Extraterrestrial (2014)

**_Cabin-in-the-woods mixed with Alien invasion/abduction_** Five college-aged youths spend the weekend at a retreat home in the sticks of Washington when extraordinary and terrifying things start happening, linked to beings… not of this world. Gil Bellows plays the local sheriff while Michael Ironside is on hand as a “crazy” recluse. "Extraterrestrial" (2014) has the same basic plot as "Night Skies" (2007), but with a bigger budget and all-around superior filmmaking, not to mention a low-key sense of black humor, which make for a more compelling experience. There are also bits of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (1977), "Signs" (2002), "The Forgotten" (2004) and "Dark Skies" (2013). The writers wisely had a list of staples pertaining to extraterrestrial phenomena and worked them all into the movie one way or another, like UFOs, isolated conspiracy theorists, Roswell, body probes and so forth. Like “Night Skies,” the final act gives you everything you might want in a movie of this nature. I won't say anymore. Let's just say that the film doesn't wuss out and the F/X are well done. Anja Savcic stands out in the female department as the blonde. Brittany Allen (April) and Melanie Papalia (Melanie) are also on hand with Brittany being the main protagonist, aka the ‘final girl.’ The film runs 1 hour, 41 minutes, and was shot at Port McNeill, British Columbia, which is on the northeastern side of Vancouver Island, about a 6-hour drive northwest of Vancouver. GRADE: A-/B+