Pod People

"Pod People" is a 1983 Spanish science fiction film directed by Juan Piquer Simón. A young boy discovers a lovable alien creature, but the alien's mother is on the prowl. The film was originally meant to be about evil aliens, but the plot was changed to cash in on the success of "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial". The film was largely forgotten until 1991, when it was lampooned by movie-mocking television show "Mystery Science Theater 3000".

The film starts with three poachers preparing to enter the woods in search of game. One of the hunters sees something in the sky that he thinks is a meteor and goes to investigate. He finds a stash of large eggs in a red glowing cave and begins smashing them. The mother finds and kills the poacher, but not before he smashes all but one of the eggs. The mother begines to take revenge, first on the hunters and then on members of a rock band that is camping in the mountains for the weekend.

Tommy, a boy who lives in a secluded house with his mother Molly and uncle Bill, also finds the cave and the remaining intact egg and brings it home, where it shortly hatches and grows rapidly until by the next day it is as large as Tommy. Tommy nicknames him "Trumpy", presumebly due to the alien's short, elephant-like trunk, and they become playmates. As the dangerous mother alien continues looking for her child, the rock band seeks out Tommy's house for medical care after one of their group, Laura (a female "friend" and apparent groupie of the lead singer Rick), is struck from ambush by the alien mother and falls off of a short cliff. She eventually dies of her injuries.

Brian and Bill go to a nearby ranger station to use the radio but find the alien mother and the body of a second poacher there. The alien kills Brian, after which Bill flees back to the cabin in his SUV. The alien beats him home, however, and attacks and kills Tracy (a backup singer) in the band's camper, an event Tommy witnesses through his telescope. The survivors decide to hole up in the cabin until the next day.

Trumpy's mother sneaks into the house and kills Cathy (another backup singer) after she takes a shower. The other people in the house come running at the sounds of her screams and Bill fires a shot at the retreating alien mother. Bill and Rick decide to pursue Trumpy's mom before she can escape. Rick takes a rifle and the two men go in pursuit.

Immediately after Bill and Rick leave, Trumpy appears, scaring Molly and Sharon. Molly grabes a rifle from a nearby rack and tries to shoot Trumpy, but Tommy protects his alien friend with his body and hustles Trumpy out the door and into the woods. Molly and Sharon give chase, searching for Tommy, Rick, and Bill in the gloom.

Eventually Trumpy and his mother reunite briefly before Rick and Bill find them. The alien mother attacks Bill, who shoots her once before being killed, then she is gunned down by Rick. Trumpy and Tommy disappear in the woods and say their goodbyes before Tommy reunites with his mom, Sharon, and Rick.

The movie ends with Trumpy moving deeper into the woods and Tommy, Rick, Molly, and Sharon (the surviving backup singer) heading back to the cabin.

The film features the fictional pop band's performance of "Burning Rubber Tires", which was lampooned in a sketch on "Mystery Science Theater 3000" for its unintelligible lyrics, specifically the chorus, "hear the engines roll now", which was interpreted by the "MST3K" cast as "idiot control now". The lead singer's after-song gesture of making the A-OK sign, smiling, and saying, "It stinks" became a recurring in-joke on "MST3K".

The film was distributed in the U.S. by Film Ventures International. In common with "Cave Dwellers", another Film Ventures release spoofed by "MST3K", the opening and ending credits for "Pod People" are superimposed over blurred footage from an entirely unrelated movie (in this case "The Galaxy Invader" (1985)).

DVD releases

* The "MST3K" version of the film was released by Rhino Home Video as part of the "Collection, Volume 2" DVD set.

External links

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* [http://es.geocities.com/jpiquers/nuevosextra.html The director's site for this film]