Review: Kids vs Aliens

Director: Jason Eisner

Screenplay: John Davies and Jason Eisener

Year: 2023

"Kids vs. Aliens" is one of those movies I knew absolutely nothing about, and my only criterion for seeing it is that it was a new release on Shudder. Although the title and poster give you a good idea of ​​what the main part of its plot will be, I had no idea what I was going to be looking at. I can confirm that this was a very good idea.

The plot of "Kids vs. Alien" is exactly what the title suggests. In the middle of a teenage party, an invasion of aliens takes place. A group of children unites efforts to defeat the aliens and save themselves from the invasion.

The beginning of the film threw my expectations to the ground, which at the beginning were not very high. Its evident air of a low-budget movie and the absurdity of what it shows at the beginning made me think that it would go along this line and that the plot would be very superficial. Although if you go along the line of the absurd and highlight its low-budget style, the plot turns out to be more entertaining and interesting than expected.

The film's first half focuses on developing the characters and their relationships. We know the group of children we will follow for the rest of the film, the older sister of one of these and her suitor, both crucial in the plot. Once the invasion of the aliens occurs, all this development has its reward within the madness that is unleashed.

“Kids vs. Aliens” is perfectly comfortable with showing that it is a low-budget movie and even goes out of its way to highlight this fact. However, instead of playing against it, is used to its advantage to give it a fun and absurd air, like the one that its director Jason Eisener already showed us a few years ago in “Hobo With A Shotgun”. What helps make the visuals work and be so fun is that the vast majority are practical and seek to bring out that exaggerated and self-aware side.

For fans of low-budget horror movies of the 90s, they will undoubtedly enjoy “Kids vs. Aliens”. The plot does not seek to treat anything special but rather focuses on highlighting its fun side, which is based on the absurdity of the plot itself and its special effects.