The movie has its drawbacks but is watchable.

Rating: 8/10 (23 June 2011)

The movie has a rocky start but then the story picks up steam. The problem with the movie are the child roles. Not only are they contrived caricatures of pre-adolescents, they are annoying caricatures, especially the one with the hardware in his mouth. Their presence almost destroys the movie. In fact, much of the story is contrived and a rehash of sci-fi formulas that were popular thirty years ago. Nevertheless, the movie does succeed in conveying a sense of suspense as, despite the movie's drawbacks, one wonders how the story will end. The acting is stilted, the dialog is at times ridiculous, the style of the movie pure 1970s, without it intending to be a parity, and the presence of the pre-adolescent caricatures embarrassing. Yet the movie survives to tell a story that is worthy of attention. This movie could have been better but then again it could have been a lot worse, so if it's not a classic at least it's not a joke. However, this movie deserves a rating of 8 out of 10 primarily because of closing credits into which are inserted two popular upbeat songs from the 1970s and an actual 8 mm film clip. It's just too bad that more of the movie was not so innovative.