The Doom Busters (Glasgow Frightfest 2025)

Maybe in the future, I should judge what films I watch based on if I crack a smile or not looking at the synopsis, because when I noticed that The Doom Busters was about British citizens serving in the Home Guard uncovering an alien presence during World War II, I knew I had to watch it as my face contorted into a beaming grin. “Yeah,” I said, “a low-budget alien invasion movie during the Second World War. Sign me up.” 

The Doom Busters is far from great, and to be honest I’d be pushed to even call it good. However, it’s one of those productions where you can’t help but go along for the ride of it, and appreciate a lot of the decisions made.

From the opening scenes The Doom Busters wears its spirit, and its hamminess, on his sleeve. There’s some performances here that will make you laugh endearingly or roll your eyes in derision – there’s really no inbetween here, folks. Personally my reactions varied. I admired the period-piece costumes and the rural feel of the first act, but there was definitely some dabbling in tired cliches that got on my nerves. We have a keen macho who was unable to be conscripted because of his condition, we have a mysterious female character they’re not sure if they should trust, the list goes on. 

The Doom Busters is clearly cribbing from a lot of different things. We have the obvious allusions to British war movies and sci-fi B-movies from the 50s-60s, but chuck on top of that a feel of Pertwee-era Doctor Who, a squishy synthy 80s soundtrack that apes Tangerine Dream, and modern British sweary snark (unless any classic wartime movies dropped the C-bomb), and you’d be tempted to think that The Doom Busters does not have a single original idea in its DNA. It’s certainly a mishmash of influences as well, as very few of those things would normally go well together. 

With that said, writer and director Jack McHenry’s love for all these things bleeds through into the finished product. The score may be a blatant impression of Tangerine Dream, but so is Stranger Things’s music and that show is the biggest thing since sliced bread, and I actually like the way the soundtrack slots in here – it stands out against the quaint 1940s village backdrop and actually adds a good bit of atmosphere, something that the budget (God bless it) can’t quite stretch out for. 

As expected, the effects and direction are a mixed bag. There’s some odd angles and close-up shots whenever the film can’t quite present its more otherworldly elements in a convincing way. It’s understandable, but it does look a little ropey. There’s a bit of robotics around the middle that actually looks really good, but whenever we see this creature we mainly see from its point of view through an alarming red lens – to use another Doctor Who reference, it’s a similar visual trick to how we see the Reapers’ movements in Father’s Day. In context it works but the deaths themselves are noticeably scrappy and makeshift, which does give it charm but when it doesn’t work it can’t help but be that little bit laughable.

For a film that’s a remarkably tight 80 minutes, The Doom Busters takes frustratingly long to actually get going. The first third is a bit of a slog as we take time introducing each of these characters, a lot of whom feel like thinly-developed stock stereotypes. Some of these guys I found likable but others just came across as really grating, and that could maybe be down to the amateurish nature of some of the performances. I appreciate that this is a low-budget project but, to be as nice as I possibly can, I’ve got my limits. 

That said, once the film properly hit its stride about half an hour in it was a lot of fun. The pulpy nostalgic feel and the mix of a period-piece setting with B-movie sci-fi began to work its magic on me quickly after this point, and I did love how ridiculous some of the later twists were. One had me belly-laughing for a minute straight at the wonderful absurdity of it, the other had me utterly perplexed but still willing to go with it due to it being a cool set-piece. I’m not quite sure if it all completely hung together, and the pacing was still an issue, but I did appreciate the willingness of the second half to go completely and utterly bonkers. 

Perhaps the best word to describe The Doom Busters is ‘endearing.’ It’s scrappy, intergalactically silly and occasionally it comes across as cringeworthy, but is always endearing. The product of a director and writer who is having fun making a film influenced by all the things they grew up loving, The Doom Busters is a short but mostly sweet romp that delivers nostalgic beats in familiar but entertaining ways. 

Alex’s Archive – The Doom Busters (2025)