Review by Jon Donnis
Since my last few reviews were all big Hollywood type films with huge budgets, I thought I should get back to what I know and love, that being low budget Independent films. And the latest in that genre is Alien Sniperess.
Who even knew that there was a feminine version of the word Sniper, in Sniperess. Totally unnecessary, but alas that is what we have, so lets not complain too much.
In a totally original, and never seen before plot point, the film starts with a meteor shower, and of course there are some kind of alien creatures within the rocks, that in turn infect humans, turning them into alien hosts. A bit Zombie like, but they can fire guns.
Olivia Okoro is the lead in the film, she plays Elite Army sniper Chioma, she has just found out that her boyfriend was in a car accident, as she seems him in his hospital bed, he proposes, gives her the ring and then dies. His last request of her is to take his brother Aaron (Sean Laguna) to his grandparents. Chioma's friends Kelly (Alaina Laethem) and Liz (Camille Kerber) agree to accompany her on the journey.
With the meteors and the aliens inside having now affected people all over the country, it becomes apparent that these infected people are getting violent and trying to kill people, how do you know when someone is infected? They put in orange contact lenses. How generous of the aliens to do this so we know who they are!
Throw in FBI Agent Marks (Mark Speno), Conspiracy Theorist Dr. Clark (Sean Dillingham doing his best Alex Jones impression) and you have the "Officials" investigating and trying to find a way to destroy the aliens.
What follows is perhaps a paint by numbers film, nothing that original, but delivered in a surprisingly good manner, way better than its budget should allow it.
The film jumps into the action pretty quickly, sometimes these films will pad the first half with nonsensical dialog, but this film goes for it from pretty early on, which was a pleasant surprise.
Olivia Okoro is excellent as the lead, she comes across as very credible, and I thought was the standout performance.
The Good
A strong performance by Olivia Okoro stands out, and Alien Sniperess as a film is way better than it should be.
The Bad
Slightly tired formula, a plot done many times before.
Overall
For a low budget independent film, I was pleasantly surprised. The film has its moments, some decent action scenes, and a nice build-up of tension.
I score Alien Sniperess a fairly strong 7/10
Out now on Digital and available at https://amzn.to/3sp0C6o
