Galaxy of Terror (1981) – Movie review

Galaxy of Terror (1981)

Produced by Roger Corman
Directed by Bruce D. Clark

Edward Albert
Erin Moran
Ray Walston
Taaffe O’Connell
Robert Englund
Sid Haig
Grace Zabriskie

Being an artist, I often enjoy visual splendor in films. That is why I can enjoy an effects heavy film even when the story is lacking. Being a writer and author, I often enjoy original concepts and ideas in films. New ideas spark my imagination and I like to take mental note of aspects I can use or expand upon in my own work. So yes, I am making excuses for why I like this film so much. The story is lacking. The dialogue is mediocre at best.

Several characters investigate an abandoned spaceship on a distant lifeless planet. The film follows each as they meet their demise. They all die by a method they would fear most. For example, one gets killed by his own crystal bladed weapon that took him years to master. Another by her own fear of claustrophobia.

The film stars Erin Moran (yes, Joanie from Happy Days) in her first movie role since the end of her short lived spin off series. A very young, pre-Freddy Kruger, Robert England stars in the film. In fact you will most likely recognize all the actors in the cast but one or two. Naturally, being a Roger Corman film there’s lots of blood, guts and gore.

The most disturbing and talked about scene in the film is of the woman being raped and killed by a giant worm. This is a shocking scene even for a Roger Corman gore-fest. The bizarre shots in the sequence had to be trimmed to avoid an X-rating but still reveal enough to disgust you on a visceral level. (The disturbing aspect is that while I know it is vile, I find it hard to look away – something I call the “road kill syndrome). The death-by-worm-sex scene is probably the reason this film has such a strong cult status. It went as far as any scene of this nature will ever go in a horror/sci-fi film.

The film borrows some ideas from Forbidden Planet, especially the idea of the characters being attacked by their own worst fears. Event Horizon some years later has similarities to Galaxy in finding an abandoned ship and entering it only to be psychologically attacked by an evil entity. For a low budget space movie, the effects and sets are surprisingly good. It feels big and the film isn’t held back by its budget. They need a crash landing on the surface of an alien planet? They do it. A gigantic ancient pyramid, they show it. Nothing is trimmed from the script because of budget. I believe the reason for that was having James Cameron as production designer.

As I had mentioned, the film is more about shocking gore and FX than story. It might not be for everyone but having been there when these types of films came out in theaters, and having watched each film try to one up each other in the gore factor, was a fun experience. This would probably have taken the gore award for 1981 if it weren’t for Evil Dead! Good times!

A Corman space movie with horror, blood, nudity and gore, for a harsh R-rating. This ain’t no Star Wars!

I give it 3.9 severed limbs on the death by nookie-nookie scale of freaky maggot infested gore flicks!

Fun facts:

James Cameron was the 2nd unit director and production designer on this film. I tend to think that much of the huge scope of this film had a lot to do with Cameron. This film most likely prepared him for directing Aliens a few years later. He had worked on several Roger Corman films.

The worm sex scene was trimmed down to get its original X-rating changed to R. Despite the editing, the film was still banned in many countries. It was released in some countries with the scene completely removed.

like earth, isn’t earth

one-tenth of the budget for Star Wars, take that!

Well maybe Potsy did it, or Ralph Mouth…

Mr. Hand hasn’t aged since the 1960’s – I do believe he is a martian

looks like a teenager here, lol

I wouldn’t go in there

sucker tentacles

that’s not how you use this weapon

look out, giant slimy slug maggot worm…

disgusting!

Yuck!

gross!

dog face demon, woof!

a little more sunscreen would’ve helped

This shot foreshadows his next job! can you say Kruger?

 

 

Sour Grapes, spit ‘em out! – movie reviews

Sour Grapes, spit ‘em out! – movie reviews

A list of bad movies I’ve seen recently – and short reviews on each film. Some of these are not too bad but have some major problems in them.

Of course, this is just my opinion. Actual results may vary.

Yellow Brick Road (2010)
This is another film that would have been better as a half hour episode of the Twilight Zone or perhaps an hour long MOH. The paradoxical and enigmatic ending was so damn good, too bad it had such a sucky movie attached to it. A group of investigators decide to follow the path that led to a whole town disappearing in the 1940’s. When they set off on this trail into the deep woods of New Hampshire, things get creepy. Compasses don’t work and they can’t get their baring from the stars. They hear music from the 1940’s somewhere in the distance but never reach it. The group begins to break down emotionally and fights break out. Eventually they are murdering each other. It sounds pretty good, right? Well, it was dragged out for so long before anything happened that the suspense turned to boredom and I lost interest. Trim 40 minutes of this film, in particular, the endless walking and stupid bickering, and get back to me- I‘ll put it on my like list.

The Innkeepers (2011)
The deliberate pacing and retro-style that worked so well for Ti West in House of the Devil fell flat here. We are left with a long-winded yarn that makes one yawn, about a new nightshift worker at the Yankee Peddler Inn. It was like watching an episode of Seinfeld without the comedy. We watch the clerk engage in mundane dealings like, ordering diner, fiddling around on her laptop, talking on the phone and doing laundry. There are a few creepy scenes here and there but not nearly enough to sustain a full-length movie. Finally, the ghost does appear but she’s not so scary and the ambiguous ending leaves you wanting more. Maybe the ghost killed the girl, maybe she died because of her own imagination causing an asthma attack; by that time, I really didn’t care either way.

Feast II (2008)
The characters in this film are so badass and cool … actually, they’re ridiculous and un-empathetic. I couldn’t care less if they lived or died. Does this director think he’s Tarantino? Only Tarantino (and perhaps a few others) can create bad-guy characters that are so charismatic you wind up liking them. That was what they tried to do in this film and failed miserably. What a waste of time.

Altered (2006)
Oh, I get it. This is a horror/alien/comedy/revenge style movie with a group of guys trying to strike back at the alien that killed their friend many years ago. They tie it up and keep it captive in the garage while they decide exactly what they should do next, unfortunately, they don’t do anything but argue about it. I got a good idea, they should turn on a TV and change the channel, so we can all watch something different.

Inkubus (2011)
A guy walks into the police precinct and confesses to a horrific murder(I know sounds like a bad joke; A guy walks into a bar…). There is some good intellectual banter in this film – sharp dialogue between the suspect and the detectives assigned to the murder. It is enjoyable to see Robert Englund in a role without all the make-up. Unfortunately, this film starts off strong but goes nowhere. What is the deal with this character? He is supposed to be some kind of demon but he disappears and reappears with a white spark and flash. I felt like I was watching Bewitched or Tinkerbell. You couldn’t make some fire and black smoke effects? Also, an incubus (and/or succubus) is a demon that is sexual in nature. Anyone that knows anything about horror knows that. It’s like they picked the title for this film out of a hat, regardless of whether or not it had anything to do with the film. What, was Werewolf taken?