Too much of everything

Simply Perfect

Sadly Over-hyped

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

This is a ridiculous movie. Thankfully, it doesn't take itself too seriously -- or, if it does, it does it so absurdly that it's impossible to tell the difference. Most of the action is just silly, the plot is convoluted, the characters preposterous... what is there to like about this movie?Well... intentionally or not, it made me smile a lot. I liked the gorgeous Elizabeth Kaitan, regardless of how bland her character was. I liked the always-rowdy Matthias Hues, even though his character's death was shockingly cheap. I liked John Saxon, who is his usual menacing self here. And I really liked laughing at all the silliness and B-movie mistakes. Throw in some Richard Lynch and Michael Berryman and you're bound to have a few good moments along the way.Take this for what it is; sit back, relax, and laugh at/with it. You won't learn much, but if you like post-apoc B-movies, you should enjoy this one.

"Big Sister" is watching you! America after World War III. Apocalyptic times. The power on earth is in the hands of a faceless "Central Control". By means of their martialist troops, the "Security Control", the liberation efforts of a bold group of resistance fighters are brutally suppressed. A female humanoid alien with a message of peace arrives on earth, but ends up in the clutches of the "Security Control". But the alien is freed by the rebels. After endless struggles between the "Security Control" and the rebels, the women from space can finally journey back to her planet. Director Frank Harris, a former reporter for a television station in California, is producing amateurish action movies for the international video market since the early 80's. Usually he writes his own scripts and he often is his own DoP. He shot his first film KILL POINT in 1984, starring Leo Fong, Richard Roundtree and Cameron Mitchell. In AFTERSHOCK there are Chris Mitchum, Russ Tamblyn and John Saxon at hand, three veritable actors in low budget movies, but their presence can only make the movie interesting for some brief moments. Like so many cheap post-nuke movies, AFTERSHOCK was shot in the shadows of industrial ruins, here namely the "Kaiser Steel Plant" and the "Fontana Domtar Gypsum Paper Mill", but the aimed apocalyptic feeling never sets in. The typical ruins remain just what they are: the ordinary remnants of former industrial complexes. Obeying the stereotype of such movies (and also due to the thin checkbook of the producer) Harris added endless scenes of shootings and brawls to the completely ridiculous "story", but because of the stinginess of the producer these scenes are only look cheap. While the aforementioned performers had to be content with smaller roles (or were too expensive for leading parts), incompetent no-name actors have to stutter lots of dimwitted dialog and bore the viewer with their bland faces. By the way, more than 90 actors are listed by name in the end credits! All in all, AFTERSHOCK is a film of little entertainment value. Despite intensive research, the name of the DoP of the film who is not given credit could not be traced.

What can I say about this movie that hasn't already been said. I mean it's a low budget, b-movie with the b-movie acting, b-movie script, b-moving score, and b-movie directing. So why do I own it? There used to be a video store a few miles south of my town. It was a mom and pop video store that actually still rented out video tapes. It was great. They had all the little obscure horror movies that I love and just hard to find videos. The only problem was that they combined the Horror and Sci-Fi sections. Apparently "Aftershock" was considered sci-fi. I'd probably would have put it in action. I know there's and alien in it, but just because there's an alien in it doesn't necessarily make it a sci-fi movie. Sci-fi means science fict... sorry I got side tracked. Anyways I'm usually in the Horror section when I'm in a video store. So I always seen this, but never really picked it up to check out the back. Then one day I was at K-Mart and there it was for six bucks. Granted even then I knew this wasn't worth six bucks, however there was one thing that attracted me to this. John Saxon. I'm a fan, what can I say. And here he was top billed. Of course they only do that cause some idiot like me will come along and buy it. So I bought it. It was what you'd expect from a typical b-movie action movie from the early 90's. Not horrible, but still kinda bad. You just have to take this for what it is. A bad action movie with a couple of good action scenes and clichés galore. The main character even has an annoying side kick early on. Would I recommend it? Not really. But I guess everything's worth at least one glance. In closing I want to apologize for such a crummy review. I'm trying to write a review for all my DVD's. Even the bad ones. On a side note, just in case you was wondering, John Saxon did not disappoint. I mean the script wasn't great, but you could give this guy the ingredients of water as a script and he would turn in a good performance.

You'd think with actors like Christopher Mitchum, Richard Lynch, and Michael Berryman in the film the director would actually use them. I should know better! It's a crappy B-movie, duh!This movie, as all B-movies, has a convoluted plot, but this one has a twist. (Wait they all do...) It's a tragic post-apocalyptic story with an alien/dumb-blonde that comes to learn how our peaceful planet works the way it does. (It's post-apocalyptic, it's not peaceful!)Along the way there's a hint of buddy movie with Jay Roberts Jr. and Chuck Jeffreys as Willie and Danny. Jeffreys I think is going for Eddie Murphy but comes up way short.Then there's some bounty hunter who has a difficulties with his job. "Maybe I'm getting soft," he says. (He carries a six-shooter that shoots 8 bullets. Hmmm...)Throw in Michael Berryman as Queen, the cross-dressing mutant, and Matthias Hues as his Conan-esque sidekick and you've made for one messed up movie.Superb! A tough viewing even for those that enjoy B-movies. That's what makes them so great!