eath row murderer Jack (Bruce Campbell) finds himself in a prison transport traveling along an isolated road during a blizzard. When the driver, Department of Corrections Officer Tommy (Jake Simmons), spills a hot liquid on himself, he loses control, crashing into a tree. Along with his partner Red (Scott Wickware), the shaken but unharmed threesome opts to trek up to the nearby airport, where pilot Cathy Garrett (Chase Masterson) takes some flak from impatient passengers waiting to fly out of the small charter service building (17 miles away from the nearest town).

“You animal!” A trip to the restroom results in a shootout with a mysterious preacher (Ian Downie), who happens to be an extraterrestrial invader hellbent on wiping out humanity. No one walking into the bathroom comes out alive, save for Jack, who emerges with two guns and no answers for the panicky assortment of people huddling in the terminal – including Fortune 500 CEO David Higgins (C. David Johnson), soldier Griffin (Jason Jones), married couple Andrew (Andrew Tarbet) and Sarah (Sarah Lafleur), a pudgy security guard, an older flight attendant, an attractive blonde, and a few others – including two children.

The premise is straightforward, resembling “The Petrified Forest” and “Key Largo” or, more recently, “Pitch Black,” in which a group of disgruntled strangers have to work together to survive – all while dealing with a potential killer in their midst. The alien aspect is problematic, however, as it’s so incredibly farfetched compared to the realistic, earthbound setting, though it does bring into the fold a more complex scenario – one that resembles “And Then There Were None” or, with the sci-fi elements, “The Thing.” “What do you care? They might not even be people. They could all be aliens.”

As the stranded travelers quarrel, attempt to gain control of the three guns that keep changing hands, and conduct experiments on one another to determine who might be an alien or not, their numbers steadily dwindle, succumbing to a not-so-surprisingly large population of monsters. A couple of clever gimmicks arise to sort out the body-snatchers from the humans, such as an x-ray machine that captures skeletal photographs and a malfunctioning camera system. But the majority of the special effects are notably limited, which decreases the tension; spilled blood is unconvincing, as are the various CG features that designate invaders (who magically disappear when they die). A few practical gore effects fare better, though they’re used too sparingly.

The plot moves slowly, exhibiting all the hallmarks of a made-for-tv movie – including periodic cliffhanger scenes, fades for commercials, and cheesy transitions (or screen wipes). With few sets, only a handful of characters, and plenty of unnecessary scripting and editing to obscure expensive interactions, “Terminal Invasion” (almost comically titled in a literal sense, like “Enemy Mine”) does its best to work with nearly nothing. And it’s certainly devoid of original ideas. Nevertheless, Campbell and his typical tongue-in-cheek approach are lightly amusing, even though the alien behaviors make no sense and the final showdown is ludicrously complex for its intended spontaneity.

– Mike Massie