I've written about Neil here before when I posted a trailer for his last film, Humanity's End. His films always have an enormous energy to them, with Alien Armageddon hitting perhaps an all-time high for him in this respect. His love of science fiction storytelling pops off the screen, making his movies fun even when, sometimes, the material gets a bit dark. What I like best about his movies is that, even on small budgets, he's not afraid of big ideas and a sprawling canvas.
Of course, it helps that he gets such amazing value out of those budgets, more so as he goes along. Watch this trailer and try to believe it was made for a five-figure budget:
Yes, it seems that aliens attacking Los Angeles has kind of been in the air the last year or so, what with Battle: L.A., and Skyline before that, but Neil has brought his own excitingly warped sensibility to it. Let's just say you'll never be able to look at a turkey breast the same way again.
I attended the world premiere at the Crest Theatre in Los Angeles on July 6, and it was quite a trip, getting photographed as though I was somebody, and then seeing a brand new film with an excited and appreciative audience. You won't see me in the clip below, since evidently the video crew knew I wasn't anybody-- which is fine, because I would have frozen up instantly.
I'll let Neil's press release do some talking now:
Alien Armageddon tells the story of Jodie Elliot, a young woman who is trying to find her daughter in a city controlled by an invading alien army. The Nephilim were mentioned in the bible as a race of fallen angels who preyed upon humanity. Now they have returned to enslave humanity and conduct genetic experiments.
Neil’s previous films, Nephilim, Bipolar Armageddon, Battlespace, and the recent underground hit, Humanity’s End, all take place in the same universe. “The film saga spans a thousand years and deals with humanity’s evolution and extinction. The films are not made in sequential order, but each film expands the mythos of the Humans and the Nephilim. In Battlespace, we destroyed the universe. In Humanity’s End, we destroyed the Earth. This time it is just Los Angeles!”
Neil Johnson has been a director for 23 years but shows no sign of slowing down. He is already planning a big time travel film, and then will later return to the Nephilim universe.
Alien Armageddon features Claudia Wells (Back to the Future), Virginia Hey (Road Warrior/Farscape), Marilyn Ghigliotti (Clerks), Eric Nyenhuis (Howard Stern’s Jerky Boys), DeeDee Bigelow (Showgirl), George Noory (Coast to Coast am);
And stars Katharine McEwan (The Secret), Rochelle Vallese (Humanity’s End), Don Scribner (Crash), Ben Cain (Dogma), Will Tulin (Shelter), and Julia Parker (90210).
I'm back. See a little more of the film below, and enjoy the theme song, "Spread Your Wings." Alien Armageddon comes to VOD on Time-Warner, AT&T, Fios, and DirecTV in December, and to DVD and Blu-ray in January.
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