soulexpress In this low-budget ANDROMEDA STRAIN rip-off, an unknown, and potentially lethal, microorganism is accidentally set loose aboard the freight train that's carrying it through rural Wisconsin. As a result, the five people involved are quarantined at the nearest railroad depot. There's Dr. Sorenson (Stafford Smith), a biochemist who, for some reason, was the only person guarding the virus during its train ride; Hank (Buck Flower), a hayseed railroad worker whose tenacious curiosity led to the exposure of the virus; Jack (John Goff), a brash railroad laborer who resents being held at the depot; Charlie (Ralph Meeker), a meek, pencil-pushing railroad clerk; and Jenny (Carol Irene Newell), his bookkeeper.Though classified as a sci-fi movie, THE ALPHA INCIDENT really is not one. Most of it plays out in the railroad depot and features the characters bickering. The five are unique from each other, but not terribly interesting. By the halfway mark, Charlie has pretty much disappeared. He's still there but melds with the background and barely says a word. Why did Meeker get top billing when he clearly did not play the main character? It's not like anybody would say, "Gosh, Ralph Meeker's in this film! I have to see it now."Jenny is supposed to be this classy seductress but comes across as frumpy. When she changes clothes and emerges in a V-neck dress and high heels, she exudes the provocativeness of a little girl playing dress-up. Jack is a petulant child who yells when he doesn't get his way. Hank is the ostensible comic relief, but his bumbling manner suggests an acquired brain injury. And Sorenson handles his leadership role with the aplomb of M*A*S*H's Henry Blake.A skilled director would have built up the tension to an excruciating level, but not here. Ultimately, director Bill Rebane does far too little with an interesting (if unoriginal) premise. THE ALPHA INCIDENT suffers from a weak script, spartan sets, uninspired acting, shoddy production values, and characters about whom one simply does not give a damn. It has a few good moments, but there's too much mediocrity in between.

Rainey Dawn The film really is comparable to The Andromeda Strain in the way the people are isolated together quickly over a virus and they are forced to deal with each other while trying remain alive and time is ticking away. But the way each film plays out, how the incident happens, the characters and interactions with each other and the ending of both movies are very different from one another. The Alpha Incident and The Andromeda Strain would make a great double feature together due to their similarities.With this movie, you'd never believe how interesting it can be when 4 people plus one government man (5 people total) stuck together by enforceable isolation in a train station over a virus can be really interesting but it is! There's a lot of talking, trying to find things to do, lots of worrying over what this particular strand of virus can do... a few flashes to the big military man and the scientist trying to find an antidote *bam* we have a good movie!! I really enjoyed this one!! 8.5/10

Chase_Witherspoon I saw "Manos, the Hands of Fate" and lived to tell the mediocre tale; I also saw daylight the other-side of "The Lucifer Project" and "Doomsday Weapon", and so I reckon I know a stinker when I smell one, but I can say with confidence, that "The Alpha Incident" is not the proverbial turkey it's often branded. Bill Rebane's reputation precedes him, but occasionally he does get it right, so credit where it's due, "Alpha" is a moody, atmospheric and suspenseful if somewhat talky thriller about a Martian virus that has potentially infected a small group of mostly bystanders at a remote railway station, forcing them into quarantine under the watchful eye of Government bio-chemist Stafford Morgan, himself also in containment maintaining contact with the outside world via telephone as he awaits news of a much-anticipated antidote.While it's limited in action, it's not as benign as some other reviews might suggest, with a clever plot twist significantly ratcheting up the tension as the desperate group learn they must not fall asleep, lest a fate worse than death awaits. The performances from Morgan, Goff and Newell in particular are actually very watchable, not over-wrought and certainly not amateur fodder. Star-billed Meeker might be the biggest name on-hand as the meek railroad pen-pusher, but Morgan is clearly the lead and his reliable presence underlines why he was such a prolific actor in the 1970's and 1980's. There's plenty of sympathy for each of the characters (which are mostly clichés), none moreso than Newell's small-town nubile "Jenny", watching her potential evaporate under the prying scrutiny of small-town rednecks looking for tail to taint. Rebane-regular Paul Bentzen and dependable supporting actor John Alderman play the scientists desperately trying to develop an antidote before our stricken survivors submit to eternal slumber, with the prospect of failure looming large as the tone becomes more sombre....While not entirely absent here, Rebane's hard-earned reputation as a plodding film-maker, substituting reams of dialogue for the action a micro-budget can't afford, his narrative is relatively taut and the tension and pathos he builds, quite effective. And if you do persist, you will be rewarded with some cheap (but effective) special effects that won't soon be forgotten - a little bonus material for those who persevere. It's not a great movie, but it's a lot better than its reputation implies and well worth watching.

wes-connors "A Mars space probe returns to Earth and brings with it a microorganism from the red planet. While transporting the microscopic alien life form by train, there is an accident and the microorganism is unleashed. Exposure to the alien virus forces four strangers (sic) into quarantine while government scientists rush to find a cure," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis. Not exactly "four strangers", but: biochemist Stafford Morgan (as Sorenson), weighty John Goff (as Jack), busty Carol Irene Newell (as Jenny), weighty George 'Buck' Flower (as Hank), and rail-weary Ralph Meeker (as Charlie). If you fall asleep during this movie, your head will not explode. Trust me. ** The Alpha Incident (1978) Bill Rebane ~ Stafford Morgan, John F. Goff, Ralph Meeker