Having written ’80s Teen Flick Festival and ’80 Teen Flick Festival Reunion, I’ve been deep diving in the ’80s Teen Flick genre for a while now. This was a magical time to be a cinematic teenager. There were so many films being made with young casts aimed at teenager audiences. Every month during the decade you could find a new film or two about teens at the cineplex. These were real average teenagers and not mutant superheroes. But once in a while there would be a twist and the kids came from a galaxy far far away. Such is the case of Voyage of the Rock Aliens who crossed the universe in a quest to find the source of rock music. But instead of hanging out with Little Richard and Chuck Berry, the space aliens beam down to meet high schooler Pia Zadora.
The print is from when the movie was called When the Rain Begins To Fall. What does this have to do with Aliens looking for rock music? Well the aliens on their Flying V guitar shaped spaceship are scanning planets to see if there’s signs of rock and roll. One of the signals they receive is a video featuring Jermaine Jackson and Pia Zadora for a song called “When the Rain Begins to Fall.” Coincidence? The aliens end up beaming down to Earth via a telephone booth to find Pia Zadora. She’s a high school girl with a very controlling boyfriend (A River Runs Through It‘s Craig Sheffer). The aliens try to act human, but the local sheriff (Harold and Maude’s Ruth Gordon) is on their trail even if their robot is disguised as a fire hydrant. The head alien ABCD (Tom Nolan) falls hard for Pia who is called Dee Dee and seems to have nothing to do with the woman singing with Jermaine Jackson. Later in the film she duets with ABCD (Tom Nolan) on “Little Bit of Heaven” and other songs. Songwriter/producer Mark Spiro sings for ABCD instead of actor Nolan. (Spiro was writing songs for Cheap Trick and Lita Ford.) The aliens tangle with a rockabilly band played by the real band Jimmy and the Mustangs. They were hot around this time and played on MTV. Just when you think things can’t get weirder, Michael Berryman (The Hills Have Eyes) arrives fresh out of mental asylum with a shopping cart full of weapons and a chainsaw. There’s a battle of the bands between the aliens and the rockabilly cats. There’s just so much happening that you can forget there appears to be no plot or Jermaine Jackson. Although they bring back his song with a new actor lip synching him.
Voyage of the Rock Aliens brings all the cheese you’d expect from a musical film that features aliens, rockabilly and Pia Zadora. Strange to think that after making Butterfly and The Lonely Lady that she’s end up in such a project. But it makes perfect sense since she was attempting to transition from on camera nudity to focusing on singing. The role of Dee Dee provided her with plenty of fully clothed musical moments. The musical scenes play like something out of the ’60s even with the ’80s sounds. This isn’t amateur hour since direct James Fargo had worked with Clint Eastwood and directed The Enforcer and Every Which Way But Loose. Director Photography Gilbert Taylor shot Dr. Strangelove, A Hard Day’s Night, The Omen, Flash Gordon and Star Wars. The guy who was behind the camera on Star Wars and The Beatles movie was setting up the angles on Voyage of the Rock Aliens. This seems appropriate since Voyage of the Rock Aliens mashed up these two movies into one campy ’80s teen gem.
The video is 1.78;1 anamorphic. The 1080p transfer shows off the strange special effects including the talking fire hydrant. The audio is DTS-HD MA 5.1 so you can have the battle of the bands all over your family room. The movie is subtitled.
Embarking On A Voyage: The Making Of An Alien Dance Rock Opera (40:50) catches up with the crew. They discuss how this wasn’t the usual scaped together weird indie film. Pia Zadora’s wealthy husband funded the film on the grounds that it becomes a musical for his wife. Michael Berryman talks about landing the part and what he did as his day job at the time. They also explain the titles change in the movie.
Where They Are Now: Reuniting The Band Rhema in the 21st Century (48:39) hooks up the the various band members. This is kind of a Behind the Music with a musicians who had their name as the alphabet. They were originally in a band called New Zion doing Christian rock originally before they got into New Wave. Rhema means a word that creates. How did the band end up playing a group of musical rock aliens? They had contributed to the soundtrack and the producers just wanted to hire them. They talk about the president of Curb Records flying out to Arizona on Pia Zadora’s private jet.
Vinegar Syndrome presents Voyage of the Rock Aliens. Directed by James Fargo. Screenplay by Edward Gold and James Guidotti. Starring Pia Zadora, Craig Sheffer, Tom Nolan, Ruth Gordon, Michael Berryman and Jermaine Jackson. Running Time: 96 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: May 27, 2022.
