Alien from L.A. (1988)

Director:

Albert Pyun

Writers:

Regina Davis (writer)
Albert Pyun (writer)

Release Date:

26 February 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Fantasy

Tagline:

Venture to the core!

Plot:

A nerdish teenager goes looking for her missing archaeolist father, and stumbles into a strange underground civilization.

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | MST3K | Hidden Civilization | Subterranean | Independent Film

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Kathy Ireland	...	Wanda Saknussemm
William R. Moses	...	Guten 'Gus' Edway
Richard Haines	...	Prof. Arnold Saknussemm
Don Michael Paul	...	Robbie
Thom Mathews	...	Charmin'
Janet Du Plessis	...	General Rykov / Shank / Claims Officer
Simon Poland	...	Consul Triton Crassus / The Mailman
Linda Kerridge	...	Roeyis Freki / Auntie Pearl
Kristen Trucksess	...	Stacy
Lochner De Kock	...	Professor Ovid Galba / Professor Paddy Mahoney
Deep Roy	...	Mambino
Albert Maritz	...	Mago / Maintenance Worker / Evangelist / Pack Slag Jack
Russel Savadier	...	Loki
Denis Smith	...	Anchorman
James Lithgow	...	Donaldson / Wrestling Announcer / Emcee

Also Known As:

Odeon
Wanda (USA) (TV title)

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA | South Africa

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Certification:

USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Grand Central Airport Midrand, South Africa

Company:

Golan-Globus Productions

Trivia:

The last name for the main character is taken from Arne Sakneusemm, the Icelandic scientist who traveled to center of the earth in Jules Verne's "Journey to the Center of the Earth".

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Kathy Ireland briefly loses her squeaky voice when she's doped up on the table. She laughs and says in a deeper voice (probably her real one), "You think I'm an alien?"

Quotes:

Wanda Saknussemm: Bitchin' left hook, Crassus!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Alien from L.A. (#6.16)" (1993)

Soundtrack:

State of the Heart

Kathy Ireland Journeys to the Center of the Earth!

Campy spoof combining elements of 'Journey to the Center of the Earth,' 'Indiana Jones,' exploitation B-movies of the 60's, and apocalyptic science fiction movies of the 80's. Kathy Ireland is so bizarre in the role of an explorer following in the footsteps of her famous father (as in 'Journey to the Center of the Earth' no less) it's like watching a car accident. You just have to watch though you know it's wrong...oh so wrong. (Apparently popular enough to warrant a sequel that actual takes the title of Jules Verne's classic, "Journey to the Center of the Earth." There are many versions with that title but only one features a cameo return by Kathy Ireland.) "Alien from L.A." is what they used to refer to as "Saturday afternoon matinee" or "popcorn movie" and is better than the sequel only because when "Alien" runs out of steam they strip Kathy down to a bikini top to finish out the movie. Nice trick. Worked for me.