Skyline
Netflix Streaming
DVD | Blu-ray
Directed by The Brothers Strause
Starring Eric Balfour, Scottie Thompson, David Zayas, Donald Faison
Universal Pictures
Originally Released: November 11, 2011

Does anyone happen to have a glass of bourbon for me? Because I am pretty sure I need it after sitting through Skyline. This film is a terrible movie; I think most people would prefer to participate in an emetophilia convention. No, I mean it. It is truly the most insufferable and cringe-inducing movie viewing experiences I have ever endured.

The science fiction movie is a disaster (pardon the pun) from start to finish, that it is ruined even further by acting that will make you facepalm yourself so much it will leave marks. The writing and direction is poorly executed, with insufficient substance or meaning to back itself up, and as a result, the only redeeming aspect of the movie are the special effects and musical score.

Actor Eric Balfour has been hired to turn his attentions to behind the camera and turn Jesus Hates Zombies, the graphic novel from Stephen Lindsay, into a feature-length movie from a script written by Michael Mongillo and Jason Alan Smith.

The graphic novel tells of a zombie plague taking over the world, as we’ve seen play out in movies, comics, games, and TV shows so many times now, but this time the creator himself is watching and doesn’t like what he sees, so he once again sends Jesus back to Earth — this time to throw down with the zombie horde.

What drew me to the Skyline panel today at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con was curiosity out of the sheer lack of information about this film beforehand. Press had been notoriously tight-lipped on it up until now, which may have been an (effective, in my case) hype-building tactic.

The rough gist of the film is it’s an attempt to create a large-scale alien invasion film on a completely independent budget. From the footage I saw, which included many generic shots of glowing lights descending upon the oft-abused Los Angeles, the execution is similar to Cloverfield or the upcoming Battle: Los Angeles (which the Strouse Brothers’ FX house Hydraulx is also producing effects for).