In 1955 they meant it literally.
In 2001 it's a metaphor.
Despite co-billing with Randy Quaid, Kinski is the main character along with Bobby Edner as the isolated and bullied psychic kid Ben. The strong core cast also includes Harry Groener (previously the jolly and totally evil mayor of Sunnydale in Buffy) and Stephen Toblowsky a well known character actor.
Kinski as a school shrink from NY arrives at the sort of small town where everybody stares at you, stop talking when you enter a room/bar, and have dark secrets. She befriends the disturbed Ben, though his doctor adopted father (Quaid) isn't happy about it. Ben is totally into Science Fiction (books, comics, movies) and is convinced that his father is an alien who will come to take him back to his home planet. His mother is dead. As he begins to remember things about his past an alien arrives and starts to kill people. Curiously it resembles an alien in an old b/w movie he sees on tv.
Major spoiler! I'm going to give away the film's big reveal now so if you have any intention of watching this DVD, don't continue reading.
The alien is killing the people that Ben's subconscious knows were involved with the murder of his mother because they believed she was a dangerous psychic. While they knew Ben also had powers they couldn't bring themselves to kill a kid. The alien is a physical creation of Ben's subconscious.
So, not a bad little movie, well cast and acted, with a neat little revelation. This series of tv movies has been an enjoyable diversion. There's only one to go which I'll be watching soon and it's the worst reviewed of the lot. Could be fun.
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