My Stepmother Is an Alien (1988)

My Stepmother Is an Alien (1988)

 

3/10

 

Starring

Dan Aykroyd

Kim Bassinger

Alyson Hannigan

 

Directed by Richard Benjamin

 

When a movie starts with too much mumbo jumbo about sending a signal faster than the speed of light to another galaxy, you can’t help but wonder, “What the hell is this all winding up to become?” When I was younger, my aunt had this movie on VHS, and I watched it far too many times—back when I didn’t know the difference between a good movie and a bad one. I just wanted something to watch. Looking back now, it’s easy to see why this movie was a box-office bomb. It’s dreadful.

The story seems unsure of what it’s trying to be—a sexual comedy, a sci-fi comedy, or something else entirely. The acting doesn’t help matters either. Dan Aykroyd was completely miscast; his performance didn’t fit the tone of the movie at all, and his chemistry with Kim Basinger was practically nonexistent. It’s like a fever dream—you wouldn’t find it even with a telescope.

The plot follows Steven (Aykroyd), a scientist who believes there must be life beyond Earth. He attempts to send a signal to another galaxy by harnessing the power of lightning to achieve the necessary energy. He succeeds but ends up getting fired for his efforts. Meanwhile, his signal disrupts the gravity on a distant planet, and the aliens there send Celeste (Basinger) to Earth to find Steven. They need him to recreate the same signal to restore their planet to normal.

Accompanying Celeste on her mission is a one-eyed, tentacle-like alien disguised as a bag (appropriately named Bag). Bag has a mind of its own and seems more focused on the mission than Celeste, who gets side-tracked by her interactions with Steven. However, Steven can’t replicate the experiment since the original success was a complete fluke. This leaves Celeste scrambling to find a way to recreate the signal and save her planet.

This is one of those movies I watched as a kid, only to revisit later and realize it should’ve stayed in my memory bank. It wasn’t worth the time I spent watching it again, and I wish I could get that time back.

Some people have said that Aykroyd was the only misfit in this movie, but I disagree. With a plot like this, the film dives so quickly into its sexual themes that it dulls everything else. Any potential the movie might’ve had is completely overshadowed by this misstep. Not worth seeing if you have never seen it before now.