2003 / narrative / 35 min.
A small Texas town battles intergalactic invaders.
At age 13, Frank recruited some (un)willing friends and family to embark on his first Hi-8 epic. With a couple masks, a dozen cans of silly string, and Frank’s own father as director of photography, the result is a true labor of love made between 1997 and 2003.
Now streaming on Split Tooth Media.
To commemorate the film’s 20th anniversary, a foldable zine designed by Joslyn Jensen is available here.
Starring Nicholas Blanton, Peter Carsillo, Dustin Do, Chuck Dunham, Scott Forosisky, Neil Gilfillan, Amber Hoel, Cyndy Holmes, Jeanne Holmes, Jim Holmes, Michelle Hughes, Jesse Moon, Laura Moore, Frank Mosley, Page Mosley, Matt Peterson, David Qualls, Sarah Shaw, Kelli Wesley, Megan Wesley, and Vu Ly Vu.
PRESS:
“What began as the next ambitious step in a young filmmaker’s journey morphed into a five year project that saw Mosley through high school, an illness that brought him near-to death, and, of course, an alien invasion unleashed upon the towns of Arlington and Grand Prairie, Texas. The film exudes a youthful energy — the sheriff guzzling from an empty bottle of booze, an out-of-control silly string autopsy, a vaporized cow — that can only come from passionate amateurs. The film utilizes a large cast and an impressive amount of locations, and was made possible with the help of friends and family members who were willing to take time off work to help a kid finish a passion project.” - Craig Wright, Split Tooth Media
“Frank Mosley's 1997-through-to-2003 high-school era "backyard movie" Invaders from Venus! is really something to behold. His natural cinema instincts at such an early age are truly impressive. From shot continuity and overlap of audio across cuts — and a progressive zoom-in on the aliens' human captive during his monologue, Invaders is if anything else a document of an era, which for a certain demographic, might remind an audience of its very self.” - Craig Keller, Cinemasparagus
“As happens too often in cinema history, the world was not ready for INVADERS FROM VENUS. But the things that were baffling upon its release to small-minded movie critics look more, in hindsight, like the work of a young visionary - our next Spielberg if not Kubrick.”*** - Steve MacFarlane, Department Assistant of Film at MoMA
***Joking.