ALIENS FROM OUTER SPACE

(Full title: ALIENS FROM OUTER SPACE: UFO LANDINGS, CRASHES AND RETRIEVALS)

Written and directed by Bill Knell, a "genuine UFO researcher", he narrates from the offset in this fascinatingly flawed three-hour film (it’s listed as being 240 minutes long, but the screener was ‘only’ 183 minutes long – perhaps there is an hour of extras on the retail disc?).

From the offset, Knell introduces himself with very little in the way of credentials – and moves directly into commentating over a rapid succession of still images from famous sci-fi films from yore such as THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, SPACED INVADERS, MEN IN BLACK and INDEPENDENCE DAY.

"It might surprise you to know", he condescends, that people have been fascinated with the possibility of life on other planets even before these films were made.

Knell then proceeds to talk us through a 1969 moon docking, and a conspiracy theory about how records documenting an alien encounter on this occasion were ‘lost’.

As the slide show of stills persists, he carries on with his brief explanation of what the four kinds of close encounters are (the fourth is contact that could entail abduction!). But, I reiterate, the visual accompaniments to these comments continue to be still photographs.

As they do Knell describes, rather coldly, how he got into this obsession of his at the age of 12 and has been consumed by it ever since.

Then we’re off to Flushing Meadows where two apparent UFO sightings in 1987 could (or perhaps could not) be accountable for the mutilation and deaths of caged animals at their zoo. Soft-focus photographs and Knell’s monotone strains add little credence to this potentially fascinating yarn.

And that’s how this tedious ‘documentary’ ensues.

From there, we traverse through a NASA trip with veteran astronauts that culminated in a mission that may or may not hold hidden information about contact with aliens.

More stills accompany Knell’s retelling of a possible 1939 alien encounter involving President Roosevelt ...

Throughout all of these incidents, of which there are many as this three-hour film keeps piling through still images of photographs and sketches, Knell shamelessly presents his facts in a dry voice while never once offering statistics or traceable evidence to back any of it up.

And it’s true – he doesn’t ever back any of his beliefs or ‘facts’ up. His film never proffers any documentary footage to support what he’s saying. All we get is still upon still (can you imagine how dull this is over the course of three hours?!) and a smidgeon of footage from US TV news – which, in truth, does nothing to back up Knell’s isolated faith.

I’d never heard of Knell before this so I looked him up, but only after viewing the mammoth turd that is this film. It turns out that he’s a very controversial figure, even within hardcore UFO-following circles. There are considerable numbers who decry him as a liar and an opportunist.

I can’t possibly state as such because, as I’ve admitted, I don’t know Knell from Adam. But I can say that over the course of 3 hours he proffers nothing but unsubstantiated ‘facts’ and, for the most part, still photographs and drawings that combine to make this the most boring slide show ever made.

Reality Entertainment’s region-free disc is at least equipped with a highly proficient and attractive animated main menu page, which – intentionally or not – recalls the sci-fi psychedelia of 60s genre fluff.

From there, the only option (on this screener disc at least) is a ‘Play’ option. There are no chapters – the whole thing is presented as an arse-numbing 183-minute whole available in a single sitting only.

The picture presented on the disc is 1.33:1, enhanced for 16x9 television sets. It is a fair transfer, with relatively sharp and bright images. Ultimately though, this presentation is consistent with what you’d expect to see on television.

English 2.0 audio is the same: competent, unproblematic in playback but no more adequate than what you’d find on terrestrial television.

Knell is also credited online as being the author of the ludicrously titled THE TRUTH ABOUT THE PHILIDELPHIA EXPERIMENT: INVISIBILTY, TIME TRAVEL AND MIND CONTROL – THE SHOCKING TRUTH. Wow. I wonder if that’s just as shit.

It’s not just that ALIENS FROM OUTER SPACE is boring (although it is), it’s also that it doesn’t tell even the most casual fan of UFOs anything they don’t already know.

Best line (while recounting a supposed sighting UFO sighting in Wales): "It was a pity I didn’t have my camera on me at the time".

Come back when you DO capture something on camera, Bill, because this bloated documentary – throughout which you stumble over sentences and mispronounce words without having the good grace to record a second take – portrays you as a pathetic amateur.

Review by Stuart Willis