Baltimore’s own Don Dohler has been crankin’ em out since the late seventies beginning with THE ALIEN FACTOR. In 2001, Dohler finally answered his legion of fans (all 10 of ’em)and filmed ALIEN FACTOR 2:ALIEN RAMPAGE. And while I must admit that Dohler has improved a little in his film-making technique, he is still hampered by micro budgets which especially show during the special-effects scenes.

As usual,the acting in this film ranges from decent to strictly amateur. A special nod goes to actress Ann Firths way over the top performance as an elderly bag lady;it borders on caricature.

But throw in a neat monster,cheesy special-effects plus a- let’s make a movie, gang!-atmosphere and you have a new millennium spin on the old Mickey Rooney-Judy Garland films of the 1940’s where a group of friends put on a show in the barn for the local townsfolk.

Amateurish,yes. Good? Not hardly. In fact, I wouldn’t want to watch ALIEN FACTOR 2 again anytime soon. But in it’s own homemade, shot in the backyard way, it’s rather cute and endearing. A cinematic version of The Little Engine That Could.