ATTACK OF THE UNKNOWN

Directed by: Brandon Slagle

Starring:  Richard Grieco, Robert LaSardo, Jolene Andersen, Tara Reid

When a SWAT team is given the task of escorting dangerous cartel member Miguel Aguire, their mission becomes much worse when a giant alien spaceship hovers over the city and unleashes a wave of destruction as it's extraterrestrial soldiers start to harvest human blood. Trapped in the local jailhouse, the team must work with the inmates - including Miguel, if they are to survive…

Attack of the Unknown is a very decent mash-up of modern action and classic pulp sci-fi.

The first 20 minutes play out like a typical cop show - undercover agent Mills has infiltrated Miguel Aguire's inner circle and is about to instigate an arrest in the middle of a major deal. However the SWAT team are spotted too early and the gang have time to prepare and defend themselves. After an intense gun battle, Miguel is taken into custody but not before Mills is injured. The SWAT team are headed up by officer Vernon (Grieco) and Maddox (Douglas Tait), and are none too pleased that the FBI swoop in at the last minute to take their collar. This whole sequence is very well done although could have done with more oomph to the sound fx. Robert LaSardo has a great scene where he takes a boy hostage and finds out that Mills was a cop.

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the city in an affluent neighbourhood, two police officers are transporting a suspect when they come across some sort of “electrical disturbance”. It actually turns out to be a crashed alien spaceship and the pilot is none too pleased.  There is some very good banter in this scene as the two officers argue how best to deal with the situation. As the invasion hits and people start to panic there are some more fun scenes, in particular a tourist who ends up joining the SWAT team as they leg it to the jailhouse.

The film then dovetails into a siege movie, such as Assault on Precinct 13, except instead of gang members its giant aliens trying to get in. The aliens here are specifically after human blood and have special tentacle weapons to stab and drain you with. The alien design has a classic feel to it - green skin, bug eyes and very sharp teeth. They are a good lumbering presence in the film. There is a bit of a nod towards Predator, when we learn that the aliens have visited Earth before, according to legends told by Miguel's grandfather, and the drawings by his son. Even though there are obvious budget restrictions, some of the special fx really stand up to the big boys. The shot of the mothership over the city is really impressive and looks a lot better than similar shots in Independence Day. 

This has a very solid cast made of some veteran actors. Richard Greico (from the original 21 Jump Street tv series) gives a very sombre performance. His character is given some very bad news early on but what is interesting is that he opens up about it to his two closest friends. Normally that sort of drama would be stoically bottled up. Robert LaSardo is superb as Miguel. LaSardo has been on just about every tv show in the past 20 years and brings a lot of gravitas to his role. Jolene Andersen is also very good as Hannah, the sole female member of the SWAT team who has to be as tough as the guys around her.

For the most part, Attack of the Unknown is a very polished production helped immeasurably by some great cinematography by Michael Su, who does great work with the interiors. Whilst the some of the special fx are low budget, such as some of the explosions, they are decent enough to convey the action.  The alien costumes and prosthetic makeup is really well done, although the fx for the tentacles does leave a lot to be desired.

THE VERDICT

Attack of the Unknown has all the right elements in play - a decent cast, a script with decent dialogue, interesting looking badguys, a unique motive for attacking Earth (space vampires!). The only thing really missing is some better special fx to really give the film the polish it deserves. Nevertheless, if you can overlook one or two threadbare scenes, this is a very entertaining alien invasion/siege mashup.

7 out of 10 (MikeOutWest)