Stage Review: Alien Encounter – sublimely gory, goofy horror
Bathe in blood while laughing hysterically at this GWAR-tinged spoof of Disney World’s ExtraTerrorestrial Alien Encounter

This Halloween, Trepany House, the resident theater company at Titmouse Warehouse, presents Alien Encounter: A Live Horror Experience. Created by Adam Franklin & Amit Itelman, the single-set immersive show turns the entire theatre into a splash zone where every audience member is bathed in blood. So beware – and dress accordingly (protective ponchos are not offered at the venue).
Alien Encounter is a parody of Disney World’s ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter, a theater-in-the-round attraction that launched in the 1990s. Originally inspired by the Alien film franchise, the project had its numbers filed off before it was unveiled to the public as a more generic presentation in 1994. After shocking parents and their children, the attraction quickly revised its lighthearted preshow to warn audiences waiting in line about what to expect. Still, the main event was uncharacteristically tense for a Disney attraction, strapping guests into their seats and immersing them in darkness while an alien menace roved among them, its presence suggested by vibrations, sound effects, and moist air simulating breath. Plans to open the show at Disneyland in Anaheim were scrapped, and the Disney World version closed in 2003.


Trepany House’s low-tech version ditches the Disney special effects and prerecorded performances in favor of live actors, mangled corpses, and a new “ultra-violent” script, which brings audiences face to face with a man-eating alien. The result is, according to Trepany House producer Amit Itelman, a “silly little show,” but it delivers big entertainment.
It all begins with your artificially chipper hostess welcoming you to the Magic Kingdom (the word “Disney” is never mentioned, though the visible company name World Development Institute slyly uses the same initials as Walt Disney Imagineering). Behind her is a large glass chamber, which she explains is a teleportation device. Before things get started, there is a brief power outage; a stereotypical repairman flips a circuit breaker to get things going again, but you can bet this won’t be the last glitch. On a video screen there is a brief conversation with a pompous Neptunian scientist, who expresses delight at the prospect of teleporting to converse with Earthlings in person. Unfortunately, he gets lost in transmission, and while searching for him, the teleporter locks on to what turns out to be an entirely different lifeform, a monstrous creature (looking like a demented muppet) with a mouth big enough to swallow a human head (foreshadowing!)
And then all hell breaks loose…
The power goes out again; there’s a crash; when the lights return, the teleporter’s glass panel is broken, and now the monster is lurking somewhere in the building. The remainder of the show is a series of gory, escalating atrocities. Most take place while the lights are out, others in full view, as victims are picked off one by one, leaving behind mangled bodies that somehow retain enough blood pressure to repeatedly douse the audience. Meanwhile, the hostess loses her shit, screaming in fear and repeatedly reminding the audience to “remain in your seats” as if that will save them.
This description probably fails to convey how hysterically enjoyable Alien Encounter truly is. The abrupt collision of Disneyesque good cheer and GWAR-esque* gore is too absurd not to generate gales of laughter. Fear of being splashed by fake blood is erased and then embraced: at first it is just a light spray; then it’s more like a garden hose, but you don’t care anymore because it’s just too fuckin’ funny. There is also a lot of slowly building anticipation as we hear the monster shuffling in the dark after each new victim. These blackout sections generate genuine suspense and nervous laughter; it’s like a long setup for a joke whose punchline is bucket of blood tossed in your face.
Clocking in at under a half-hour, Alien Encounter offers more horror than a dozen Halloween haunts. Though not exactly interactive, it is literally immersive – immersing you in gallons of stage blood. It’s a giddy experience that must be seen to be believed.
Footnote:
- Alien Encounter‘s bodies were manufactured by someone who worked on the rock band’s outrageous live shows.
Alien Encounter: A Live Horror Experience
Rating Scale
0 – Awful
1 – Poor
2 – Mediocre
3 – Good
4 – Great
5 – Excellent
Co-creator Amit Itelman calls Alien Encounter a “silly little show,” but it delivers big entertainment. Definitely a must-see.
Alien Encounter: A Live Horror Experience runs Fridays and Saturdays, plus October 30 and 31, through November 9, then resumes in January, running until the 31st; shows start at 8pm nightly, with additional 10pm performances on November 8-9. (Note: the schedule has been extended from its original closing date of October 31.) Titmouse Warehouse is located at 1121 Seward Street in Hollywood. Tickets are $20. For more information visit trepanyhouse.org.
Cast: Rosa Campos, John Falchi, Mark Fite, Siena Jeakle, Davey Johnson, Dana Snyder.
Credits: Created and directed by Adam Franklin & Amit Itelman. Written by Amit Itelman; story by Franklin & Itelman. Sound Design: Hans Fjellestad. Tech Director: Michael Lewis. Art Director: Kylie Chavez-Gruss. Scenic by Gina Farina. Alien Fabricated by Big Nazo Lab. Poster art by Mike Lariccia.