Canaries (2017)
5/10
Alien Party Crashers?
21 March 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Now known as Alien Party Crashers this movie by Welsh writer/director Peter Stray tells the tale of a New Year's Eve bash in the Welsh Valley that suddenly finds itself battling an invasion force made up of time-traveling aliens. It's the first movie to ever be filmed in the Welsh valley of Lower Cwmtwrch, although a few scenes are shot in the same shooting locations of Jaws in Martha's Vineyard.

DJ Steve Dennis has returned home to Cwmtwrch, Wales to get some new investors and host a New Year's Eve Party. Coincidentally, that's the very night that aliens bring together decades of abductions to begin their invasion.Steve's not a hero by his own admission and this gets shown numerous times in the film, including a scene where he tries to escape a one night stand by quoting The Terminator before getting called out on it (that said, your author once successfully did so with a line from Pee-wee's Big Adventure).

The alien/human hybrids are effective when left to the shadows and stalking their prey. Once they're in the light, these yellow jacketed zombies aren't as imposing. They do, however, cut the New Year's party to shreds with their talons. And soon, they start revealing themselves to the people that they intend to replace.

That said, this is an attempt to make a movie with plenty of backstory and show how an alien invasion would impact normal people. It's the debut feature from writer and director Peter Stray, who shows promise well beyond the budget of this effort.

The closing scenes -- which set up a sequel -- are harrowing, with the UFOs rising in the sky as the yellow-jacketed aliens stand in watch. I'm interested in seeing what happens next.
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