Python Hyena Aliens in the Attic (2009): Dir: John Schultz / Cast: Carter Jenkins, Austin Robert Butler, Ashley Tisdale, Doris Roberts, Kevin Nealon: Capturing a possible childhood nightmare is reduced to special effects that are about as fetching as dog snot. An alien invasion begins within the attic of the Pearson vacation home and a band of kids struggle to ward them off. Directed by John Schultz with a ridiculous screenplay filled with kiddie violence. Terrible acting performances by Carter Jenkins who constantly bares the same dull expression. He is the hero who must prove himself because he is always in trouble. He must have been in very big trouble to get stuck in a film this awful. Austin Robert Butler plays his equally terrible sidekick who takes stupid risks. Starring in this film should sum up a pretty big career risk. Ashley Tisdale appears in what amounts to promotional value only. She sits poolside while her creep boyfriend makes plans to bed her. Then she complains when Jenkins and Butler play nasty pranks on him. Doris Roberts plays the grandmother in perhaps her most embarrassing role as she ends up possessed and in a martial arts fight against Tisdale's possessed boyfriend. Kevin Nealon wastes his comic talent in this laughless garbage. Had the production sparkled then children might have enjoyed it. Unfortunately it is pointless guck that should be locked in an attic. Score: 2 / 10

SanteeFats This a very funny film, at least in my opinion. It reminds me of Disney's "Spaced Invaders" in some respects. This movie starts with a family going on a vacation. There is the weenie nerd that is acting up, deliberately getting poor grades. The love struck teen sister and a younger sister who is still at the grade school level. The parents are of course parents. They get to the vacation house and the older sister's boyfriend shows up too. Then the grandmother and her second son and his kids appear. Shortly after this the aliens show up. They are about 2 feet tall and are on a mission to conquer earth, except for the new engineer who turns out to be friendly to the earthlings. It turns out that kids are immune from the aliens mind control device and so they fight back. The action is funny and entertaining with the boyfriend going from alien control to control by the kids. They make him do so many weird things including throwing big sis in to the lake. By the end, with the little aliens help, the baddies are beaten and the invasion is thwarted. Don't stop watching after what appears to be the end, there is some funny stuff coming.

SnoopyStyle The extended Pearsons gather at their vacation home. They seem like an everyday bickering loving family. Then tiny little aliens come to enslave humanity and retrieve something from the basement.The 'kids' (Carter Jenkins, Austin Butler, Ashley Tisdale) are an energetic bunch who are slightly older than their characters. There is nothing surprising about this, but it's just reminiscent of every other kiddie movie. The adults (Kevin Nealon, Gillian Vigman, Andy Richter, Doris Roberts) are great comedians but are all under used. This is definitely a paint-by-number children's movie. It's harmless, but it's nothing special either.

Neil Welch Tom is a put-upon teenager. Always in Dad's bad books, at odds with sister Bethany and her boyfriend Ricky (who is nice as pie to Mom and Dad, but horrible to Tom), he hates having to go with them on holiday to a lakeside house with his uncle and domineering cousin (plus hi young sister and cousin twins). The awfulness continues as the holiday starts and then gets worse as the holiday house turns out to be the destination of a small alien invasion advance party. And small is the key word - these guys are barely shin high, but they are incredibly aggressive. Tom knows nobody will believe him, but it turns out all the kids (except Bethany) have to join together to combat the aggressors, especially when it turns out that the aliens can fire a dart which makes people from Ricky's age upwards (which excludes the kids) controllable via a video game controller.This is essentially a kids' film, although I watched it with my wife - she is nearly 62 and I am her 59 year old toyboy - and we laughed out loud frequently. There are no big surprises, but the script is constantly amusing, and there is some wonderful slapstick and physical humour, especially from Robert Hoffman as boyfriend Ricky - he is very funny in an impressive performance.And the CGI aliens are very well designed, animated, and integrated into the live action, as well as having some solid voice talent on board.