The Schock Vault: Escape From Area 51

“Escape from Area 51” is a funny sci-fi comedy that embraces all its campiness with no shame and doesn’t disappoint.

I typically don’t drop highly sophisticated film criticism terms at the beginning of a review, but here we go – “Escape from Area 51” is bonkers. This Donna D’Errico led sci-fi comedy has everything it needs to earn it a solid spot in the Schlock Vault – campy special effects, over-the-top acting and dancing aliens.

When the Storm Area 51 raid doesn’t go as planned, a power glitch frees alien warrior Sheera (D’Errico) from the facility. However, her escape hits a snag when her archenemy Sklarr (Chris Browning) captures her getaway pilot Kyra (Anouk Samuel) and then sets his sights on Sheera.

With Sklarr closing in, Sheera teams up with three Storm Area 51 misfits, Ernest (Caleb Thomas), Molly (Chloe Amen) and Jason (Zeke Jones), to help her free Kyra and get her back to her home world.

In terms of plot, that’s about as extensive as it gets. There’s a subplot of Ernest in love with Molly and some betrayal between people, but that’s about it. If you’re going into a movie titled “Escape from Area 51” and expecting much in the way of plot, the fault falls entirely on you, my friend.

However, if, like myself, you hoped the price of admission would include some amazingly bad special effects, at times even worse acting and odd interludes that include a fake commercial for alienmatch.com, then this is the flick for you. Before you get too excited, alienmatch.com isn’t real. Trust me, I checked it out. There’s also a dance off, bizarre alien animations and a mime.

The film features multiple scenes of sexual innuendo and those are some of the funniest scenes in the movie. My favorite of those was when Sheera shows Ernest, Molly and Jason how to activate the Bio Info Pod. Another element of the film I loved was how they gave Sklarr the power to change day to night and night to day – obviously trying to mask that one scene starts in light and ends in the dark. It’s glorious in the schlock value.

D’Errico caught me off guard with how surprisingly funny she was as Sheera. Browning was equally as entertaining as Sklarr, especially his first interactions with a duo of earth girls.

“Escape from Area 51” is a funny sci-fi comedy that embraces all its campiness with no shame and doesn’t disappoint.