Fightin’ Giant Metallic Bugs in the West

Mixing genres can be an effective way of adding interest to stories that would otherwise seem a little tired and overdone. Writer Richard Beattie and director Kristoffer Tabori appear to have taken the classic High Plains Drifter (plus all the iconic westerns that it drew upon) and allowed it to be invaded by an old scifi favourite: a horde of giant bugs. Yes, it’s Clint Eastwood meets Them! (with a suggestion of those Martian tripods from War of the Worlds).

High Plains Invaders (US-2009; dir. Kristoffer Tabori)

Synopsis:

The hanging of honorable Indian-fighter Sam Phoenix in a small western town is cut short by the unexpected invasion of uranium-based insectoid creatures, forcing Sam and a small band of survivors to take refuge in a church. They’ll need more than a prayer and a pistol to survive, as a Wild West landscape is inundated by a killer force of alien pioneers.

Throw in Buffy’s favourite bad-boy vampire, James Marsters (“Spike”) and some decent-looking SFX and they might just have a winner.

Here Marsters comments on the genre mix:

And here he tells us why the film will be better than Buffy:

And here’s a scene from the film:

Lots more clips can be found on this Czech James Marsters fan site.

If they got it right, this could be the new Tremors. The film has been available on the RHI website as an OnDemand download, but it comes to the SyFy Channel on 30 August. Then to DVD, one assumes.

• Source: RHI Entertainment; Civilised James; via Kaiju Search-Robot Avery