Objectively speaking, the feature directing debut for Maryland-based regional filmmaker Don Dohler may be very crude and indicative of a very low budget at every turn. But while a movie like this may lack the spit and polish of typical Hollywood product, it has something that a lot of those big productions don't have: heart. "The Alien Factor" has the irresistible appeal of movies made by friends who just wanted to get together and have a good time. The design of the monsters shows some imagination, and overall this qualifies as cheese of the very best kind.

A spaceship containing three dangerous alien creatures crashes to Earth. The creatures escape, and begin to slaughter various unlucky locals. The intrepid lawman on the case is Sheriff Cinder (Tom Griffith, who sports a great hairdo and mustache),who has the help of people like his deputy Pete (Richard Geiwitz) and Dr. Ruth Sherman (Anne Frith) and her nephew Steven (George Stover). Then along comes a mystery man, Ben Zachary (Don Leifert),and he seems to know more than he's letting on.

This endearing bit of schlock often falls back on director Dohlers' dialogue, but when the monsters show up and are doing their thing, the movie is a great deal of fun. The tall monster, the "Zagatile" (performed by John Cosentino) is particularly delicious - wait until you get a load of the legs on this thing. The final monster, the stop motion created Leemoid, shows the most invention. The final quarter of "The Alien Factor" is definitely its best one.

While there may be no Oscar contenders here among the cast, they create likable enough characters. Richard Dyszel amuses as a stereotypically sleazy mayor, and Mary Mertens is good as pushy reporter Edie Martin. That's Dohler himself playing Ernie, and his kids Greg and Kim can also be seen on screen.

Kenneth Walker does the music score, which is sometimes positively goofy. Ernest D. Farino, who went on to have a substantial career in Hollywood, designed and animated the Leemoid and also devised the opening credits sequence.

Most agreeable, for any lover of regional B cinema.

Seven out of 10.

THE ALIEN FACTOR is my first exposure to the no-budget sci-fi works of auteur Don Dohler, and coincidentally it's his first film as director. People are criticising this for being goofy, amateurish, filmmaking at its worst, but to them I say go and watch the works of a contemporary - like Robert Emenegger's BEYOND THE UNIVERSE - see how corny and plain boring they are - and then criticise this one. Dohler knows how to entertain, and that's the important thing.

The plotting in THE ALIEN FACTOR is pure hokum, of course, involving various alien monsters roaming around in the woods and the efforts of local townsfolk to kill them. The acting is amateur level, as you'd expect, and the production values are just about adequate given the film's lack of budget and expertise. And yet how can you not like this? The pacing is fast, the alien costumes are a hoot, and the lo-fi special effects are a delight to watch. There's even a tragic climax that I didn't expect to be moved by. If you're any kind of a fan of low budget filmmaking, I'd recommend giving Dohler's work a chance - you might just enjoy it...

The movie is based on a great idea. A space alien who collects creatures with rubber masks crash lands on earth. The creatures seem to like blonds (who doesn't) and kills anyone who drives a VW wagon or owns a gun.

A guy gets killed in the first scene while out parking with his girlfriend, sharing a bottle of liquor, something that seemed acceptable in the film. Times have changed.

Low budget. Horrible dialogue. Bad DVD transfer. Terrible sound. Bad acting. Stupid monster costumes. Not really that great while stoned either. More careers were killed than people.

Parental Guide: No f-bombs, sex, or nudity.