Alien From L.A.

PG

Released Feb 26, 1988

1 hr. 27 min.

Fantasy

List

22%

9 Reviews

Tomatometer

3%

250+ Ratings

Audience Score

A valley girl's dull life takes a drastic turn after her exploring father locates the lost city of Atlantis.

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Audience Member

Based — loosely based! — on Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth with a little part of The Wizard of Oz as several actors play parts above and below ground, Albery Pyun's science fiction fantasy tells the story of Wanda Saknussemm (Kathy Ireland), a nerd — as if — who gets dumped for not having a sense of adventure. That's when she learns that her archaeologist father has fallen down a bottomless put near Zamboanga and before you know it, we have Atlantis, a thousand-year-old alien spaceship and a journey literally to, you guessed it, the center of the Earth. So where does the title come from? When Wanda finds her way inside the inner Earth, she becomes the alien, at odds with gangster Mambino (Deep Roy) and Lord Over while falling for charming Charmin' (Thom Mathews, who I always call Tommy Jarvis). Hey! There's Linda Kerridge from Fade to Black as Wanda's aunt and a bar owner! Pyun and Ireland would return for the direct-to-video sequel Journey to the Center of the Earth, which suffered the Cannon curse of cuts and budget woes. The pre-production work and storyboards were wasted as the final film bears little resemblance to the script, which is why it started as a movie made Rusty Lemonrande — the producer of Yentyl and Captain EO — and Pyun coming on and this turning into a sequel. Nobody was happy with how it ended up. But it does have Emo Phillips in it.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

Chris J

Alien from L.A. - PG (1h 27m) 1988 - Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi 3/5 stars This was such a fun blind buy! I literally had no clue what to expect from this. I bought it purely based on the cover art. I needed another item on my last Vinegar Syndrome shopping spree and this was the winner. So let's get the elephant in the room out of the way first. That voice that Kathy Ireland did during 99% of this was pretty rough. I wish I knew the story behind it, maybe someone that sees this will know more! Overall, this is a silly, over the top, and crazy film. However I felt a nostalgic joy while watching it, even though I haven't seen it before. Although it has been on an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 so I'm I intrigued! The film is based partially on Jules Verne's novel "Journey to the Center of the Earth" with just a peppering of "Wizard of Oz." Apparently there is a sequel (form 1989) to this titled "Journey to the Center of the Earth" ironically, also starring Kathy Ireland. I wish there was a decent release of it! #vinegarsyndrome #alienfromla #kathyireland #deeproy #williamrmoses #alien #aliens #ufo #art #space #scifi #area51 #xenomorph #extraterrestrial #ufos #love #nasa #predator #drawing #ufology #ufosighting #artist #aliensarereal #digitalart #universe #horror #illustration #alienabduction #monster #ancientaliens

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

10/25/21

Full Review

Audience Member

Really silly, but fun sci-fi flick. Ireland is pretty stiff in it, but she's adorable regardless, of course. It gets pretty gonzo, but it's a great, rich little world that Pyun has set up here. It would've been nice if this could've gotten some sequels to furyher development this universe.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

10/10/21

Full Review

Audience Member

A very silly and corny 80s film with the maximum amount of tropes and stereotypes. Kathy Ireland is adorable here. Feels like a Mad Max knock-off mixed with journey to the center of the earth. Very wacky characters and over the top makeup and sets. Looks like they put in a lot of effort for the sets and characters. Wholesome 80s stuff.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/12/23

Full Review

dustin d

Alien from L.A. is a campy fantasy movie that requires the suspension of disbelief sufficient to buy that a hottie like Kathy Ireland would be looked over and found unattractive as long as she wore glasses and baggy clothes. It has some funny one-liners, but that's not enough to save it for its lack of credible world building or a decent plot. (Seriously, how is it the Atlanteans can detect an "alien" among them when they look identical to humans and have a range of fashions? Why do some of the Atlanteans have Australian accents, but others American? Am I expecting too much from a Cannon film starring a supermodel?)

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Janie Du Plessis, only good thing about this movie. For some reason the character Shank fascinates me. The rest of it is everything people say it is .. badly acted and porly writtem. But somehow they found a way to make a sequel .. Journey To The Center Of The Earth (1989). Du Plessis had an even bigger part in that so It's Better!

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

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Albert Pyun

Director

Kathy Ireland

Wanda Saknussemm

Thom Mathews

Charmin'

Don Michael Paul

Robbie

Linda Kerridge

Roeyis Freki

Richard Haines

Prof. Arnold Saknussemm

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Preston Barta

Fresh Fiction

It's stupid-fun if you watch it in the right state of mind (and with the right people).

Rated: B-

Jun 22, 2021

Full Review

Brian Orndorf

Blu-ray.com

It has Ireland, who understandably isn't trying that hard to come up with a performance, whining and squeaking her way through a movie that isn't terribly exciting, even when it tries to be.

Rated: C

May 29, 2021

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Alan Ng

Film Threat

believe Alien From L.A. does find itself in the cult movie classic camp.

Rated: 6/10

Nov 30, 2020

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Daniel M. Kimmel

Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Rated: 1/5

Nov 18, 2005

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Rob Thomas

Capital Times (Madison, WI)

Completely awful - you can't believe they're serious.

Rated: 0/5

Jul 28, 2005

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 2/5

Jul 5, 2005

Full Review

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Synopsis

A valley girl's dull life takes a drastic turn after her exploring father locates the lost city of Atlantis.

Director: Albert Pyun
Executive Producer: Avi Lerner
Screenwriter: Judith Berg, Sandra Berg, Albert Pyun
Distributor: The Cannon Group
Rating: PG
Genre: Fantasy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 26, 1988, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 11, 2016
Sound Mix: Surround

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