Oh my. Have you ever watched a film in a state of open-mouthed disbelief, amazed that the film spooling out in front of you was not only made but also distributed and preserved on DVD? I've just had that experience. I got this disc for free, and I gotta admit, I'm feeling a little ripped off.

People From Space is a dreadful Blair Witch "satire" that actually has the gall to approach its D-movie aspirations with a Christopher Guest-style mockumentary structure. First, the film tosses its flimsy characters into the woods, in search of a downed UFO, and they hike and bicker and whine and eventually find some ominous stuff hanging from trees—you know, things like dildos and disfigured dolls and scraps of paper. Then, as if some phantom documentary crew has been following them around on their shrill little adventure, the movie begins nonsensically interviewing its straight-faced characters in ludicrous asides about what they hope to do with the reward money for finding the UFO.

Marc Berlin, the director of this ill-advised enterprise, plays the lead character Bob, vastly annoying insurance salesman who's married to the improbably attractive Felicia (Cindy Klayman), his sexually unsatisfied wife. They decide to head off for a camping trip with a young couple comprised of hippie-type Missy (Spring Hill) and surfer-dude Sean (Stephen Sheffield), in search of aforementioned UFO, rumored to have crashed in the local Beavertail Pond. I'm still not sure how these two couples make a credible foursome, but that's not really important, because the movie has no real desire to make sense. Which is somewhat surprising, because all these characters seem to want to do is talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, and TALK. And whine.

There's one scene that lured my attention back to the screen, and it involved the two women talking about a potential lesbian scenario that might just take place at any second, within the confines of a small tent, out in the middle of the woods, with great heaving and portent. But, no, the scene constitutes only a tremendous tease and leads nowhere.

Elite presents People From Space in an unappealing non-anamorphic widescreen transfer of what appears to be a 1.66:1 aspect ratio. Shot on video, the image is harsh and washed out. Colors are muted, and detail is compromised by awful artifacting in the form of shimmering, aliasing, and blocking. The amateur cinematography doesn't help.

The disc's Dolby Digital mono track is also pretty heinous. Even if you can get past the cheesy music and the tinny dialog, you'll be horrified by all the environmental noise (car noise, wind, etc.) specific to a low-rent video production.

The primary extra on the disc is a Commentary by director/actor Marc Berlin and actress Cindy Klayman. Berlin quickly falls into the trap of narrating onscreen action, and—interestingly—his personality comes across as precisely the same as that of his annoying-geek persona in the film. Not surprisingly, we learn that the entire movie was improvised and that the actors created their own characters. We also learn that Berlin requested that the actresses perform nude scenes but was denied. As much as I would have appreciated a nude scene in this film, I don't blame the actresses for not giving in.

You also get a Still Gallery.

This is a poor film and a poor DVD presentation.