) landing in the small town of Speelburgh (get it?) and posing as a music group entering the local battle of the bands, all while gathering information on Earth. Ruling over this town with an iron fist for no apparent reason is Frankie (Craig Sheffer), who leads a rockabilly band/gang called The Pack. Frustrated by his decision to not allow her to sing ever, Frankie's girlfriend Dee Dee turns to the alien commander ABCD (pronounced Absid). We also get subplots involving the alien-obsessed and completely ineffectual sheriff (Ruth Gordon), a giant tentacled monster that lives in the nearby polluted Lake Eerie (get it?), and two escaped homicidal maniacs known as Chainsaw (Michael Berryman) and The Breather. The last of these is definitely the most entertaining of the bunch.

If you're a fan of eighties' culture, dumb movies, and/or musicals, Voyage Of The Rock Aliens is definitely worth checking out. The music is passable, the story is out there, and there are more than enough unintentionally hilarious scenes to make it an enjoyable hour and a half.

8 out of 12 beers