Films: H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds (2005), War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave (2008)

Alias: None

Type: Alien

Location: Civilized Area

Height/Weight: Machines range from twice that of trucks to that of small buildings.

Affiliation: Evil

Summary: Spielberg may have THOUGHT he was the only one doing an adaptation of H.G. Wells' most notorious classic, but there was something he had forgotten. Aside from some miniseries more closely faithful to the book, there was another...along with the rise of a studio with the tenacity of a cockroach but the originality and filmmaking talent of a dried-up sea cucumber. This was the true rise of the Asylum film company, mockbuster Extraordinaires.

History: The story largely remains the same, albeit in a modern setting like Spielberg's. Aliens come from Mars to attack Earth, take it over, and occasionally harvest humanity. They have many machines to do it, too. Some look pretty conventional as far as alien walkers go, while others...took a more interesting direction. Either way, we're screwed.

Notable Kills: For all intents and purposes, the harvested humans look like the did not have a good time.

Final Fate: The first wave is taken out by, what else, diseases they couldn't get immune to in time. But Earth got left in complete ruins at least. So you’d think they'd have an easier time of it when they came back with new toys. Alas, not only was humanity much more prepared this time, but their center of command got directly infected, ending it again. More bafflingly, it is implied that they will try again...

Powers/Abilities: All walkers are equipped with death rays and occasionally poison gas. As for the aliens themselves, they can produce acid from their feet. Later models of the walkers can blast a sort of "abduction ray" at foes.

Weakness: Anything conventional for the aliens, though their walkers can be destroyed with enough heavy artillery.

Scariness Factor: 2.5-If you want a good idea as to how bad Asylum effects usually are, this is a great place to start. All of the walkers look like they belong in a particularly low-budget video game, and the Martians themselves aren't intimidating at all. Granted, the walkers are powerful, and have fantastic designs in the second wave, but it doesn't do much when you can't even be bothered with invisible shields like your compatriots can.

Trivia: -The Asylum's founder, David Michael Latt, admits to not seeing most of the adaptations of the novel, but at the same time he was a huge fan of the story, and was careful with what got changed for the first film.

-The Asylum's career before this film was incredibly middling after it began in 1997, mainly due to never being able to compete with studios such as Lionsgate. This film officially got them on the map due to Blockbuster Inc. ordering over 100,000 copies of it. All we can ask is...WHY?! WHAT HAVE YOU FOOLS DONE?!