The Alpha Incident (1977)

I'm going to attempt to keep up with the Mill Creek 250 Horror section because even though most of the films can hardly be considered good, I still recommend that anyone who enjoys old corny films give this and some of the other Mills Creek collections a shot. For under $100 you can get 250 average quality B-movies and might even find something you really like. One of the films from this collection is where I first discovered Helga Line, so that in and of itself was worth it to me. So here's another brief review of one of the films I watched quite a while back but never got around to reviewing.

The Alpha Incident centers around an outbreak of an alien microorganism which was brought back to Earth via a probe sent to Mars. While being transported via train the microorganism is released and infects four individuals, forcing them to be quarantined in a small train depot. The effects of the organism are unknown but government scientists attempt to find a cure before it's too late. They soon realize that sleep initiates the affects of the organism so the four infected must stay awake until a cure is discovered, or they'll die.

While I've only viewed a few of these low budget films, I have arrived at the number one defining negative factor against them, length. Most of these films could easily be made into a fairly entertaining half hour Twilight Zone themed series, but as 90 minute movies they don't work at all. The Alpha Incident is a prime example of that, the premise of the film is simple but there is an underlining mystery as to what is going to happen to the infected. The ending is rather surprising, and throw in a train operator who sounds like Larry the Cable Guy and you have a film that isn't totally devoid of amusement, but is it worth sitting through 30 minutes of drivel to see? Unfortunately not, but if you wanted to take the time to edit this film down to 30 minutes you might have something quite entertaining to watch, albeit incredibly corny and low quality but as it stands the wasted time outweighs what little suspense this film has.

4/10