Alien 2: On Earth (1980)

 

One year after the release of Ridley Scott’s 1979 horror masterpiece, Alien, and six years before James Cameron’s epic, Aliens, international crowds were treated to a different kind of follow up.

Alien 2: On Earth (translated to Alien 2 - Sulla Terra)

Director Ciro Ippolito, also known by the U.S. pseudonym Sam Cromwell, reportedly got the idea after seeing the box office success of fellow countryman Lucio Fulci’s Zombi 2. An in-name-only sequel to George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead, which had been released in Italy as Zombi.

These sorts of situations were surprisingly common. As I briefly mentioned in my previous review of Son of Sleepaway Camp, there wasn’t really a government approval process for movie titles. Instead, it was largely up to the rights holder—in this case 20th Century Fox—to notice and pursue legal action. And that’s exactly what happened.

Fox objected around the time of the film’s release and reportedly attempted to stop distribution. Despite those efforts, Alien 2: On Earth still made it to theaters. According to Ippolito, Fox’s legal challenge ultimately failed in part because “Alien” was considered a generic term and not something the studio could exclusively claim.

Whether audiences were being misled is another discussion entirely. That’s a fair argument to make. But we’re also talking about an Italian exploitation film released in 1980, operating under a very different legal and cultural landscape than the one studios face today.

This wasn’t the only Alien-inspired knock-off to catch the eye of Fox. During the production of Luigi Cozzi’s Contamination (1980), the idea was reportedly floated to release the film as “Alien Arrives on Earth”. Fox got wind of that and quickly put an end to the idea, forcing a title change beforehand. Funny enough, it was still released as Alien Contamination in some markets.

Back to Alien 2: On Earth. What works. What doesn’t, etc. The plot follows a group of cave explorers who stumble across mysterious extraterrestrial rocks after a returning space capsule crashes back to Earth.

Now, if you just said to yourself, “Cave explorers? Why does that sound like Neil Marshall’s The Descent?” I’d accuse you of being Ciro Ippolito himself if I thought there was any chance that he would ever see this.

But no. Years later, Ippolito unsuccessfully attempted to sue the makers of The Descent, claiming the two films were too similar because both involved explorers trapped underground with a mysterious creature. That’s just stupid.

Anyway, let’s get to the few standouts. And one of them is indeed the cave itself. The Castellana Caves in Italy can certainly trigger a few claustrophobic nightmares. It’s a great setting, and the film makes use of it. Not entirely good use, just use. 

Combine that with the practical gore effects these types of movies always seemed to deliver on, and you’ve got one of Alien 2’s strengths (and weaknesses). You can throw a gallon of blood at the screen, but if it looks cheap, then it looks cheap. Not getting into specifics, but it certainly has those underwhelming moments.

The padding is extravagant. It’s almost as if you’re watching everything unfold in real time. It takes more than half of its run time before you see anything the title might suggest. Or, in this case, pulsing moon rocks. More on that in a second. The acting & dubbing are awkward, to say the least. The way the characters behave towards each other, it just doesn’t work with the line reading. 

About that Alien, though. Yeah, see, that’s sort of the problem. You never see one. It’s more like… a tentacle, or tentacles. When you call your movie Alien 2, you should probably have some kind of budget for, literally anything. Aside from rocks. 

When the surviving members of the team finally make it back into town, the city streets are completely empty, meaning, everyone’s dead? Sure. The climax happens at a bowling alley, which never feels nearly as important as the movie thinks it is. The final sequence with the “Alien” is a POV shot of what might be its mouth. Stomach. Asshole. Who knows. The latter option seems the most fitting.

Ippolito, who was also the producer, initially wanted Mario Bava to direct. Bava passed (smart move), and what we’re left with is a weird little footnote in Alien history.

The movie may not have a Xenomorph, but it does have… whatever this is supposed to be.