(7) ALIENS IN THE ATTIC with Carter Jenkins, Ashley Tisdale, Austin Butler, Ashley Boettcher, Doris Roberts, Henri Young, Regan Young, Robert Hoffman, Kevin Nealon, Gillian Vigman, Tim Meadows and Andy Richter (The Bridge).

Although this comedy movie about children fighting an alien invasion without their parents’ knowledge is hardly original, it is fun entertainment the whole family can enjoy. The film starts in a very familiar way – an extended family (two sets of parents, two loads of kids) arrive at their holiday home for their summer getaway.

Tom (Carter Jenkins), a nerd who has been failing intentionally to try to seem cool, feels his parents don’t understand him.

His sister Bethany (High School Musical’s Ashley Tisdale in a performance worthy of a worst supporting actress Razzie Award) wants nothing to do with the family and just wants to be with her boyfriend Ricky (Robert Hoffman). Meanwhile his cousin Jake (Austin Butler) is the stereotypical bully character.

Younger siblings Hannah (Ashley Boettcher), and twins Art and Lee (Henri and Reagan Young) make up the group of children.

While heading up to the roof to try to fix the malfunctioning satellite dish, Tom and Jake encounter knee-high green aliens, who have come to destroy the earth and enslave the population.

They shoot a mind-control device at Ricky and Tom, but both the humans and aliens soon realise that the device only works on people over the age of 18 (so Ricky is affected but Tom isn’t).

The mind-control device provides the funniest part of the film, with the humans and aliens using the adults as combat toys, controlling them with video game devices.

The fight between Ricky and Nana (Doris Roberts) is the comic highlight of the whole movie, while the way they manipulate him to make a fool of himself in front of Bethany is also very funny.

Another enjoyable moment is Hannah’s initial encounter with Sparks (voiced by Josh Peck), the one friendly alien.

The scene may remind viewers of a young Drew Barrymore meeting ET, but is much funnier, particularly when Skip gets tangled up in a slinky toy.

Thomas Haden Church, Ashley Peldon and Kari Wahlgren are also good in their voice roles for the other three meaner aliens, although the scenes where the children battle these beings are reminiscent of the old Gremlins movies.

The relationships between the children and Skip could have come from Five Children and It, Short Circuit or Loch Ness, while their interaction with their parents could have been taken from any number of other movies ranging from My Step Mother’s an Alien to Cheaper By the Dozen.

Despite its lack of originality, the film does manage to keep you laughing, predominantly with visual gags, but also with a few funny one liners.

It’s the kind of film parents can safely leave their children to watch without worrying about the content, although it’s so much fun, I’d recommend the parents stay and watch too.