Alien Planet (2023) - Sci-fi Film Review

Despite it not appearing to be a horror, ever since I heard of Alan Maxson's Alien Planet (he both wrote and directed this) I was intrigued. I think it was due to the film using all practical special effects rather than the modern reliance on either pure digital effects, or a combination of the two. The synopsis sounded like a film I saw many years ago as a teen, but this one was far more bloody. Despite a small cast I found myself drawn into the world.

In the not too distant past, two alien species went to war with each other, with the losers banished to a near inhospitable planet full of monsters. To assist them, they were provided with a vial of strange liquid that used sparingly had the ability to create a source of water. Brocheet (Hunter C. Smith - voicework in video game Star Wars Jedi: Survivor) is a trusted soldier from the winning side who has been sent to the planet the losers were banished to in order to retrieve this vial, for his species is close to extinction due to their water source on their home planet running out. Not long after landing he encounters Lock (Alexandra Bokova - Mermaid Down), with the two species sharing a mutual hatred for each other they come to blows, but their battle is interrupted by the arrival of a dangerous monster who captures them both and takes them to its lair. The two enemies soon come to realise that for any chance of survival they are going to have to try and put aside their differences and work together.

This began with a low budget B-movie feel, with the intro narration set to the backdrop of hand drawn artwork and still images. This worked in setting up the world but also looked a little bit placeholder. Once Brocheet lands on the planet my early concerns were washed away and I found myself getting far more invested in what was happening. There was a cast of around eight or nine, but by far it is Smith and Bokova who carry events forward. They were both good choices for their roles, but I was surprised to find out the complete scene stealer was a puppet! Giree (voiced by Maxson) is an intelligent pet of Brocheet who despite being a puppet had so much life and personality, as the film went on this became my favourite character by far, and it plays an integral role in the story. Another stand out character was the monster (Eric Prochnau - Clown Motel: Spirits Arise), it didn't do much more than lurch around, but it was visually impressive looking.

In general the practical effects were great, and there was far more blood than I expected. Within the first ten minutes of the movie I had seen more blood than many other films show over their complete runtime. I liked how watery, yet still blood like it appeared, and there were some nice touches, such as spilt blood dripping on the camera. The planet was home to vine like plants, and their vines were put to great use in some of the more action heavy sequences. The design of all the monsters and aliens was strong, in fact I would say that was the strongest element of the film as a whole.
In terms of the story, without going into too much detail this went into quite a bleak direction that I was convinced was going to be revealed to not actually be the case. If Alien Planet had been a video game, this would have definitely been a 'bad ending'. It felt quite cruel how this all played out, especially due to how much I came to like some of the characters. Usually I'm all up for darkness, I guess its to the credit of the cast and crew that I came to care so much about the characters.

Alien Planet was a film I feared would be a little bit dull, aside from obvious ones like Star Wars, I have never been too much into sci-fi. Blending in horror, as well as some fantastic alien and creature designs meant there was never a dull moment. This eighty two minute long indie sci-fi never lost sight of the story it was dedicated to telling and shone as a result.

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