Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Amanda and the Alien Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf July 31, 2024

Writer/director Jon Kroll looks to merge sci-fi adventuring with ‘90s late-night cable entertainment in “Amanda and the Alien.” The 1995 endeavor has a plan to be a silly comedy about a friendship forming between a lonely twentysomething woman and a visitor from another world capable of inhabiting human bodies. It’s a bit of B-movie and “Starman,” with the pair soon on the run from government agents, but Kroll doesn’t have John Carpenter money. He’s making something for a limited audience, leaving “Amanda and the Alien” restrained when it comes to goofiness, awkward with sex, and fairly uneventful during confrontations. It reaches for campiness but can’t quite get there, leaving the viewing experience flat, with lukewarm performances and sluggish plotting. But hey, there are few features that capture parts of the mid-1990s as well as this one.

Amanda (Nicole Eggert) is a bored twentysomething woman dealing with unfulfilling work at a clothing store, also trying to keep her distance from Charlie (Michael Bendetti), her unfaithful ex-boyfriend. While hanging out at her favorite coffee shop, Amanda spies oddness with fellow customer Connie (Alex Meneses), quickly reaching out to understand what’s going on. The curious one is soon connected to an alien that’s come to Earth to explore the population, capable of swapping bodies to remain undetected, including Connie, a feisty cafeteria worker at the F.B.I. who facilitated an E.T. escape. Bringing the alien home to help clean it up and prepare it for the human experience, the earthling grows to care for the visitor, who eventually takes over Charlie, permitting Amanda to enjoy a functional relationship with a highly sexual being that’s turned on by spices. On the case are Vint (Michael Dorn) and LeBeau (David Millbern), two federal agents in charge of retrieving the alien, with their boss, Mallory (Stacy Keach), trying to capture the threat before Colonel Rosencrans (John Diehl) steps in to finish the job.

“Amanda and the Alien” is an adaptation of a 1983 short story by Robert Silverberg, and one can sense Kroll trying to figure out ways to extend the tale to meet feature-length demands. What does work reasonably well in the film are introductions, with Amanda a young woman stuck in an unrewarding life, slogging through a job she doesn’t care about, dealing with friends she doesn’t like. Her solace is coffee at Café Retro, a strange shop where she’s become a regular. And she deals with Charlie, a lothario who remains in contact with his ex while handling his new relationship.

The alien’s origin is also detailed, initially locked up at a government safe house, cooking up a way to escape while Mallory and Rosencrans debate approaches to solving the potential invasion, with the military man looking to dissect the visitors. In its natural state, the alien is a small creature with a tentacle capable of tapping into human hosts, permitting it to move from body to body. The visitor eventually hitches a ride with Connie, an angry employee, allowing it to escape undetected, heading out into a world it doesn’t understand. Information about its life pre-captivity isn’t provided.

“Amanda and the Alien” eventually pairs the eponymous characters, who connect at Café Retro. Amanda is concerned for Connie, soon learning more about the visitor, though she doesn’t really have that profound of a reaction to news of alien life. Instead, she’s grows annoyed, forced to help Connie learn how to shower (allowing the creature to appreciate the wonders of masturbation), and she grasps the extremity of dietary needs. Humans are on the menu (made for “engulfing”), but Connie is more interested in the kitchen spice rack, with such flavors sending her into an orgasmic high. The idea of this pleasure is as close as “Amanda and the Alien” gets to real humor, and a body switch is soon encountered when Charlie visits to pick up his CDs, taken over by the extraterrestrial.

Kroll looks to spice things up with Charlie as the alien, adding some mild sex to the effort as Amanda reconnects with her past love on completely new terms. It’s an interesting escalation to “Amanda and the Alien,” but the writing doesn’t do much with it (or Amanda in general), mostly cooking up scenes where Charlie remains naked around other characters, unaware that he needs clothes. Charlie’s addition to the story puts the main characters on the run, with Vint and LaBelle in pursuit, interviewing connections and figuring out plans made by the lovers, who eventually end up in a cowboy-themed motel (the late, great Cindy Morgan makes a cameo as a desk clerk). The feds are meant to be comic relief, but Kroll doesn’t offer fresh material, going back to old Abbott and Costello routines for inspiration, and there are a few “Star Trek” jokes forced on Dorn, who genuinely looks uncomfortable participating in the references to his most famous gig.

Amanda and the Alien Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.78:1 aspect ratio) presentation is listed as "restored from the original 35mm camera negative." "Amanda and the Alien" isn't a flashy production, but color is preserved here, with period hues defined throughout the viewing experience, doing especially well with fashion choices. Warmer hues are maintained throughout living spaces and coffee shop stops. Skin tones are natural. Detail is acceptable, providing some sense of skin particulars and fibrous costuming. Interiors offer a look at decorative additions, and exteriors, while rare, are reasonably dimensional. Delineation is satisfactory. Grain is fine and film-like. Source has some mild damage at times.

Amanda and the Alien Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA mix provides clear dialogue exchanges with limited elements of age. Comedic and argumentative stretches retain sharpness. Scoring is simplistic, with an appreciable synth sound, supporting comedic and physical activity in the picture. Sound effects are basic.

English subtitles are provided, but abruptly stop at the hour mark.

Amanda and the Alien Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary features director Jon Knoll and AFGA's Bret Berg.

• "The Alien in the Mirror: Trans Coding in 'Amanda and the Alien'" (14:11, HD) is a video essay by Willow Catelyn Maclay.

• "Amanda and the Alien and Paranoia: The Biggest '90s Trend" (10:46) is an audio essay by Danielle Burgos.

• A Trailer has not been included on this release.

Amanda and the Alien Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Kroll looks to butch up "Amanda and the Alien" for cable viewing, inserting awkward profanity whenever possible, and he's always down for some padding, including a tedious sequence at a trucker diner where Mallory finds he's not welcome. There's meant to be a chase in the making as the feds pursue Amanda and Charlie, but kinetic energy isn't prioritized by Kroll, who primarily leaves physical action to the final moments of the picture, which also includes a Jessica Hahn cameo to make sure there's a time stamp on this endeavor. "Amanda and the Alien" can't surpass its own budgetary limitations, and the cast isn't sharp enough to turn mediocre writing into comedy gold, finding Keach often the only one with a pulse. Kroll can't get a farce going with the effort, and his grasp of eroticism is lacking, making the feature a confusing sit as little of it connects as intended.