zardoz-13
If you're counting, somewhere between 18 and 19 minutes elapses before an alien meteor hits planet Earth, and the aliens launch their invasion. The first bad looking, B-movie alien doesn't appear until about 33 minutes have passed. Writer & director Adam R. Steigert and a quartet of scribes, including Janeen Avery, Terry Kimmel, Mark Mendola and Michael Sciabarrasi, stockpile clichés galore in this low-budget, unintentionally hilarious science fiction saga. Initially entitled "Ombis: Alien Invasion," "Not Human" reminded me a lot of the 1958 Steve McQueen cult classic chiller "The Blob." The first victim of the meteorite lives long enough for the hero to put him in his car and take him to the local doctor. No sooner has the doctor seen the victim that green slime attaches itself to her. Predictably, she screams, bleeds, and dies. The slime slips into the drain and the sheriff summons a plumber who says that he has seen everything. The poor plumber gets the surprise of his life when the slime attacks him! Later, the defunct doctor is reconstituted and kills a deputy sheriff. . The hero Mark (Jason John Beebe of "Sharknado 2: The Second One") has just enlisted in the U.S. Army when the meteor hits. Although he graduated from high school four years ago, Mark still wears his letter jacket because he says it brings him luck. He is the first of the Metzburgh resident to see the alien being with its three fingered hands and escape from it. The alien is vaguely human-like in stature. At 40 minutes, the humans bring a sample of the green slime to a high school chemistry professor, Professor O'Neil (Bill Choinski), but he too is absorbed by the stuff! He turns into a jolly green giant of a monster. The sheriff's last deputy shoots him before the deputy is himself killed. This is about the time that black-suited, anonymous government types in sunglasses show up to investigate and seal off the town. "Do not be alarmed," Mr. Gray informs the citizens at a town meeting as he explains that a containment team is on the way. A citizen infected with the alien bacteria bursts into the town hall meeting at the high school, and hysteria erupts as it infects even more citizens. Essentially, what we have is a green slime vomit session. One scene obviously played for laughs involves a babe who goes tan and turns green. Meantime, everybody is going stark, raving, berserk in the streets. Clearly, Adam R. Steigert is a better producer than he is a director. One of the most obnoxious characters, an unsavory wife-beater who abuses his two daughters dies when the alien literally blasts him out of his shoes with a powerful extraterrestrial gun. Eventually, Mr. Gray comes clean to Mark and his girlfriend: "It's an alien bacteria from another world. It's highly contagious and extremely deadly. We believe it is one of the reasons there is no life on Mars." Gray goes on to say that they call the alien predator Nemesis and that bullets have no effect on it. If this is bad enough, Gray explains that the town is already marked for destruction. Mark refuses to leave his girlfriend's mother Sara and sister Haley. Gray hands him a pistol, and Mark goes back. He tangles with Nemesis in a life and death struggle. The sheriff and the girls get away moments before the jets arrive and nuke the town. There are some end credits extra scenes.The acting is worse than worse. Everybody recites their lines as if they were reading them off cue cards. Top-billed actor Richard Satterwhite gives what qualifies as the most acceptable performance. He appears to be channeling Dwayne Johnson with his effusive delivery. His best line is: "I feel like a man with no arms in a bowling alley." One of his three deputies uttered by the funniest line: "Mark, what do you want me to say? That the world's being invaded by aliens." The graphics are phony. The green slime is pretty funny, too. It looks like the actors have been splashed with it or they wear a mask covered in green slime. Nemesis looks like a wrestler in a mask. We're talking bottom of the barrel! "Not Human" is not good!
otakutommychan
The acting was awful, the dialogue even worse. Whoever wrote the script hasn't seen a sci-fi movie in his life. The characters were 2-dimensional and were portrayed as mindless drones with the IQ of children, are we really meant to believe that an officer of the law wouldn't be able to see the obvious right in front of him?The "special effects" were something right out of BBC's Chucklevision.The premise of the movie its self, however, the bare bones idea behind the movie was good and solid, a great movie COULD have been made out of the premise with a little research and a little thought; and much better dialogue.The movie is just too unbelievable to enjoy for me, the biological science behind the creatures is just ridiculous.If this movie had a better writer for the script, and cut down on the cringe-worthy dialogue that made you wanna smash your own face in with a frying pan it probably would have been OK.As it is, however, I turned it off after 40 minutes.
