Rating: C
Dir: David Izatt
Star: Marcus Macleod, Sabrina Mandulu, Johnny Panchaud, Gareth Morrison
I can kinda see the appeal of a low-budget version of The Thing relocated to the Isle of Skye. But the execution here makes too many missteps to be effective. It begins in the middle of the night, with a ‘meteor’ crashing to earth by a remote farm. When the owners’ daughter goes to investigate, she finds her father has… changed. Meanwhile, Jimmy (Macleod) is taking his visiting granddaughter back to her home in Inverness, when their car mysteriously stops functioning. They’re not the only ones so affected. A caravan of tourists, and a car of whisky thieves led by Trevor (Panchaud), who are looking to hide out, are stranded similarly nearby. Then people from the group start to vanish.
The main issue is, too many characters and plots, heading in too many different directions. There are not necessarily more people than The Thing. However there, they were all initially aligned for science, and Carpenter didn’t feel the need to burden any of them with back stories. Traits came out in the way they dealt with subsequent events. Here, Izatt feels we need to see Trev and his posse carrying out the robbery, for example. We don’t. Not when it comes at the expense of learning more about the alien. How does it function? What are its goals? These are questions in which the film is clearly not as interested as this viewer. It’s a choice, certainly. Just not one with which I agree.
Consequently, it takes too long to get to the meat of the matter, with everyone gathering at the farm where there’s an alien spaceship almost entirely buried in the backyard (top). When this is explored, things become weirder, and I have to give Izatt credit for not holding back here. Does it make coherent sense? Hmm. Let me get back to you on that. While you are waiting, please admire some quite lovely scenery (though how much was genuinely filmed on the Isle of Skye is up for debate). While it’s supposed to be based on a creature from Scottish mythology, the extraterrestrial angle renders this not especially relevant. Been different if the meteor had blown open a subterranean cave, in which something was slumbering.
The performances are a bit of a mixed bag. While Macleod is fine, Mandulu chews the scenery too much to be an effective villain. Less would definitely have been more. Another issue is, most of the characters we have been following eventually get sidelined, for one reason or another. This means the script suddenly has to introduce some new arrivals, purely to push the story forward in the last act. When we finally get a good look at the alien, it’s okay, considering the budget; humanoid, yet clearly not of this earth. Though if you can’t predict the final shot before it happens, you definitely need to watch more cheap SF. This passed the time almost adequately. Just do not expect another Dog Soldiers.