Unbelievably shrill Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Kathy Ireland makes her cinematic debut as Wanda Saknussemm, a bespectacled and insecure Valley Girl who lives with her Auntie Pearl (Linda Kerridge, who also appears later in the film in an evil role). Pearl runs a drive-in on the beach and speaks, inexplicably, with a bogus Southern accent.
Dumped by her surfer boyfriend because she’s “afraid to take chances” (but apparently not because she has a voice like a petulant chipmunk!), Wanda decides to waltz off to Africa in search of her missing archaeologist father (Richard Haines).
She accidentally follows his trail down a “bottomless pit” to the Earth’s core, where the subterranean civilisation of Atlantis exists in a state of malfunctioning, post-apocalyptic film noir aesthetics and people who talk like Australians.
Though the denizens of the cheerless, claustrophobic sunken city deny the existence of the “above world”, their technology and spoken language is 100% 1988 American, including their fashion sense, which runs half Saudi Arabian/half mall-purchased new wave.
Wanda quickly finds herself on the lam, hiding from the underworld government, and by the time they’ve put a price on her head as an “alien”, she’s already become a local celebrity.
She allies herself with Gus, a hard-as-steel miner (William R. Moses with an unexplained Australian accent), and what follows is the type of aimless, awkward action film on which director Pyun (Captain America) built a decades-long career.
The ridiculous levels of over-acting notwithstanding, this is one movie in which you can actually see on the screen where all $28.50 of the budget went.
Though this movie isn’t noted for its literary references, it’s worth mentioning that Wanda’s tongue-twisting last name is borrowed from a male character in Jules Verne’s Journey to the Centre of the Earth.
Alien from L.A. spawned a sequel that featured several of the same characters, lifted its title from Verne’s novel, and was an even greater strike against humanity.
Wanda Saknussemm
Kathy Ireland Guten ‘Gus’ Edway
William R. Moses Professor Arnold Saknussemm
Richard Haines Robbie
Don Michael Paul Charmin
Thom Mathews General Rykov/Shank/Claims Officer
Janie du Plessis Consul Triton Crassus/Mailman
Simon Poland Roryis Freki/Auntie Pearl
Linda Kerridge Stacy
Kristen Trucksess Professor Ovid Galba/Paddy Mahoney
Lochner de Kock Mambino
Deep Roy Mago/Maintenance Worker/Evangelist/Pack Slag Jack
Albert Maritz Loki
Russel Savadier Anchorman
Denis Smith Donaldson/Wrestling Announcer/Emcee
James Lithgow Brick Bardo
Christian Andrews Belli the Bookie/Belguy the Busybody/Maintenance Chief
Drummond Marais Lord Over/Diner Cook/Bartender
Fats Bookholane Dr Madagasi
Paul Jacobs Tola
Jeff Weston Vina Black
Johanna Corrander Waller Klondike
Terry Norton Bel Lava/Susan
Mary Ireland Troll Bag Lady
Deborah Chesher Young Wanda
Angela Greenblatt
Director
Albert Pyun
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Dumped by her surfer boyfriend because she’s “afraid to take chances” (but apparently not because she has a voice like a petulant chipmunk!), Wanda decides to waltz off to Africa in search of her missing archaeologist father (Richard Haines).
She allies herself with Gus, a hard-as-steel miner (William R. Moses with an unexplained Australian accent), and what follows is the type of aimless, awkward action film on which director Pyun (Captain America) built a decades-long career.
Wanda Saknussemm
General Rykov/Shank/Claims Officer
Consul Triton Crassus/Mailman
Vina Black