Chip Reichenthal (victimsofretail-483-6334)
This Film is an absolute gem. There are some elements of the Movie, "Ombis:Alien Invasion" that we haven't seen done in films of this genre in quite a while, as I find many such films mean-spirited, unoriginal, dull and visceral. 'Ombis' brings back a feel-good element, gives its characters some old-fashioned chivalry and heart, or courtesy and grace, while smartly balancing laughs with shocks, and there wasn't a single second during our viewing where we caught ourselves drifting into daydreams…another thing I have not experienced in quite some time. 'Ombis' is at once campy and intelligent, scares are quickly replaced with laughs, in it there are ups and downs, silliness and sorrow, happiness and hardship, action and quiet, kindness and betrayal, goofiness and grace…often in the same scenes. The result is fun, delightful, and never dull, and a treasure to behold for those who see Movies for an escape, or to have a good time. This is indeed fun, and the whole family can enjoy 'Ombis: Alien Invasion", and, hopefully, embrace a premise where mutants, aliens, action heroes, government interventions and small-town charm all fit smartly into a delightful homage to the cult classic. This film is absolutely destined to be a cult classic, yet as it stands is already classic indeed."Ombis: Alien Invasion" takes place in the small, any-town USA of Metzburgh. The town is carefully and lovingly watched over by its Sheriff, delightfully portrayed by Richard Satterwhite. The peace of this community is quickly jeopardized when a meteor crashes in its midst, carrying a biological agent detrimental to humans, and its harmful effects begin quickly to spread, with potentially dreadful results. Into the fray walks unlikely hero Mark (Jason John Beebe), and this young Man soon finds himself smack-dab in the middle of all the chaos, while chivalrous and heroically engaging infected townsfolk, an alien other than the infectious agent mysteriously added to the mix, federal agents attempting to trump local law enforcement, town drunks, plumbers, inept deputies and his sweetheart. Many things are going on at the same time, both with hero Mark, and with the films emotional and action elements. Rather than ending up confusing us, it adds to the overall enjoyment of the film, and also gives the film ideal appeal for repeated viewing. Credit Director Adam R. Steigert for giving 'Ombis' such wonderful heart and great fun, and giving us a Movie that stands out for bringing classic elements of campy fun, moral character, unexpected thrills and multi-layered plot and emotion. I do believe Steigert is a Director to watch, as if this is an example of his ability, the future has to be as enticing and interesting as his tongue- in-cheek homage to science fiction/horror films that aren't in it for taking themselves seriously. It reminds me of the Bruce Campbell-laden 'Evil Dead' films, in the sense that those films wink at themselves while giving great entertainment value…though it's somewhat unfair to compare this film to anything. It stands as original on its own, and it's about time we see anything original lately.It should be noted that this film is an example of a very dear thing, the community of the Deftone Pictures Studios. This film used talent local to Deftone, and honored everything in its regard. A community effort indeed. With that, there are the occasional novice performances, and you can see some of that if you look carefully, and because of that I have to abstain from giving 'Ombis' a perfect rating. It's ironic, though, as considering the level of performance Steigert gets out of his first-timers, as well as his weathered professionals, and the gallant character to take risks in honoring the use of local talent, rather than staying safe and using only professionals, makes this film more deserving of a perfect rating than most top-budget projects from big Hollywood that stand only to exemplify mediocrity. It has to be said how marvelous it is to see Deftone throw caution to the wind, to honor the heart of a community vital to their process, so I say it here. Deftone, and "Ombis: Alien Invasion" deserve major nods, for bringing us all something we should see much more often, but, at least see 'Ombis'. It's worth giving oneself a good time, if not a delightful one. 9 of 10 stars.
