RATING: B

A Mahal Empire production in association with Wicked Monkey Productions and Collywood Films. Written and directed by Adam Werth. Story and produced by Michael Mahal and Sonny Mahal. Cinematography by Michael Su. Edited by Eric Chase.

Stars Robert Standley, Laura Mason, Wesley Cannon, Elley Ringo, Johnny Huang, William Delesk, Molly Jean Edwards, Dawna Lee Heising, Paul Gunn, Kimberly Cole Zemke, with Tom Arnold, with Glenn Plummer, and Kevin Sorbo.

What should have been a benefit party becomes a fight for survival in the latest film from Mahal Empire, the team who brought us Bloodthirst, Art of the Dead, and Arena Wars among others!

Over the past 48 hours, weather patterns have been rocking all over the world, and on this night, Las Vegas is about to experience the same thing. At a lavish benefit party run by the McConnelly family, the Mayor is there along with a group of elite guests. However, when the group watches U.S. President Nolan warn the nation about the weather patterns and tells everyone to stay indoors, some of the guests are determined to head home. 

When fog hits the area, the revelation is discovered. Aliens have arrived, but they are not friendly. They begin to take down the guests and feed off their blood. When Frank McConnelly discovers his daughter Grace has been taken and ultimately killed by the aliens, he is determined to avenge her while his wife, Ophelia, tries her best to protect any of the guests still alive. When they discover the aliens’ weakness, they go all out to ensure the survival of the world before it’s too late.

With the shocking passing of Michael Mahal last year, it is great to see Mahal Empire still doing their thing. This film, as with other Mahal Empire films, needs some love because of their throwbacks to genre films of the old days of the VHS era. Here, we have a meshing of Independence Day and Assault on Precinct 13. Yeah, we don’t see the White House blow up, but we do have Sin City as the setting for a battle between elite guests and the aliens. 

While the likes of Tom Arnold and Kevin Sorbo earn top billing in their roles of the Las Vegas mayor and U.S. President, respectively, the film’s main characters are definitely Frank and Ophelia McConnely, played by Robert Standley and Laura Mason. It is their home where the chaos ensues. We learn a bit about some of the guests involved, including Elley Ringo’s journalist, Johnny Huang’s DJ, Wesley Cannon’s ex-military and others. Surprisingly, for a 74-minute film, the film runs smoothly and doesn’t really have anything bad to offer.

That also includes the aliens themselves. In a world where AI and CGI could have been used, they do the right thing here by relying on the practical. The alien costumes look quite nice here, and they rely on practical stunts and going all zombie mode to unleash kills on their victims without anything too over-the-top. When the weakness is revealed, it is quite surprising and unexpected, leading to a jaw-dropping conclusion. 

Alien Storm is another Mahal Empire winner, and one thing is certain. The late great Michael Mahal is looking down at the indie film community with a big smile. This film is a fun throwback to sci-fi and horror that melds quite well. This film will definitely make you break out the popcorn!