Released by: AGFA
Released on: July 30, 2024
Director: John Kroll
Cast: Nicole Eggert
Year: 1995
Purchase From Vinegar Syndrome

Amanda and the Alien - Movie Review:

Amanda and the Alien (1995) was a made-for-cable TV sci-fi comedy directed by John Kroll (TV's Hypernauts), a loose adaptation of a 1983 short story by Robert Silverberg, and starring Baywatch babe Nicole Eggert as the titular Amanda - a sardonic single 20-something artist with the mandatory '90s naval-ring living in Los Angeles. One day while hanging out at the local beatnik-communist coffee shop Cafe Retro she notices a gorgeous young woman, Connie (Alex Meneses, TV's Sherman Oaks), sitting at the adjacent table, and who seems rather aloof. Reports have been circulating about a body-swapping alien who has escaped from a military installation and is now loose in the area, and with her keen eye for observation Amanda notices the tell-tale signs of an alien in a strange land, over dressed for the weather and with messy make-up job. Curiously, Amanda doesn't run in fear or turn the Alien into the authorities, no sir, she a curious girl looking to break-up her boredom with adventure, so she introduces herself and tells the sexy alien that she is willing to help her blend in a bit better so she can evade capture. She ends up back at Amanda's house, and after initially trying to eat her cat, she strips nudes and takes a shower, getting a bit of a glam-up from Amanda. We learn that she needs to eat every few days, her preference is human and not animal, and when she does consume someone she takes on the form of that person, but she kindly agrees not eat Amanda. The time spent at Amanda's allows us to discover that certain Earth spices, paprika in particular, are total Spanish Fly for the alien, plus we get some fun nudity and shower masturbation, because it's Showtime, why the fuck not?

On the trail of the alien are federal agents Lt. Vint (Michael Dorn, Star Trek: The Next Generation) and Lt. LeBeau (David Millbern, The Slumber Party Massacre), working for their boss Mallory (Stacy Keach, Road Games). who is in cahoots with Col. Rosencrans (John Diehl, Stargate) from the military. When the alien gets hungry Amanda sets her up with her horny ex-boyfriend Charlie (Michael Bendetti, Netherwold), whom she has sex with, before consuming him when he fails to bring her to orgasm. Assuming his visage, allows the alien to further explore human sexuality from the male perspective, with Amanda, 'natch. The sex scene with Charlie goes on forever, and is intercut with corny close-ups of a frothy latte latte being made at the cafe, offering a silly 'would like a little steamed milk in your espresso' sex-montage that is super-silly, which tends to be the default mode of this flick, goofy and very silly, with some occasional poignant character moments.

Amanda agrees to help get the alien get to it's rendezvous point for pick-up, at the base of the Hollywood Hills, but they have to evade the feds and military in the process, leading to more stranger in a strange land hijinks and pseudo softcore shenanigans and food-sex stuff. Not food-sex related, but was this the film film to show a peanut butter and pickle sandwich, maybe?

I sort of adore this charming late-night '90s flick, the worst I can say about it is that the early CGI morphing effects are atrocious, but they're so dated that they still bring about warm waves of mid-90s nostalgia, so even that I found kind of endearing. Also, while I enjoyed the alien body-swapping of it all I must say that I would have been very content if the alien was portrayed by the very lovely Alex Meneses the entire time, when she is body-swapped out I kind of missed her.

Amanda and the Alien - Blu-ray Review:

Amanda and the Alien (1995) arrives on Blu-ray from AGFA advertised as being "Restored from the original 35mm camera negative", presented in 1080p HD widescreen in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio. The mid-'90s of it all look terrific, warm vibrant colors, natural looking flesh tones, decent black levels. The image looks nicely filmic with grain present throughout, there's some very minor blemishes by way of scratches and speckling, but it's quite minor.

Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo with optional English subtitles. The track sounds quite good, some minor age-related anomalies are detectable, but largely it's a sharp and crisp sounding affair. Dialogue exchanges sound excellent, featuring a score and songs composed by Jane Wiedlin of The Go-Go's and and Michael Cozzi of Shriekback, as well as soundtrack selections from
Over the Rhine and dada.

Extras include a fun Audio Commentary with director Jon Kroll and AGFA’s Bret Berg, Kroll recalls making the film with plenty of fun behind-the-scenes anecdotes, making it for Showtime and what if any limitations there were, and talking about the cast and crew, inclosing noting that editor Brian Brendan edited it right after working on Natural Born Killers, and before Grosse Pointe Blank. He also touches on how the fun cast were, the in-jokes about Star Trek, the score for the film, how '90s it was, and his later career.

We also get a 14-min The Alien in the Mirror: Trans Coding in Amanda and the Alien - A Video essay by film critic and author Willow Catelyn Maclay, that starts off with how the film premiered on Showtime during a time when we were experiencing a resurgence of sci-fi in 90s, getting into the trans-adjacent nature of alien body-swapping films, particularly referencing John Carpenter's Starman, and the later film Under the Skin. Story events and themes of Amanda and the Alien are discussed as well as the typically sardonic Gen X humor.

Next up is the 11-min Amanda and the Alien and Paranoia: The Biggest '90s Trend - Audio essay by writer Danielle Burgos. Burgos discusses Gen X's authenticity compared to greed-filled '80s, '90s pop culture, and the how distrust of the government was at an all time high, fostering widespread paranoia, as exemplified by X-Files, and how this film inverts that paranoia. Last but not least is a 14-min
Out-of-this-world 35mm Trailer Reel from the AGFA Vaults, a grindhouse patina'd reel featuring Creature, Eat & Run, Space Mutiny, Star Crash, They Came from Beyond Space, and Voyage of the Rock Aliens, all of which would make a wonderful schlocky sci-fi marathon at home, but I have to ask, having never heard of or seen the trailer for Eat & Run - where the Hell is the Blu-ray for that - I need to see it, someone make that happen, please.

The single-disc Blu-ray arrives in a clear keepcase with a Reversible Wrap with new artwork by Alicia Coombs, and the original VHS Artwork.

Amanda and the Alien - The Final Word:

This reminded me of a really quirky and totally '90s version of the Starman filtered through the cuteness of something like Clueless and the bonkers-inept charm of Tammy and the T. Rex, chock full of peak '90s fashions, music and Gen X-er humor. Oddly, I am probably the target audience for this and somehow I'd never even heard of it, maybe because I was too poor to afford premium cable in the mid-'90s, but watching it now I would say this is a '90s sci-fi comedy gem and one of my favorite film discoveries of the year so far, if you like goofy sci-fi and tasty 90's vibes there's plenty here to love, definitely check it out.