METAL SHIFTERS ( aka IRON GOLEM, IRON INVADERS, 2011)

Rent it on Amazon Prime!
Directed by Paul Ziller.
Written by Paul Ziller and Gary Hawes.
Starring Kavan Smith, Colby Johannson, Nicole de Boer, Merritt Patterson, Jesse Moss, Donnelly Rhodes

Not sure why this film changed its name from IRON INVADER to METAL SHIFTERS, not that either is an extremely accurate description of the events that occur in the movie, but at least the first accurately suggests that there is in fact only one invader. This is another SyFy movie, and mentioning that fact should already give you an idea of what to expect: not so good acting, amateur effects, and by the numbers story. For the most part, that’s what this film is in a nutshell, but for some reason, it held my attention all the way through unlike other SyFy endeavors.

The story follows a handful of small townies who just happen to be in the wrong place at the right time as a meteor from space falls to earth after crashing with an abandoned Russian satellite as it cut through the atmosphere. At the same time, an old junk man is hobbling around his yard making a seventeen foot tall iron golem…like you do in small towns, I guess. Sure as you can say Go Bots, the meteor merges with the giant metal monster and it’s all of a sudden a TRANSFORMERS movie without the annoying LeBouf or humping dogs or racist robots.

In that sense, I actually prefer this goofy little movie to Bay’s overblown suckfests because it remains focused and dedicated to being a monster on a rampage film. Sure, the seams are obvious in the effects. The CGI is not good, though better than usual since it is inanimate objects being animated. Sure the acting is soap opera level, but at least these guys are giving it their all, which is less than I can say for John Turturro in the Bay-formers films.

If you’re looking for a decent way to toss away a couple of hours on a lazy afternoon, METAL SHIFTERS isn’t a bad way of doing it. The cover art wants you to think it’s like TRANSFORMERS, but just by being honest to what it is, I think it surpasses those films.

Check out the trailer here!!