DVD
Review | The Aurora Encounter
Written by: Kage
Alan
New World came out with a fair share of very
strange films in the 1980s of which this fits in quite well. Then
too, other little films just as odd were popping up. One that comes
readily to mind is “Earthbound”, something I FINALLY found on VHS a
few years back and hope that Anchor Bay might take an interest in one
day…along with “Nightflyers” and “The Bermuda Depths”. Was that hint
enough, guys? Right, back to this film. I remember seeing an
interview on TV once about Mickey Hays and his involvement in the “The
Aurora Encounter”. He had a rare genetic disease called Progeria that
accelerated his aging process and the news was interviewing him about
his role in the film. It was because of this that I always remembered
the name of the movie and jumped at the chance to finally watch it.
The year is 1897 and the setting is a little town
in Texas called Aurora. There’s nothing special about the place, but
everybody knows everybody else and their business. For Alain (Carol
Bagdasarian, “The Octagon”), though, life takes an interesting turn.
Her father recently passed away and she’s taken over the local newspaper
in addition to her role as teacher for all the children in Aurora. The
men don’t quite know what to do with her headstrong personality, but
they seem to respect her and the Sheriff (Peter Brown) is even courting
her. Not a bad life, right? Apparently a visitor from outer space
(Hays) doesn’t think so either. Consequently, he flies his spaceship
around inspecting the animal life and leaving little crystals behind.
It’s only when a local woman, Irene (Dottie West), catches a glimpse of
him one night that (name) takes an interest in hopes of selling more
newspapers.
A delightfully eccentric drunk-on-his-own-elixir
Charlie (Jack Elam, “The Cannonball Run”) soon befriends the alien and
Alain is off in hot pursuit to sensationalize the news beyond what the
poor Sheriff thinks is in good taste. The Governor of Texas wants to
know if something is really going on or not, so he unofficially sends in
a Texas Ranger to look into matters. Then too there are those pesky
kids who are bound to get into trouble and need the help of the town’s
visitor to save them.
Anchor Bay has released “The Aurora Encounter” in a
fairly solid looking Widescreen transfer. If a film like this is going
to be preserved, Widescreen is definitely the way to go. There are a
few specs and areas of grain, but it’s due to the masters and not any
negligence on the part of Anchor Bay. The audio is mono and not very
dynamic, but then New World never did seem to put a huge amount of work
into many of their smaller releases. As for extras, it’s unfortunate
that this is bone dry. A commentary with Director Jim McCullough might
have shed some light on this rarely seen production.
For the most part, “The Aurora Encounter” is
harmless family sci-fi fun. It never tries to offend anybody and deals
with the visiting alien in a very innocent way. The special effects
leave a bit to be desired (the cables holding up the spaceship are very
easy to spot), but that really only adds to the film’s charm. I was at
a loss to figure out the actual point of the movie, only I realized I
might be trying to think too much about it. The only real problem I
have with “The Aurora Encounter” is the last 10 minutes. It turns
needlessly violent considering its audience and could have been, in my
humble opinion anyway, handled with a much more delicate touch. Oddly
enough, this was supposedly based on a true story.
Film Rating:
B-
DVD Special Features: N/A
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