Verdict
Summary
A weird but oddly fun science fiction goof of a movie, Visitors From the Arkana Galaxy is kind of a gem of a film with its wacky, off-the-rails visuals and sexy vibe, but it’s certainly of the “cult” variety for the midnight crowd rather than for a mainstream audience. I enjoyed it, and its regional flavor from Croatia factors into its totally unexpected style.
Plot:
Aliens from a writer’s imagination invade a small Croatian town, causing chaos.
Review:
Robert (Zarko Potocnjak) is a humble writer of science fiction stories with a life that would be considered ordinary. He lives in a modest home with his girlfriend Biba (Lucie Zulova), who demands very little from him. One day, everything changes: A group of three aliens, led by the statuesque and striking female Andra (Ksenia Prohaska) show up in town and head straight for Robert, who is their creator. Andra is what a man might consider sexy with long, golden legs, an hourglass shape, and a bust any woman would envy. She’s also completely devoted and infatuated with Robert, who instantly realizes Andra is from his imagination, but she’s also very literally real! When the small Croatian town he lives in suspects that aliens have landed, the entire town’s population goes looking for the visitors from the Arkana Galaxy, totally misguided into thinking that stripping nude (?!) for them is the way to draw them out, but there you have it: The whole town goes naked in their search for them. Robert, meanwhile, has complications at home when Biba becomes jealous of Andra, who has all but replaced her as his housekeeper and live-in companion, while a ghastly monster (created by stop-motion genius Jan Svankmajer) plagues the area, killing people. Only Robert with his ability to control his creations can save his own town from the alien visitors and make everything right again. Off to the typewriter!
A weird but oddly fun science fiction goof of a movie, Visitors From the Arkana Galaxy is kind of a gem of a film with its wacky, off-the-rails visuals and sexy vibe, but it’s certainly of the “cult” variety for the midnight crowd rather than for a mainstream audience. I enjoyed it, and its regional flavor from Croatia factors into its totally unexpected style. Director Dusan Vukotic seems to have wanted to play in several different sandboxes at once here with all the sexiness, but he also tries to give the film an innocent quality that almost makes the movie feel like a cartoon for kids. It meets somewhere in between, and it manages to appeal to fans of a certain type of science fiction variety. It’s Star Trek, it’s Land of the Lost, and it’s got a little adult film stuff sprinkled in too, and the practical effects are very impressive.
Deaf Crocodile brings Visitors From the Arkana Galaxy to Blu-ray in a really strong transfer. The film is presented in full frame, with tons of bonus features, including a booklet, a commentary, an essay, five animated shorts from the director, and more.
Bonus Materials
- New scan of VISITORS FROM THE ARKANA GALAXY with restoration by Craig Rogers for Deaf Crocodile
- New commentary track by film historian Samm Deighan
- New essay by film historian and professor Jennifer Lynde Barker
- 5 rare short films by director Dusan Vukotic including his Oscar-winning ‘The Substitute’ (1961)
- Blu-ray authoring by David Mackenzie of Fidelity In Motion.
