Not horrible, but profoundly flawed (spoilers)

Time back I bought a home, a condo, new construction, where I noticed that half of the electrical sockets had been installed upside down. Not a big deal in & of itself. But it did indicate less than professional attention to detail on the part of the builder. Subsequent events, despite prior inspections, proved that to be the case.

Movie's a bit like that. Not horrible. Not a disaster. Could have been way, way better, though, with a little effort.

Case in point: people have already commented on the senseless story arc given to the sheriff that went nowhere. Why? Probably to get Gil Bellows on board. A name, after all.

Aliens release main characters, why? 'Cause they're suckers for young romance? Surely they knew perfectly well what was going to happen to them. Music as they were running supposedly to freedom was so ham-handed that the only shock would have been if the soldiers didn't waste them.

Kept thinking afterward, this is so secret as to justify murder of innocent people, yet there are so many personnel present. Recall that three can keep a secret, if two are dead. Film had a low budget, so why not take a little time to script a much, much smaller, more elite force of no more than say a dozen personnel to handle these incidents? Put forth a little effort & save money on extras & costume.

Cigarette Smoking Man ref--clumsy as the music. Better to have simply shown the cigarette being held, voice off-screen.

Triad of female leads--again, why use the standard dumb blond in short shorts gets whacked first, beta brunette, dressed a little more conservatively & smarter, goes next, while the alpha--wearing jeans in what's alleged to be a heatwave--goes last.

Really?

Thought Cabin In The Woods put that one to rest forever.

Finally, the detail that bugs me the most--the upside electrical outlets of this picture--was the soldiers dropping the girl into the pit, then the camera pans down to the show the boy's arm over her body. Impossible if she was dropped after him. A small detail, which the filmmakers either missed, or assumed everyone else would, which means they didn't really care very much about what they were doing.

Glad to see references to Absentia, a much lower budget film that while not perfect by any means shows how filmmakers with just dad's credit card & the loose change in the sofa can make a pretty effective movie.