It’s hard to escape this simple fact about Alien Trespass, the new film from The X-Files’ R.W. Goodwin: you really, really want to like it. After all, who doesn’t have a soft spot for the ‘50s sci-fi flicks it recalls? And that affection is clearly shared by the filmmakers, who have painstakingly approached the production design and even the cinematography with an eye to capturing both the period itself and its films.

Certainly the opening of Alien Trespass, a spot-on evocation of a vintage newsreel that helps explain why the film has been “lost” for all these decades, makes one settle snugly into a zone of high expectations. The cast inspires confidence as well, with Eric McCormack doing simply wonderful work in a dual role, and Robert Patrick as watchable as his character is unlikable. Also on hand are veterans such as Dan Lauria, who does a solid job as a small-town sheriff, and relative newcomers such as Jenni Baird (of The 4400), who’s quietly appealing as the female lead.

But by now you can probably sense that there’s another shoe about to drop, so please stand back while it does….

A nice example of AT's originality: star McCormack fires a neat-o weapon. (Image courtesy of Roadside Attractions. All Rights Reserved.)

First and foremost, Steven P. Fisher’s writing is poised dangerously between homage and cliché, and teeters toward the latter with distressing frequency.

That’s despite the audience’s willingness to give the script the benefit of the doubt, viewing all the lukewarm, sitcom-like humor as setting up greater pay-offs down the line. And yes, there are a couple of mild surprises and one or two actual jolts along the way, but that doesn’t alter the fact that we’re still left wanting a plot that grabs us, action/suspense sequences that are thrilling, and alien-attacks that are laugh-out-loud funny or scary (preferably both). So with these elements absent, it doesn't really matter how affable, even innocent, Alien Trespass manages to be.

Without question there are several clever touches (Baird makes novel use of a vacuum cleaner as a weapon), and the young cast of townie teens seems game for anything, but these ingredients aren’t enough to mitigate the film’s overall predictability or ho-hum pleasantries of tone. It’s as if the film is so reverent of the material to which it’s paying tribute that it doesn’t want to offend by doing anything too new or bold. As a result, you sit there smiling politely as if listening to a joke told by your great uncle and feeling obliged to chuckle lightly at its punch line. Sure, there are surprise attacks by the humorously-named and outlandishly rubbery space monster Ghota, but after a while even these grow tiresome because cheesiness alone can only go so far in providing feature-length entertainment.

Some of the film's visuals are too good for its made-in-the-'50s conceit. (Image courtesy of Roadside Attractions. All Rights Reserved.)

With the film’s energy lagging, there’s not much on hand to fuel its would-be subversive message about the threats of conformity and close-mindedness. The effective score by Louis Febre (of Smallville fame), complete with theremin, does what it can to prop things up as well, but it’s not enough on its own to get our spines tingling or blood pumping. So although it’s a cute film, maybe a smart rental at some point, Alien Trespass isn’t a title I’d make a beeline for in theaters unless perhaps one can personally recall those ‘50s films and the era that spawned them. I’m all for nostalgia, but in this case I’d have liked to have seen it accompany a work that’s a bit more creative or exciting at its core—otherwise we’re all better off just leafing through a coffee table book of old posters and lobby cards.