Kids vs. Aliens Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		2.5

Kids vs. Aliens Blu-ray Movie Review

Not-so-Super 8.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III April 24, 2023

What you see is unfortunately much more that what you get in Kids vs. Aliens, Jason Eisener's second feature film after 2011's Hobo With a Shotgun. Truth be told, the Canadian director has more experience dabbling in short films like the original Hobo trailer seen in Grindhouse, an episode of Dark Side of the Ring focusing on legendary WWF tag team The Road Warriors, and Slumber Party Alien Abduction, the weakest segment of V/H/S/2. A full-length version of Slumber Party Alien Abduction was greenlit by RLJ Entertainment so Eisner got to work immediately, hiring unknown child actors and prepping lots of fake blood, garish lighting setups, and a profanity-loaded script. The end result, unsurprisingly, is exactly what you'd expect when a paper-thin short film is stretched out to 75 mostly padded minutes.

The story goes like this: a UFO just crashed in their hometown... but best pals Gary (Dominic Mariche), Jack (Asher Grayson), and Miles (Ben Tector) have no idea, because they're too busy staging a wrestling match for their goofy sci-fi/dinosaur movie with Gary's teenage sister Samantha (Phoebe Rex), who usually tags along since their parents are never around. School bully Billy (Calem MacDonald) stops in to harass the kids and hit on Samantha with his toadies Trish (Emma Vickers) and Dallas (Isaiah Fortune), but eventually gives up. Gary breaks his arm during the wrestling match, so Samantha is grounded while their parents leave for yet another business trip. A rift grows between Sam and Gary: she has fun with the boys but is ready to move on, which is cemented when Billy comes over to put the moves on her before the boys break in to stop him. Sam's had enough of them and joins Billy's sad group, so they convince her to host a wild house party... and right in the middle of their fun, the pissed-off aliens finally show up.

With a lot more spit and polish, the drama-heavy first half of Kids vs. Aliens could have built to a satisfying and squishy payoff by having Billy, his annoying friends, and the already-trashed party house get absolutely massacred in an over-the-top brawl all but promised by its title. Instead, this lukewarm teenage soap opera devolves even further into a tired slasher/chase film with way too many fake-out endings before having the nerve -- the nerve! -- to suggest a goddamn sequel after running on fumes in the home stretch and rolling credits before the 70-minute mark. Trust me, maybe 200 people want to see more Kids vs. Aliens, and at least half of those people probably worked on it.

Dropping kids in the middle of a dangerous sci-fi adventure is hardly groundbreaking stuff, with modern classics like Super 8 offering a unique re-tread through E.T. territory while carefully dialing up the suspense. Even cheeky variants produced on a much tighter budget, like Steven Kostanski's Psycho Goreman, manage to bring something new to the table while balancing crude, Troma-tinted material with a necessary amount of heart. Kids vs. Aliens isn't anywhere close to those films. It's not all that interesting, the script is loaded with waaay too much profanity, and the scares get equally boring in their repetitiveness. (A young kid is also gruesomely killed, so there's that too.) While I'll admit that at least three of the four young actors put in good work, it's not enough salvage this forgettable film.

Kids vs. Aliens arrives on Blu-ray from RLJ Entertainment (naturally), and the good news for established fans is that it's a fairly well-rounded package with good-to-great A/V merits and a few interesting bonus features at a reasonable price point. I still wouldn't recommend this as a blind buy, unless you've enjoyed all of the director's previous work.

Kids vs. Aliens Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Kids vs. Aliens scores decent marks on Blu-ray thanks to its serviceable 1080p transfer, although it exhibits several baked-in limitations and encoding snags. The garishly-colored cinematography, full of bright cross-lit hues, deep blacks, and lots of heavy shadows, occasionally struggles to break free from this single-layered disc's space limitations, with obvious crush, noise, and macro blocking wiping out some of its finer details. Yet there's an argument that KvA doesn't need to look perfect: it's obviously going for a crunchy, neon-infused 80s aesthetic, with a few scenes even purposely downgraded like the boys' home movie footage. There's still clearly room for improvement, which could have arrived with a dual-layered Blu-ray or even a 4K/HDR release, but on its own merits this is a passable presentation.

Kids vs. Aliens Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix scores slightly higher for its intermittently aggressive sonic presence, which occasionally steps into "overcooked" territory but that's almost expected for a film of this type. Dialogue, sound effects, and the 80s-inspired original score are balanced reasonably well -- the latter, maybe a touch too high -- and overall fidelity is strong with no obvious defects. It's not exactly new ground for the genre but gets the job done.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the film and all applicable bonus features.

Kids vs. Aliens Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with nifty reversible cover artwork, a matching slipcover, and a few promo inserts. Bonus features are better than expected with plenty of input from the cast and crew.

• Audio Commentary - This full-length track with director Jason Eisener obviously covers a lot of ground, since he also served as co-writer and editor of the film. Topics include his earlier work on Hobo With a Shotgun and V/H/S/2, developing the KvA story, casting and pre-production, location scouting and set production, alien lore, cinematography, working with the kids, Easter eggs and shout-outs, tips and tricks for aspiring filmmakers, The Road Warriors and his contributions to Dark Side of the Ring, the potential sequel, and much more. It's a very candid and informative track, so fans (and even those on the fence) should definitely check it out.

• Slime Time: The Making of "Kids vs. Aliens" (46:27) - Another engaging extra, this mid-length featurette repeats a few bits and pieces from the director commentary but includes a lot of production footage, interviews with several cast and crew members including the kids and co-writer John Davies, set tours (his poor parents' house, which was where the chaotic party was held, is shown completely trashed and spray-painted), and other nuggets of information. Truth be told, it might be even more enjoyable than the main feature.

• Storyboard Photo Gallery - Either a kid did these, or director Jason Eisener only had crayons handy.

Kids vs. Aliens Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Jason Eisener's Kids vs. Aliens isn't exactly wasted potential, because the short film it was based on (Slumber Party Alien Abduction, as seen during V/H/S/2) wasn't all that great to begin with. It has decent lead performances and a few bright spots but is weighed down by poor pacing, a weak profanity-laden script, and not enough meat to fill its paltry 75-minute running time, which includes credits and a sequel tease. Needless to say, I wasn't a fan... but those who enjoyed it will like RLJ Entertainment's Blu-ray, which serves up decent A/V merits and a few solid extras.