SHIRLEY THOMPSON VERSUS THE ALIENS (1972)
Article 3803 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 1-2-2012
Posting Date: 1-12-2012
Directed by Jim Sharman
Featuring Jane Harders, June Collis, Tim Elliott
Country: Australia
What it is: Arty science fiction

A woman at an asylum tells her story of an encounter with space aliens and her attempt to help them spread their message.

I have to admit that I was pretty curious about this movie, as it was directed by Jim Sharman, who would become best known for having directed THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW, both the movie and its stage incarnation. I’m afraid the movie didn’t impress me; it seems mostly to be an exercise in arty film tricks that get old fairly quickly, and it’s one of those movies that leaves me feeling that there’s less here than meets the eye. The movie is nearly at the halfway mark before we even encounter the aliens; up to that point, it’s mostly about her being at the asylum and having flashbacks to her life with her dysfunctional family. It jumps a lot between color and black and white, and in general the various arty touches seem forced and second-hand. Jim Sharman would go on to be a respected Australian theatre director, and maybe that was the natural medium for him; at this point, I can’t say that I’m all that impressed with his movies.