Science Team
Director: Drew Bolduc
Writer: Drew Bolduc
Cast: Vito Trigo, Richard Spencer, Emily Marsh, Mariea Terrell, Lloyd Kaufman, Matt Chodoronek, Reef Clem, Josh Potter, Michael Merchant
Seen on: 21.12.2025

Content Note: intimate partner violence, rape jokes

Plot:
After a break-up with his girlfriend, Chip (Vito Trigo) returns home to his mother. But he finds his mother dead and a mind-controlling space alien having taken up residence in their home. That alien attracts the attention of the secret government organization Science Team. As Science Team’s agents descend on his house, Chip finds himself in danger. Actually, everybody finds themselves in danger.

15 years ago, I saw Bolduc’s first feature, The Taint, and found it interesting enough that I actually participated in the crowdfunding for Science Team, his follow-up piece, over a decade ago. And then the DVD just sat on my shelf, waiting for me to grab it. And I finally did. But maybe not all things are worth the wait.

Sometimes waiting too long to watch or read something becomes a problem, as some stories need to hit us at the right time to unfurl their full potential (some stories, I feel, make any time the right time). 15 years ago, I definitely was still more interested in Troma-like films, although I was never a huge fan of them. I’d say that Science Team definitely belongs in that category, and not just because Lloyd Kaufman has a cameo in it.

By now I know that these films are not my style, but that’s not the biggest issue I had with Science Team that just never finds the right sense of humor for me.It starts with the break-up scene where we watch Chip completely demolish the apartment he shares with his girlfriend in an instance of intimate partner violence that is so drawn out that I think we are supposed to find it funny, but that I acutally found breathtakingly shocking and that left me rattled. I was not able to laugh at it, especially not because violence like that is downplayed and excused way too often. Later, there is another moment that gave me the same queasy and disturbed feeling: when a cop tries to get Chip to talk by detailing in an minute(s) long screamed monologue how he would murder and rape him if he didn’t confess. Not funny to me at all.

It also doesn’t help that the film leaves all pretense at feminism behind (The Taint at least piggy-backed on feminist discourse), barely has any female characters at all and those there are treated pretty shabbily. One opens the door to an obviously agitated, distressed Chip and her idea of help is just to give him a handjob, because that’s certainly every woman’s first reaction to a strange, ranting man knocking at her door. The other gets to be the competent one nobody is interested in, but who gets to clean up the men’s mess at the end. These are not the only two women, but maybe the character moments that annoyed me most.

Overall, I found Science Team pretty exhausting, with very little of the 60s aesthetics that it seemingly comes with and that I would have enjoyed a little more. There is still a lot of love that went into the special effects, but overall I found that the film has little charm.

Summarizing: not for me.