I took a walk to the local Dollar General last night for some shaving cream. The Dood was getting a bit gruffy. As I stand in the checkout line I can never resist looking through those cheap DVD's and Blue Rays. I came across this gem, Alien Code. It was only $2.95. I tend to buy movies when they're cheaper than an Amazon or RedBox rental. Why rent when you can own?
That's my grumpy face in the picture
I had never heard of this movie, but I'm a big fan of Kyle Gallner after he played the role of Hasil Farrel in the TV series Outsiders. Never understood why that show got caneled. It was such a great series. Regardless, I seen Kyle on the cover and said to myself, "I have to give this a try". Not to mention, I love aliens and coding. This should be perfect for me.
So the basic plot goes like this... Alex Jacobs (Kyle Gallner) is a cryptographer / hacker type who gets recruited by some government agency to decrypt a message from a satellite that they tell him is from the future. No spoiler here as the title states, it turns out to actually be alien and the decrypted message is a blueprint to build some sort of machine.
At this point the entire thing goes sideways. As with all things government it turns out to actually be a weapon. Our cryptographer grows a conscience and tries to stop what he has unleashed. Seriously, what would you do if you discovered you just gave the government the means to destroy the entire human race? Our protagonist acts accordingly.
I really enjoyed the concept of the aliens too. I'm not going to include many spoilers here but loved the concept of interdimensional beings from another dimension. This wasn't your typical mindless alien movie.
For the most part I enjoyed this movie. Surprisingly it only got 5.7 out of 10 stars on IMDB. Honestly, for only $2.95 in the closeout bin at Dollar General, I wasn't expecting much and this kept me entertained throughout the 1 hour and 37 minute run time.
I wouldn't call the production low budget. The special effects were alright. Not the most high tech film I ever watched. I thought it had an interesting story line, decent production and good acting. Kyle Gallner played an eccentric cryptographer / hacker pretty well. What the movie lacked in kick ass special effects it made up for with good acting and an interesting storyline.
For the most part it kept me entertained and interested. If you come across this in the closeout DVD bin somewhere, I'd suggest scooping it up! IMHO this is a great title now added to my home DVD and Blue Ray collection.