“S4” (2008)

Starring: Robert Watts, Henry Clarke, Antoinette Correia, Will Edwards & Erick Adam Written & directed by Chris Gabriel
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Polly Staffle Rating: ***

Though often celebrated for his infamy, Ed Wood isn’t a filmmaker that’s typically studied for his craft. That’s actually quite a shame because there’s a lot to be learned from the man that brought us the sci-fi/horror movies “Night of the Ghouls” (1959), “Plan 9 from Outer Space” (1959) and “Bride of the Monster,” (1955) as well as the film noir gem “Jail Bait” (1954) and the transvestite classic “Glen or Glenda” (1953). What becomes clear after watching Wood’s body of work, which is still enjoyable fifty years after the fact, is it was brought to life with very little funds and a lot of heart and creativity. Essentially, Ed Wood was a masterful guerilla filmmaker and marketer before there ever was such a thing.

While many may overlook or misunderstand the strengths of the man dubbed “the world’s worst director,” who sadly died a penniless alcoholic, none of these things were lost on first time director Chris Gabriel. With $300, a cast of five, plus himself and his dog Roofus, Gabriel set out to create a cult film in honor of Ed Wood. The results, written and directed by Gabriel, are a black and white ode to 1950s and 60s alien invasion B-movies called “S4.” Shot in 14 days over three weeks, this sci-fi comedy, is crammed full of cheap special effects, over the top acting, extremely dramatic music (some of which are very fitting original pieces by William Santiago), outlandish scenarios and silly movie mistakes, including continuity errors, the appearance of its screenplay and multiple uses of the same footage.

The film opens five years after the flying disc/weather balloon incident of Roswell, New Mexico with a naked bald black man in the middle of the Nevada desert. We learn the nudist, who is wearing an electronic collar of some sort around his neck, is Captain Maxwell Carter (Robert Watts) when Captain Jake Mason (Henry Clarke) arrives to take Carter back to Area 51’s Sector 4.

Carter is part of a top secret government experiment. He has no memory of what has happened, but he is pregnant with an alien baby. Mason is assigned to look after Carter. Regretfully Mason does. “Carter really should be in Korea killing Commies by the dozen with his men,” Mason explains. “Did you know Carter killed a Chinese officer using a can opener? When I got my MiGs, I used six .50 caliber machine guns with incendiary bullets. Carter used a can opener. A can opener! I’m not sure of the logistics of how he did it, but it sends a message.”

Mason respects Carter as a solider and feels bad for him due to his current situation. At the same time he feels leery of the aliens and their intentions. What develops is a quirky buddy film relationship between a very mentally and physically pregnant Carter, clashing with a loner stonewall Mason. As Mason describes it, he is“babysitting a pregnant Marine, who makes me pancakes and sits in the corner crying when I’m gone.”

Watts and Clarke play off each other perfectly at the film’s core. Watts, reminiscent of Chris Rock, provides the outrageousness and Clarke gives a solid performance as the comedic straight-man. To me Clarke, an actor since junior high who served six months in Iraq with the Air Force Security Forces, is one of the main highlights of the film. He doesn’t get the easy laughs and he doesn’t take his role greatly over the top. Instead Clarke turns in a quiet, yet strong performance as the angry military man that is easily comparable to Ryan Phillippe in “Stop-Loss” or River Phoenix in “Dogfight.”

Added to the mix is the mysterious alien liaison Angie, who is turned on by Mason’s mathematical skills and ears, and the super patriot Colonel Thadeus Drake. Angie - played by Antoinette Correia, holding her own in an otherwise all male cast - brings in a romantic comedy element to the story. Drake (Will Edwards) along with the aliens Stattlarr (Edwards) and Wallldorrfff (Watts), gives the film its lighthearted dark side. In addition, Drake’s “God and country” mentality provides the film with a fun old school villain/mad scientist, who also serves up social commentary. “Well it wasn’t exactly safe to give Truman the keys to the atom bomb, but we did. And as we know that worked out fine,” Drake states at one point.

Keeping in mind that “S4” comes with its own drinking game rules and was crafted with the intention of being a midnight movie, Edwards gets our vote for a Brad Majors Award. Named after Barry Bostwick’s character in “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” we are handing out this honorary award for overacting and the use of prescription glasses as a prop. Edwards, who co-produced the film with Gabriel and co-wrote the original three minute sketch it is based on with Watts and Clarke, defines great bad B-movie acting with his character. Ladies, he also shows his naked backside right before the closing credits.

Overall, “S4” is an entertaining film that mostly lives up to its billing as primitive, campy and reminiscent of old science fiction like “The Day of the Triffids,” “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” and the works of Ed Wood. I have also been told by its creators that the film improves once you crack open and down several bottles of alcohol. My biggest complaint with the film is that it felt very much like a stage production. Since Gabriel was aiming to recapture cinema of yesteryear when movies were more like theater productions than they are today, I guess I can’t hold that against him. But it still took me out of the story a few times. I also felt the film runs a tad long at 107 minutes, especially considering most older B-movies run 80 minutes or less. All of this being said, “S4,” the first production from Mercenary Films, isn’t quite “Plan 9 from Outer Space,” but it is definitely a movie that would make Ed Wood proud.

- CCF, December 2008