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Director Byron Haskin's, A FEASIBILITY STUDY, is
a well made, exceedingly strange tale of mass alien abduction.
At night, a spaceship appears over a U.S. suburb. After firing a ray
at a neighborhood, a six block square area disappears.
Sam Wanamaker is passionate and credible as a man trying to cope with
alien abduction. He brings power and believability to lines like, "It
wasn't your husband, It wasn't even a man."
David Opatoshu is wasted in the role of a neighbor, contaminated by
alien contact. Opatoshu, who was so eloquent as the alien ruler, in
Star Trek's "A Taste of Armageddon" episode, mostly mugs and
grimaces here, to poor effect. Phyllis Love and Joyce Van Patten offer
strong support, as the wives of Wanamaker and Opatoshu's characters.
Van Patten is quite sympathetic as a woman whose husband first disappears,
then comes back in alien/mutated form.
Producer/Writer, Joseph Stefano, delivers some good Sci-Fi dialogue.
At one point an alien youth explains to Wanamaker, "I'm not a child.
I'm sixteen. I'm almost an old man."
My favorite scenes are those which depict the huge crater on Earth where
the abducted neighborhood once was. The matte painting is excellent.
Ray Mercer and Company appear to be the responsible party.
Art Director, Jack Poplin, creates an effective alien environment, utilizing
fog and strange rock formations. Director of Photography, John M. Nickolaus,
Jr., lenses creative camera work that makes good use of the alien set.
The music, by Dominic Frontiere, is less heavy-handed than usual. Subtle,
woodwind music helps to build an appropriately odd mood.
A FEASIBILITY STUDY should be highly watchable for most Sci-Fi viewers.
Those with an interest in alien abduction stories will enjoy this one.
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