Coming in June from Severin Films is the gloriously bizarre Extra Terrestrial Visitors a.k.a. Tales of Trumpy a.k.a. E.T.: The Second Coming a.k.a. The Unearthling a.k.a. Return of E.T., although Mystery Science Theater 3000 fans will know it much better by it’s original US home video release title Pod People). We were lambasted with many E. T. ripoffs back in the ’80s and this was DEFINITELY one of them. Without further ado, let’s break out the Planter’s peanuts, play some Simon and crank up some “Burning Rubber Tires”!

Aliens that look like an anteater and a bear had violent, passionless sex and reproduced have landed on Earth in one of the foggiest forests on the North American continent. Their motives are questionable, what with people randomly turning up dead, but when a boy named Tommy finds one of their eggs and cares for it like an overprotective mother hen, the resulting alien baby that hatches out of it, which he names “Trumpy”, becomes his bestest friend, and they have magical fun times together. Meanwhile a terrible and vain rock band has just laid down some awesome tracks and heads out to the woods for some fun, not realizing a murderous alien and some crazy poachers are prowling the same misty moors. Can Tommy protect Trumpy and his murderous friend from the “evil” poachers? Will anyone in the band survive? Will that guy wearing the “I’m a Virgin” shirt ever get laid? Grab a bowl of corn flakes and pull up a chair as we head out on the hunt for Trumpy!

Like many other nerds the world over, I first became acquainted with this demented furry alien flick via MST3K and rewatching it as a stand-alone film, I couldn’t help but recall the riffs from Mike and the bots (“IDIOT CONTROL NOW”). Despite that, the movie is still a blast to watch. Director Juan Piquer Simón (celebrated schlockmeister of “classics” such as Pieces and Slugs) may not have a healthy budget or a quality script, but those minor hurdles are easily overcome with a drive to create and a can-do, who-gives-a-damn attitude which Simón has in spades. One of the more ingeniously bizarre ideas behind this film is in its basic premise to combine the saccharin family fare of a boy and his alien with the frequent murder of dumb teenagers plot of a classic ’80s slasher. Both were popular sub-genres at the time, so why not throw them together? Why not INDEED? Why can’t we get a My Little Pony/Jason Vorhees crossover? Or maybe Transformers vs Michael Myers? My personal holy grail would be a Snorks/Pieces crossover. I know Simón is unfortunately deceased, but can someone else pick up the mantle and make it happen? Please? Anyway, I digress…

The 1080p video is a 4K scan from the 35mm negative and it definitely looks a hell of a lot better than it did when I saw it on MST3K. The grain levels look pretty consistent and while the grain does get a little heavy at times, we’re not dealing with a multi-million dollar Hollywood extravaganza here. I’m pretty certain this is the best this film has ever looked (and possibly will ever look). On the audio side we have a nice, clean mono track in both English and Spanish (with English subtitles). And if you loved the music, fear not! Severin has got you covered with a bonus CD featuring four tracks from the film including the seminal classic “Hear the Engines Roar” and the sweet and catchy “Sara”.

Once again, Severin has absolutely delivered the goods on the extras front. In addition to that aforementioned bonus CD (which of course I always love… Keep it up, Severin!!), we have interviews with actor Emilio Linder, who has some interesting anecdotes about working with Simón, and composer Librado Pastor, the man responsible for those kickin’ tunes I was just referring to. Can you believe he recorded the whole score in a week!? Another nice feature is “A Private Concert from Librado Pastor” where Pastor plays us some of his iconic compositions from classic Simón films he has worked on in what appears to be his living room. I seriously found this to be a really neat feature and would like more of this kind of thing. Severin has also been nice enough to include those Pod People alternate credits that fans of MST3K would be familiar with. The best extra of all those is a massive 1 hour and 41 minute documentary on the whole career of Juan Piquer Simón, full of interviews from cast, crew and peers that had worked with him over the years. The doc does a great job of showing what a real talent Simón was beyond the surface level cheapness of his films. It covers his love of Jules Verne, reflected in his early films like When Time Began and Mystery on Monster Island, as well as his control and composure behind the camera and his adaptability, getting the most with what little money he is given. A great deal of time is actually spent on discussing the special effects in his films and how much effort went into them on films like The Rift with his special effects teams praising Simón’s drive and creativity. It really is an excellent doc that is well worth checking out even if you hate the actual film itself. Plus it’s given me a hankering to watch Pieces again, which is never a bad thing…

What else can I say? When I saw that I was to review Pod People of all things, I can’t say I was immediately excited. But honestly, the movie is a hoot and the extras are absolutely stacked and well worth the price of admission. I definitely recommend this one.