UFO: Target Earth (1974)

An electronics expert searching for evidence of aliens picks up signals that he believes are from an alien spacecraft--and they are coming from a lake near town.

Director:

Michael A. DeGaetano (as Michael A. de Gaetano)

Writer:

Michael A. DeGaetano (as Michael A. de Gaetano)

Stars:

Nick Plakias, Cynthia Cline, LaVerne Light

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nick Plakias	...	Alan Grimes
Cynthia Cline	...	Vivian
LaVerne Light	...	Dr. Mansfield
Tom Arcuragi	...	Dan Rivers
Phil Erickson	...	Dr. Whitham
Brooks Clift	...	Gen. David Gallagher
Martha Corrigan	...	Woman on Veranda
Kathleen Long	...	Planetarium Receptionist
Billy Crane	...	Alan
Tom Harper	...	Interviewer
Ed Lynch	...	University Professor
Ida Agree	...	Housewife
Luann McMann	...	Farm Couple
George Lafia	...	Farm Couple
Johnny Baker	...	Rancher

Storyline

An electronics expert searching for evidence of aliens picks up signals that he believes are from an alien spacecraft--and they are coming from a lake near town.

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Plot Keywords:

psychotronic film | lake | aging | skeleton | sacrifice | 

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Taglines:

UFO's...The Truth About Them Might Just Blow Your Mind for the Last Time

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Genres:

Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

September 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

Target Earth

Filming Locations:

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$75,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jed Productions

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Goofs

The boom mic can be seen at the top of the screen for over a minute when Alan Grimes and Vivian interview the old lady on her veranda.

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Connections

Featured in Mad Monster Rally (2009)

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Soundtracks

Between the Attic and the Moon
Performed by Eclipse

User Reviews

Wow. That was.... unique.

I don't really think I've ever seen anything like this before. It was like a surreal mix of Ed Wood, Stanley Kubrick, and Ken Russell. The micro-budget keeps things murky and confusing, heightening the surrealism. The directing is a bit poor, with sluggish pacing, pointless scenes of people philosophically discussing the nature of electricity and life on other planets, and special effects that come across like a fan-film homage to 2001.

It's not a good movie. In fact, I'd say it's technically inept. However, despite that, I still found myself enjoying it, to some degree, because it was just so damn weird. In fact, I'd say that the incompetence only makes it more enthralling. As each scene was set up, I found myself wondering, "WTF?" There was some puzzling, obvious problem with the scene (like the boom mic being in the shot), the scene made no sense, or bad music was blaring, making the dialogue too difficult to hear. It's like they were in the woods one day, happened to have some filmmaking equipment, and decided to shoot a movie, doing everything in one take.

Do I recommend this movie? Well, not on its merits. In order to enjoy it, I think you need to be the kind of person who watches a movie because he wants to see just how incomprehensible and incompetent it can get. You have to be the kind of person who, when he finds something that tastes awful, keeps eating it, eagerly, because he's so enthralled by the awfulness of it.

Either that or you'd have to have a serious love for UFOs.

I rate this a 5/10, because it's so amazingly incompetent that it becomes enjoyable on whole different level than was intended. If you're into Kubrick and Russell, you'll probably have fun finding homages and rip-offs, as well.