Movies tell stories. No shit, right? But, besides the story told up on the screen, there is the story of how a movie gets made, and that story, hidden from the audience, can have its own elements of inspiration and perseverance. That’s the case with today’s flick, Phobe: The Xenophobic Experiments, filmmaker Erica Benedikty’s magnum opus from 1995.
Shot on videotape with a robust budget of 250 bucks Canadian, Phobe follows an interstellar cop or soldier-type who is hunting an escaped alien killing machine in and around the area of Niagara Falls, Ontario. Benedikty, a part-time employee of Cable 10, a local cable access channel, managed to convince her bosses to let her use the channel’s equipment and facilities to make a movie. She enlisted friends and family as cast and crew, convinced local businesses to let her shoot on their properties, and, over the course of a year, made her movie.
Phobe didn’t see a theatrical or home video release at the time. Rather, Cable 10 used it as schedule filler, and it built something of a cult following in the area. Fast forward to 2016, and Phobe got a DVD release, with all sorts of extras, and a touch up on the special effects.
This is a flick that is low rent even by the standards of Shitty Movie Sundays. To give readers an idea, in the credits Benedikty is listed as director, producer, screenwriter, director of photography, camera operator, casting director, costume designer, chief lighting technician, editor, 
foley artist, sound editor, and ADR editor. In fact, just about everyone listed in the credits had multiple responsibilities, with the star of the film, John Rubick (also Benedikty’s cousin), listed with eight different jobs.
All of this shared burden, and the lack of resources, leaves viewers with one of the finest examples of amateurish folk art this site has ever reviewed. Everyone worked hard, came together, and made an absolute dog of a movie, but one that is fun to laugh with, and not at.
So, an alien killer has landed in Niagara Falls, and it’s up to a space cop to stop him. Along the way, the cop, Dapp (Rubick), saves and then enlists the help of high school student Jennifer (Tina Dumoulin), who is very much too old to be playing a high schooler. Dapp, his epic mullet, and Jennifer get chased all over the area by the alien, called a Phobe (Merv Wrighton). They have laser fights and there are some light pyrotechnics, and in one scene Dapp and the Phobe have a lightsaber battle. In many ways this flick resembles a fan movie made in the backyard with a bunch of geeks from the comic book shop. That look and feel is part of what makes this flick precious.
Take Dapp, for instance. Besides the period mullet, he’s decked out in a pair of Bret Hart souvenir glasses, black winter gloves with the fingers cut out, black pants and boots, and a black denim jacket. Not a blue denim jacket, still ubiquitous in the lands up north to this day, but a black one. The jacket alone marks him as a badass. Meanwhile the Phobe is draped in woodland camo netting with a Worlds of Wonder Lazer Tag helmet painted black perched on top. It’s amazing.
Finally, there is the acting. It’s bad, but it was never going to be good. There are zero professional actors in this movie, nor was there anyone with local theater experience. Lines are blown in just about every scene, and everyone sounds like Bob and Doug McKenzie. It’s impossible to take seriously, or to offer any harsh criticism. This movie is a labor of love, and I couldn’t be more happy that it was made.
Phobe: The Xenophobic Experiments, is a must watch for the mutant b-movie connoisseur. It can be a little tough on the attention span, so it doesn’t make the top 100 of the Watchability Index, but it’s still shitty gold. It takes over the #181 spot from Angel Town.