This week I watched
Alien From L.A.. It tookmy a few nights to fit in in between Teen Titans and Futurama...
Anyway, as late-80s B movies go, it's not really that bad. I mean, the premise is pretty silly and the acting is bad, etc..etc...
Kathy Ireland plays Wanda SomethingOrOther, a late-teen/early 20s type who just hangs out at the beach. She gets a letter from a friend of her father's asking her to come to Africa...where she finds out that her father, an archeologist with some strange theories about Atlantis, has disappeared. After poking around a bit at one of his work sites, she falls through the floor...into a deep underground, inhabited world. The rest of the movie is her trying to find her father, avoid the authorities who fear 'aliens' and get back home.
Ireland's high, squeaky voice is probably famous for this by now, but at least the people writing the movie seemed to be aware of it and take advantage of it. When he boyfriend explains why he dumped her he concludes "...and your voice gives me a headache" Another character asks at one point "Is that your real voice?"
Early in the movie I found myself wondering "so..they get a swimsuit super-model and put her in a frumpy dress with messed up hair?" However, later on, due to an awfully convenient device, she gets the styled hair, and couples it with a slick dress to look...like a super model :)
One thing I couldn't understand is that she was always being referreed to as 'big-boned'. I'm almost wondering if that was supposed to be 'big-breasted' and just got changed to keep the PG rating, because it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense.
It did occur to me that, except for the opening and closing scenes, Ireland's character could've been a twelve year old kid The dialog certainly seems to fit. Funnily, she just about plays it at that level...
All in all, if you liked 80s sci-fi cheese, such as Night Of The Comets, this one's not bad.
