The Alpha Incident

Understandably, many viewers do not see the true value of The Alpha Incident. Sure, the acting is not necessarily great and the set up is slow, but this is all part and parcel to the overall project. Only the most inexperienced layman would write off this masterwork as a "bad" movie, a "B" movie to be ridiculed. In the case of The Alpha Incident, B stands for beguiling. As the main characters are sitting in the train station, struggling to stay awake, you find that you, watching the movie, are doing the same thing. Immediately you are transported into the characters' psyches. You become part of the movie, and before you know it, the movie becomes part of you. So watch, nay, live The Alpha Incident.

The film really is comparable to The Andromeda Strain in the way the people are isolated together quickly over a virus and they are forced to deal with each other while trying remain alive and time is ticking away. But the way each film plays out, how the incident happens, the characters and interactions with each other and the ending of both movies are very different from one another. The Alpha Incident and The Andromeda Strain would make a great double feature together due to their similarities. With this movie, you'd never believe how interesting it can be when 4 people plus one government man (5 people total) stuck together by enforceable isolation in a train station over a virus can be really interesting but it is! There's a lot of talking, trying to find things to do, lots of worrying over what this particular strand of virus can do... a few flashes to the big military man and the scientist trying to find an antidote *bam* we have a good movie!! I really enjoyed this one!! 8.5/10

I like The Andromeda Strain (directed by Rober Wise, 1971) a lot - it's a suspenseful story about an virus outbreak that will keep you nailed to your seat. Some reviewers seem to like The Alpha Incident and compare it to The Andromeda Strain, but I have to say I was really disappointed: the story is boring, the pace terrible slow, the production value low, the acting at most some B or rather C class. In my opinion you won't miss anything not watching this one: The Alpha Incident is one of those movies that are just bad and boring and which do not resurrect by some magickal superpowers as trashy masterpieces. No matter from what perspective I tried to figure something out that justifies to recommend this one, I just can't. This is just bad low budget trash.

You have to rate movies based on their genre and/or budget. As such, this one is close to perfect. It felt like a (very low budget) combination between the original The Andromeda Strain and the original Night of the Living Dead. It is not with monsters, though. You will see what I mean when you watch the film. The actors are 10 in all, and they act like normal people. None of them are known, but they are really decent. The story itself is interesting and the dialogue good enough. It actually feels like it's real, which was the point of the movie all along. Therefore I highly recommend watching this, but keep in mind that it is a low budget film that has its strengths in plot and human reactions, not in outlandish ideas and special effects.

"A Mars space probe returns to Earth and brings with it a microorganism from the red planet. While transporting the microscopic alien life form by train, there is an accident and the microorganism is unleashed. Exposure to the alien virus forces four strangers (sic) into quarantine while government scientists rush to find a cure," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis. Not exactly "four strangers", but: biochemist Stafford Morgan (as Sorenson), weighty John Goff (as Jack), busty Carol Irene Newell (as Jenny), weighty George 'Buck' Flower (as Hank), and rail-weary Ralph Meeker (as Charlie). If you fall asleep during this movie, your head will not explode. Trust me. ** The Alpha Incident (1978) Bill Rebane ~ Stafford Morgan, John F. Goff, Ralph Meeker

The Alpha Incident is of low quality and uneventful. Its cheap, poorly acted and very tedious. For the storyline of "A microorganism from Mars, brought to Earth by a space probe, terrorizes passengers in a railroad office," we see nothing at all really. There are a few moments that tick it up a peg, but it really was putting me to sleep, wasn't just a joke.

"The Alpha Incident" feels like an episode of "The Twilight Zone" padded out to full movie length. While it overstays its welcome it does have an interesting premise and uses its low budget effectively. It's a shame that the performances aren't better because those could have really amped up the tension and made this into a tight thriller. A better film would have you on the edge of your seat as the characters are trapped in quarantine after being exposed by a virus from Mars. This one doesn't really do that much with the premise. As is, it isn't terrible but it isn't spectacular either so it's worth checking out if the premise interests you and you're able to forgive some of the film's shortcomings, or like me you just happen to have it because you bought one of those cheap "50 Sci-Fi Classics" for $20. (On DVD, September 16, 2012)

Another one from the 200 cult movies box set from mill creek. I guess if a unknown bacterial from mars breaks out on earth you should take speed, dance and screw. Maybe not in that particular order. Very plodding movie it seems to drag on and on. But the last 20 minutes or so are pretty good. Not a recommendation but there are a lot worse out there.