The First Hot Stepmom Movie Finally Comes to Blu-Ray: My Stepmother is an Alien

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My Stepmother is an Alien

Dan Aykroyd, Kim Basinger, Jon Lovitz, and Alyson Hannigan star in Richard Benjamin’s offbeat 1988 comedy My Stepmother is an Alien, which is finally getting a long-overdue Blu-ray release in January 2022.

Panned by critics for casting Dan Aykroyd in a romantic lead, the movie failed horribly at the box office, grossing only $13.8 million dollars of its $19-million-dollar budget. Only after it was released on home video did it find an audience (mainly young teenage boys looking to catch a glimpse of the young starlet, Kim Basinger, in her alien birthday suit).

The story follows Steven Mills, a widowed scientist working on ways to send radio waves into deep space.  One of his attempts hits a planet (Cosine N to the 8th), causing a shift to the planet’s gravity. A young lifeform named Celeste is sent to investigate the disturbance, believing it was an attack. She is aided by her sidekick, Bag (an alien tentacle with a single eye disguised as a purse), who is able to create any object like jewelry and wardrobe. Celeste crashes a party hosted by Steven's brother, Ron, and is instantly the talk of the party after making references to television shows that had taken 92 years to reach her planet from ours.

Celeste struggles with simple tasks, such as cooking and cleaning, while trying to maintain her secret identity. After Bag teaches her what sex is, she agrees to go home with Steven to find out more information… and have more sex. Jessie, Steven's 13-year-old daughter, is so happy that her dad finally has moved on from the loss of her mother years ago, until she sees Celeste eating the acid out of batteries and pulling eggs out of boiling hot water with her bare hands. However, she cannot convince her dad that something is not right with their relationship. When Celeste tells Steven she has to leave in 24 hours, Steven immediately proposes to her and the stage is set for comedy hijinks.

Arrow Video packs this release with as many out-of-this-world features as they can, including:

  • Brand new 2K restoration from the original camera negative
  • High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation
  • Original lossless 2.0 stereo audio
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
  • Brand new audio commentary by critic Bryan Reesman
  • Cosmetic Encounters: Directing My Stepmother is an Alien, a brand new interview with director Richard Benjamin
  • Original trailer
  • Image gallery
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Colin Murdoch
  • FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Amanda Reyes

The comedy may seem dated at times, and for sure the risqué scenes may leave you scratching your head at time wondering, “How did they get away with that back then?”

All in all, a fun little film that deserves to be saved from the VHS graveyard and brought back into our viewing library.

Grade: 
4.0 / 5.0