The Arrival

Toronto International Film Festival Program Book
1991

The Arrival
David Schmoeller
USA, 1990 103 minutes
Colour/35mm
Production Company: Del Mar Entertainment
Producer: Daniel Ljoka, Ron Matonak
Screenplay: Daniel Ljoka
Cinematography: Steve Grass
Editor: Randy Bricker
Art Director: Mike Scaglione
Sound: Paul Fabrini
Music: Richard Band
Principal Cast: John Saxon, Joseph Culp, Robin Frates, Robert Sampson, Michael J. Pollard

What is this movie? Modern vampire flick? Alien possession madness? Gory road movie? Serial killer world tour 1990? All describe The Arrival equally well, but none quite captures its spirit. David Schmoeller, director of the underrated Puppetmaster, has created a little treasure which may just rejuvenate the American independent horror scene. The film confounds expectations from the first scene to enigmatic close, shuttling from genre to genre with snappy editing and disturbingly stylized dream sequences. Schmoeller has succeeded in solving the independent filmmaker’s puzzle—how to make ten bucks look like ten thousand—with judicious use of effects and excellent performances from an otherwise undistinguished cast. Most endearing, though, is the campy sensibility that pervades the whole exercise (no one should miss the priceless cameo from Bonnie & Clyde’s Michael J. Pollard).

The plot can only be described as disturbed: Max Paige is celebrating his 73rd birthday in some mid-western hamlet when a meteor crashes on his property. While investigating the site, he is knocked senseless by a “force” that torpedoes through the ground. When he awakens in hospital, things have changed. He now craves blood and falls in love with his young nurse, Connie (portrayed by Puppetmaster’s gap-toothed beauty Robin Frates). While leaving a trail of destruction across the continent, he transforms into a young hunk. But this pretty boy has a mission: he tracks down the elusive Connie in her new home, San Diego. FBI lackey John Mills (John Saxon) has other ideas, and soon Connie is caught between justice and love. For fans of outrageously paced, low-budget independent horror, The Arrival is definitely a must. —Noah Cowan