Pod people
| The Pod People | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Juan Piquer Simón |
| Produced by |
|
| Written by |
|
| Starring |
|
| Music by |
|
| Cinematography |
|
| Edited by | Antonio Gimeno |
| Distributed by |
|
|
Release date
|
|
|
Running time
|
100 minutes |
| Country |
|
| Language | Spanish |
The Pod People (original title Los nuevos extraterrestres, literally The New Extraterrestrials) is a 1983 French-Spanish science fiction film directed by Juan Piquer Simón. The film's original draft was meant to be a straightforward horror film about an evil alien on a murderous rampage, but the producers demanded script alterations in order to cash in on the success of Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial by featuring a child and a cute, lovable alien. Director Simón was dissatisfied with the final result. The film was largely forgotten until 1991, when it was lampooned by the famed B movie-mocking television show Mystery Science Theater 3000.
The opening and closing credits used footage from an unrelated film, The Galaxy Invader, apparently without permission. It is likely only in the re-released edition as The Galaxy Invader was released nearly two years after The Pod People.
The film starts with three poachers going into the woods to hunt. One of them sees what he thinks is a meteor land and goes to investigate. He finds a red glowing cave with a stash of large eggs. He decides to smash them, but is killed by an unseen entity before he can finish, which leaves one egg left intact. The mysterious being takes revenge for the destruction, first killing the other hunters and then going after members of a rock band led by Rick (Ian Sera), who are on a weekend camping trip. This band is accompanied by Laura, a girl who Rick met and told about the weekend's plans, not expecting her to want to come along. Sharon, a member of the band, is jealous of Laura, as she (Sharon) is Rick's girlfriend. Cathy and Tracy are also band members.
Tommy (Óscar Martín)is a young boy living in a secluded house with his mother Molly (Concha Cuetos) and his short-tempered uncle Bill (Manuel Pereiro). He also finds the cave, and brings the remaining egg home where it hatches. The creature from the egg grows rapidly overnight until it is as large as Tommy. Tommy nicknames it "Trumpy" because he has a short, trumpet-like trunk. Tommy and Trumpy quickly become playmates. At one point, Tommy asks Trumpy where he is from. Trumpy indicates a star map, which for some reason features the Big Dipper prominently. It also becomes clear that Trumpy has developed telekinetic powers around this time, as it flings various objects around Tommy's room. While the mother alien continues to looking for her missing offspring, the rock band stops at Tommy's house for medical care after Laura encounters the alien mother and falls off of a cliff, later dying in the house. A strange dot formation (similar to the Big Dipper) is later seen on her forehead.
...
Wikipedia