Opening with a wild animated sequence in which an unknown spacecraft escapes pursuit by other space invaders, Invaders from Proxima B attempts the most perilous task of being a lovable indie film for both kids and adults alike. It mostly succeeds as Writer/Director Wade Roberts gives audiences the fun-loving story of a musician, Howie (also Roberts), who arrives home from a tour just in time to witness the unexpected arrival of an alien named Chuck crash landing in his own backyard.
Yes, the crash actually happens and, no, this outerspace fuzzball doesn’t eat cats. He does fart a lot, though. But his main mission is to save earth from an auction that it knows little about.
The scene of Chuck’s discovery is pretty funny, easily establishing the body-switching chemistry between Roberts and the puppet. Roberts goes all in on his performance alongside the hand puppet - which is quite the low budget design - and establishes the humor found in its slapstick routines and in its comical gags, aping everything from Saturday Night Fever to other alien invasion flicks as some lizard ninjas arrive to do all sorts of damage around town.
Full of some irreverent camerawork - thanks to cinematographer Travis Betz (Sunday, Little Graves) and an alien muppet who farts, giving away his location, Chuck’s glowing eyes lead the family to contact animal control. Something is in the shed, but what is it?!
What follows is a family friendly science fiction comedy as Chuck hijacks brains, sips Howie’s coffee, does some body swapping with Howie, and makes his case for help and understanding. You see, Chuck is here to save the planet from an interstellar auction which would cause an extinction event that would even wipe out the cockroaches.
At first, Howie’s wife, Jane (Samantha Sloyan), doesn’t believe him, but all of that matters little when the rest of the world does. First up on the block is social media star Esther Terrestrial (Sarah Lassez), who is just as nutty as they come, but she’s another witness to the crash and knows Howie is hiding something big. Then, all Hell breaks loose with the arrival of animal control, Nathan (Jeremiah Birkett), who might not know he’s chasing an alien, but is up to the challenge nevertheless.
Finally, we have the father and son duo of Willy and Marvin Felson (Richard Riehle and Mike C. Nelson) who are in hot pursuit of Chuck, operating as the cheapo depot versions of the Men in Black. Here, though, they come across more goofy than anything else, but it works in the film’s favor.
Buffalo 8 is excited to slide into summer with the North American VOD release of Invaders from Proxima B, a family friendly science fiction comedy from writer/director/star Ward Roberts (Westworld, Agents of SHIELD) and Samantha Sloyan (The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass). Invaders from Proxima B debuts exclusively on Fandango at Home May 31, 2024.
MPAA Rating: Not rated.
Runtime: 93 mins
Director: Ward Roberts
Writer: Ward Roberts
Cast: Christian Badami; Devin Barry; Travis Betz
Genre: Comedy | sc-fi | family
Tagline:
Memorable Movie Quote: "Did you see what I saw?"
Distributor: Buffalo 8
Official Site:
Release Date: May 31, 2024
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
Synopsis: After a wise-cracking alien named Chuck crashes in the backyard, the Jankins family teams up with their new otherworldly friend to battle a dangerous array of weirdos that show up in hot pursuit.
