While flying through the cosmos in their guitar-shaped spaceship, a group of aliens decide to land on the planet Earth and observe the humans that live there. Now according to IMDB, they’re trying to find the “source of rock & roll”, but honestly, I have no idea what their goal is. Whatever, it’s fine. The important thing is that they have chosen the comically polluted town of Speelburgh to conduct their mission. Absid (Tom Nolan), the android leader of the aliens, is immediately smitten with Dee Dee (Pia Zadora), a young lady who wants to sing with The Pack, the local band/gang of ruffians.
Unfortunately for Dee Dee, her boyfriend Frankie, played by Craig Sheffer of Nightbreed (1990), is the leader of The Pack, and he says who gets to sing with them! A battle of the bands ensues between The Pack and the aliens, who are surprisingly adept at making new wave music. Absid offers Dee Dee a chance to sing with his band and return with him to his home planet. What’s a girl to do!? Meanwhile, a homicidal maniac (Michael Berryman) has escaped and is stalking the town of Speelburg, armed with an arsenal he picked up at the local hardware store.
Speaking of punked up rockabilly musicals that I wish I’d seen years ago, Voyage of the Rock Aliens (1984) is quite the spectacle. It’s gloriously cheesed out and easily one of the tackiest and silliest slabs of 1980s junk I’ve ever laid my eyes on. One truly pathetic fat joke notwithstanding, the film’s sense of humor is charming and outlandish, and its sight gags are sometimes even clever. Its weird energy very nearly carries this craziness right to the end credits. The songs are certainly toe-tapping and somewhat catchy. But the musical numbers, like everything else happening onscreen, just feel off somehow.
Director James Fargo made action films with Clint Eastwood and Chuck Norris before he tackled this awkward, yet somehow loveable mess. This oddity of a film parodies science fiction shlock, slasher movies, and rock and roll films. It’s too bad the general public’s obsession with everything 1950s had started to wane by this time. How were they to know that “Happy Days” would go off the air the same year that this was barely released to theaters? This film feels like Pia Zadora wrote it while her skin-tight outfits were cutting off the circulation to her brain. Sadly, it took three writers to get essentially the same result.
For me, Voyage of the Rock Aliens comes pretty darn close to being one of the truly great bad films of the 80s. If they could’ve shaved just about 5 or 6 (or 10) minutes off of that last reel to help keep the wacko momentum going, I think this one would go down a lot easier. It also doesn’t help that it’s almost impossible to connect with any of these characters emotionally, and I don’t just mean the android.
My wife summed this up by saying this is equal parts John Waters’ Cry-Baby (1990), The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), and Teen Witch (1989). Personally, I got Grease 2 (1982) vibes, and that is a very positive bonus coming from me. I’m an honest to goodness Grease 2 devotee. Holy carp, why didn’t they just title this Grease 3? That would’ve been amazing. Vinegar Syndrome’s Blu-ray features this film under its When the Rain Begins to Fall, so my idea for a crappy title is just as valid if you ask me. I kind of love Voyage of the Rock Aliens, but I sure do hope it gets better with multiple viewings because that is exactly what I intend to do.
Vinegar Syndrome does it again with their presentation of Voyage of the Rock Aliens. Their transfer for this Blu-ray looks vibrant and sounds excellent. In terms of extras, there are two 40+ minute documentaries about the making of the film. The first features husband-and-wife producers Max and Micheline Keller discussing this wacky film along with several other members of the cast and crew. The second documentary is told from the perspective of Rhema, the members of the very real band that played the aliens. While the doc with the folks behind the camera is good, the one with the musicians who found themselves the unlikely stars of the film is freakin’ engrossing as hell! I was a big fan of VH1’s “Behind the Music” show back in the day, so this kind music documentary is a no brainer for me.