This was a review originally written in 2006. Someone flagged it on here for abuse, but I have no idea why. Let's try again! Welles asked in his documentary F for Fake "When the authority says fake is real, what is real and what is fake?" This question can equally apply to Alien Autopsy. It has been (more or less) well established by now that the autopsy footage presented to the world by Ray Santilli in 1995 was a fake. It was claimed to have been shot during the autopsy of one of the humanoids recovered from the Roswell crash in 1947. When it was shown on television stations across the globe millions tuned in, wanting to believe that we finally had proof that we are not alone in the universe. Fast-thinking entrepreneurs made small fortunes peddling any old rubbish with a picture of an alien on it, people wrote books about it and The X-Files became the 1990s most successful TV show. So you can hardly blame Santilli and his co-conspirators for not 'fessing up that they had filmed the whole thing themselves using a plastic alien and innards from a local butcher.
That is, until now. Alien Autopsy opens with the title "Based on a true story". Santilli and his partner in crime Gary Shoefield are the executive producers of this film, and McPartlin and Donnelly play the pair in this, their feature debut. So is the production of this film the final confession that the footage wasn't real? Perhaps. More importantly, is the film any good? Again, perhaps.
McPartlin and Donnelly, better known in the UK as Ant and Dec have been a popular double act on television for well over fifteen years. They began life presenting, moved into acting, had a brief flirtation with the music business and then went back to presenting. They proved to be something of a revolution in broadcasting, drawing adult viewers to what were essentially children's shows with such parent-angering games as Beat the Barber, where the losing child had their hair completely shaved off in front of a studio audience.
The premise of the film is that whilst on a business trip in America collecting Elvis memorabilia Ray comes across the footage detailing an autopsy in Roswell, 1947. He buys this footage with plans to make money from it back in the UK. However once the film has been exposed to air it rapidly deteriorates rendering the film useless. And that should have been that, except Ray had borrowed the money from a psychopathic gangster with a sideline in standing naked in crop circles, who will kill him if he doesn't come back with the promised footage. And so all kinds of madcap shenanigans ensue as the pair recreate the film and fool both the gangster and the world. Along the way they try their best to shock the audience more used to watching their various television shows with a few firsts: They drink! They swear! They have sex! It is interesting to note that this film was part produced by Ealing Studios, and it does have the feel of a classic Ealing comedy: imagine The Lavender Hill Mob crossed with an episode of The X-Files. This also means that the tone shifts dramatically throughout, from thriller to science fiction to comedy to drama and back again, leaving what few laughs there are rather thinly spread out. Being a long-time fan of Ant and Dec (I even have some of their CDs) I didn't mind this, but those unfamiliar with the duo who are just looking for an enjoyable movie may find it difficult to settle into the film.
Overall Alien Autopsy will probably not be a box office smash. It's currently in the UK top ten but may have a harder time in the US. It's worth catching however to see how one of the greatest scams of the 1990s was pulled off, and how it is still possible that there may be intelligent life somewhere out there in the universe.
That is, until now. Alien Autopsy opens with the title "Based on a true story". Santilli and his partner in crime Gary Shoefield are the executive producers of this film, and McPartlin and Donnelly play the pair in this, their feature debut. So is the production of this film the final confession that the footage wasn't real? Perhaps. More importantly, is the film any good? Again, perhaps.
McPartlin and Donnelly, better known in the UK as Ant and Dec have been a popular double act on television for well over fifteen years. They began life presenting, moved into acting, had a brief flirtation with the music business and then went back to presenting. They proved to be something of a revolution in broadcasting, drawing adult viewers to what were essentially children's shows with such parent-angering games as Beat the Barber, where the losing child had their hair completely shaved off in front of a studio audience.
The premise of the film is that whilst on a business trip in America collecting Elvis memorabilia Ray comes across the footage detailing an autopsy in Roswell, 1947. He buys this footage with plans to make money from it back in the UK. However once the film has been exposed to air it rapidly deteriorates rendering the film useless. And that should have been that, except Ray had borrowed the money from a psychopathic gangster with a sideline in standing naked in crop circles, who will kill him if he doesn't come back with the promised footage. And so all kinds of madcap shenanigans ensue as the pair recreate the film and fool both the gangster and the world. Along the way they try their best to shock the audience more used to watching their various television shows with a few firsts: They drink! They swear! They have sex! It is interesting to note that this film was part produced by Ealing Studios, and it does have the feel of a classic Ealing comedy: imagine The Lavender Hill Mob crossed with an episode of The X-Files. This also means that the tone shifts dramatically throughout, from thriller to science fiction to comedy to drama and back again, leaving what few laughs there are rather thinly spread out. Being a long-time fan of Ant and Dec (I even have some of their CDs) I didn't mind this, but those unfamiliar with the duo who are just looking for an enjoyable movie may find it difficult to settle into the film.
Overall Alien Autopsy will probably not be a box office smash. It's currently in the UK top ten but may have a harder time in the US. It's worth catching however to see how one of the greatest scams of the 1990s was pulled off, and how it is still possible that there may be intelligent life somewhere out there in the universe.