Jonathan R. Betuel
My Science Project

Recently, I wrote about the phenomenon 'Kung Fury,' the 2015 medium-length film by Swedish director David Sandberg, which throughout its duration presents a series of typical clichés of 1980s cinematography, drawing heavily in particular from a certain type of rather naïve sci-fi mostly aimed at a young audience. One of the typical films of the genre, which practically possesses a good number of the situations referenced by Sandberg's medium-length film, is certainly 'My Science Project' from 1985, better known in Italy as 'Ritorno alla quarta dimensione.' The film, directed by Jonathan R. Betuel, aligns itself with the sci-fi/comedy of the period, being built on a very simple script.

It all begins in the year 1957 at a military base in the United States where an UFO, which has just crashed on Earth, is hidden and of which President Dwight D. Eisenhower orders its peremptory destruction. Many years later (1985) within what has now become a junkyard, a motor-enthusiast boy named Michael Harlan (John Stockwell) will rediscover an unidentified object, which was essentially the UFO's propulsion device. The film clumsily references the multiverse theory, whose rules supposedly governed the UFO's space travel, so when the propulsion device is activated by Michael and his friends, it unleashes what could be described as a space-time storm that forces them to face a dangerous adventure with creatures from the past and the future.

Describing this film as 'trash' today is certainly too easy, considering its content and the perhaps pathetic way of functioning, similar to 'Back to the Future' or 'The Goonies,' which boasted more compelling content and were overall better made. For the rest, John Stockwell was not and did not become Michael J. Fox, nor the bumbling sidekick of Frodo, but maybe, considering the second possibility, we can say it didn’t turn out too bad for him.

Noteworthy is the presence of Dennis Hopper in the role of the science professor with the 1960s myth, who will travel in time to return to the present directly from Woodstock and in the same guise as 'Billy' from 'Easy Rider.' A small 'cult' moment that pops up from some space-time interference when you least expect it.