There’s no question that nobody has launched more legendary careers than Roger Corman. The legend introduced the film world to legends such as Francis Ford Coppola, Jonathan Demme, Jack Nicholson, James Cameron, and Joe Dante amongst many others. In the 1980s Corman remade some of his classic films to contemporary audiences giving new filmmakers a shot at success. Not Of This Earth, a campy science fiction shocker in 1957, was remade in 1989, and Corman was about to put his reputation of launching careers to the ultimate test, as the film’s star recently shocked an industry when she revealed she was underage after starring in several adult films. The woman was Traci Lords and the risk was about to pay off.
In Not Of This Earth, Lords plays Nadine, a nurse who becomes a live-in to take care of an eccentric millionaire (Arthur Roberts) who claims to need her care because he suffers from a rare blood disorder. Soon she becomes suspicious of this disorder as it appears to her it is more of a lust than an illness. She gets to the bottom of it and soon learns that her employer is an alien scientist who is using human blood to save his own planet.
We all know that Lords has gone on to have quite a successful career in film since then (and deservedly so as she has a tremendous talent) and this was a good role for her. Director Jim Wynorski (Chopping Mall) does exploit her past to a degree, as she does have one nude scene (the obligatory “I just got out of the shower scene”) and wears skimpy clothing throughout. However, Lords does rise above the material with a structured performance. She definitely radiates the screen. As the alien scientist billionaire, Arthur Roberts channels George Soros and has fun with the part. The rest of the cast are just fine. Lenny Juliano is funny as the sex driven pool boy/assistant Jeremy who helps Nadine figure out the truth about their employer.
The movie is an odd mix though. It tries to keep the 1950s campiness while adding the sexuality that by the 1980s became rampant on screen. The R rating the film receives is mainly for the nudity and not the gore. The special effects are fun, giving it a nice retro feeling but not making it feel very cheap. Wynorski, who also directed Chopping Mall, suffers from the same dilemmas that plague most directors of remakes: you want to make it your own, but you don’t want to stray away too much from the source material. It’s kind of funny how the 50s and 80s are similar culturally, but in film they don’t blend too well. The only reason it worked in Back To The Future is because of the time travel element.
The film looks fine in a new transfer and there is a feature length audio commentary with Lords and Wynorski that is fun, particularly in listening to Lords reflect on her first film. There is an additional commentary from Wynorski that was recorded for an earlier DVD release, and while it’s good for consistency, it doesn’t offer anything too different from his commentary with Lords (nor is it any more entertaining). The highlight is a new interview with Lords where she talks about the film’s impact on her career and her life. As she states in the beginning of the feature: “It’s fun. It’s charming. It’s quirky. It’s ridiculous.” That pretty much sums up my overall feeling of the film. It’s great to see and she’s willing to admit the mistakes she made while making the film and how the experience made her a better actress.
Overall, if you’re a fan of Traci Lords, you definitely are going to like this film. Corman’s involvement was minimal but it proves once again that he knows how to introduce talent. The film is just good old fashioned fun that has a decent style of horror and humor (when it works). If you’re a Corman fanatic, you may want to stick to the original but this is worth watching mainly to see how Lords made the jump from a difficult transition of adult actress to film star. Other than that, it is what it is and nothing more.
– Horror Bob
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- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
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- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
