Alien from L.A. (1988)

[+]

Odeon
Wanda

Tagline(s):	The people at the center of the Earth are about to get a visitor.
	In a Dark and Subterranean World, She Was the OUTSIDER.
	Venture to the core!
	Tinseltown Was No Comparison To The Underground.
	Kathy Ireland Is the Alien from L.A.
	A fantastic adventure.

Nomination Year: 1994

SYNOPSIS: Yes, this could describe nearly anyone from L.A., but in this case it's Kathy Ireland. She plays a whiny, dorky girl who can never keep a boyfriend. If you believe that, then you're ready to swallow the existence of a hidden underground civilization. When Kathy is swept there suddenly, her hardships teach her self-reliance, self-esteem, and self-determination. Of course, it doesn't hurt that she also becomes drop-dead gorgeous.

There is a pseudo-sequel (?) to this movie: 1988's Journey to the Center of the Earth with a different director's credit (Rusty Lemorande), who went on IMDb.com and basically apologized to the public that he only directed the first few minutes, but the rest was all Albert Pyun and was essentially a rehash of Alien from L.A..

Bryan Cassidy

Smithee Award Nominations

Worst Acting

Is She Live or Is She Memorex?

In defense of Ms. Ireland's acting talents, I can say only this: one wouldn't think it possible to make unappealing someone who looks like Kathy Ireland, but Kathy actually pulls it off. In this beach scene, she's whining (the very definition of whining) to her boyfriend Robbie, asking him why he's breaking up with her. Her voice is so high-pitched that when we were fast-forwarding this clip in the editing room, the sped-up soundtrack nearly caused poor Kevin's ears to bleed.

Sorry, this clip has not yet been made available!

Directors

Director	Claim to Fame
Albert Pyun	Director who seems to have a "thing" for tech/android/cyborg movies: Cyborg, the Nemesis series, Omega Doom, and others. Sadly, that "thing" is Bad.

Cast

Actor	Character	Claim to Fame
Kathy Ireland	Wanda Saknussemm	Supermodel. Not-so-super actress.
William R. Moses	Guten "Gus" Edway	Husband of Tracy Nelson, who played the nun on "Father Dowling" and is Ricky Nelson's daughter. Tim in Mystic Pizza and Special Agent Lanford on "How To Get Away with Murder."
Richard Haines	Professor Arnold Saknussemm	Played Oberon on 1982's second TV production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream."
Don Michael Paul	Robbie	Buddy on "The Hat Squad" and Craig Bodi on "Models Inc."
Thom Mathews	Charmin'	Freddy (not Kreuger) in Return of the Living Dead and Brick Bardo (NOT to be confused with Dollman, though the character names are oddly coincidental) in Bloodmatch.
Simon Poland	Consul Triton Crassus / Mailman	Was the 456 Voice on "Torchwood."
Janie du Plessis	General Rykov/Shank / Claims Officer
Deep Roy	Mambino	The dour little persion who was Teeny Weeny in The Neverending Story, Keenser in the Star Trek reboots, and of course ALL the Oompa Loompas in (the horrible Depp version of) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Terry Norton	Waller Klondike	Teri Harper in Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money.
Russel Savadier	Loki	Was Loki in BOTH Alien from L.A. and Journey to the Center of the Earth, and Watney in Gor II.


[Smithee Film Gallery]		[Return to Lobby]