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?

 

 

Lords of Salem (2013) – Movie review

Lords of Salem (2013)

This is quite a different film from Rob Zombie. In “Lords…” he offers some real characters, not the over-the-top, cartoon-ish maniacs, no foul-mouthed teenagers, maniacal renegades or white trash extremes. However, he still manages to show us the ugly. In this film it’s devil-worshipping witches of 1690’s Salem (note: not the mistakenly accused or the earthly spiritual Wiccans). If anyone could relay the ugly truth of devil worship, it is Rob Zombie. A bunch of naked old crones in the woods dancing around a fire is not a pretty sight.

The story goes like this; witches are burned in secrecy by the town leader, Reverend Jonathan Hawthorne. The head of the Coven, Magaret Morgan, casts a curse upon the women of Salem for generations to come and vows that a Salem daughter will be the concubine for the birth of the anti-Christ. In the present day, a radio DJ, Heidi is given a record. The music is a repeated theme, 4 notes in perpetuity which is mesmerizing to say the least. When she plays this on-air it garners strange reactions in the women of Salem. Heidi begins to hallucinate; she sees strange figures following her, death and destruction of the flesh, the wages of sin, and evil at work in the modern world. The empty apartment (#5) in her building comes to life and it is there that she is offered as the mistress to Satan. She is a direct descendent of the Hawthornes.

In some ways, ‘Lords’ has aspects reminiscent of Rosemary’s Baby and some of the 1970’s Satanic cult films. But I would say the biggest influence comes from Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages. The ugly and nasty visions of witchcraft, ceremonies, and acts in league with the devil are certainly influenced by the 1920’s silent film. The influence is noticeable especially in the depiction of the devil himself which probably had quite a few people scratching their heads. How the witches are punished is also reminiscent of Bava’s Black Sunday.

Zombie’s visual direction also takes cues from Italian masters Argento and Bava, and admittedly Stanley Kubrick. The use of color, shadow and light bring forth some visually stunning scenes. The doorway at the end of the dull wallpapered hallway is often bathed in rich red. Most of Heidi’s days of trudging through the motions of modern life are shown with washed out color to portray the bleak existence of not living her destiny. In other scenes, when in the presence of evil, the colors become bright. In fact, the whole ending, when she is birthing the  devil’s offspring, explodes with rich and vibrant color, lush cathedral palace rooms, hot orange fires burning brightly against the faces of the coven, and neon visions of hell. This exemplifies that Lucifer is known as the Angel of Light (not the dark. strange, right?). Most of the film is drenched with symbolism. If you like that kind of stuff, you will probably appreciate this. If you don’t, you will probably think this film sucks. There’s nothing wrong with that, some people like horror that is psychological and abstract in nature, others like visceral horror – its just a preference. This is not scary in the sense of, I’m being chased and I’m about to die. However, that aspect doesn’t mean this is not a great horror story.

OK, so Lords of Salem is not a perfect film. It makes you feel dread in the end and that’s not always a good last impression. Some people complain about what is going on at the ending but what Zombie is conveying is that Heidi becomes a demonic deity, the opposite to Mother Mary – like the anti-Mother Mary. He chose to depict that in neo-demonic imagery rather than having a character come out and just say it.

I did think that there could have been a better attempt during the 3^rd act at saving Heidi from the clutches of evil. That would have made the loss on the side of goodness even more poignant. I think there always has to be hope in a good horror story, even if it inevitably fails. Also, the montage at the end slips into his music video directing style with a few of the flash images. I think it would have been better if they stayed more gritty rather than flashy. Complaints aside, I am for some reason compelled to watch the film again. That doesn’t happen often with modern horror films.

Symbolism in Lords of Salem:
(aside from the items already discussed in the article)

Door 5 most likely represents the 5 points of the pentagram

The symbol painted on the heads of the witch’s coven:
The symbol is most likely a mirrored variation of the astrological sign for Algol. Algol is called the unfortunate star and is often associated with violence. A second possibility is the symbol for Mercury, which is the God of War in mythology. Backing this thought is the quote from the movie, “you have to realize, there is a war going on in Heaven.”

The musical phrase sent by The Lords:
The short phrase is formed within the Phrygian Scale. It begins with a half-step from the root-note which gives it a ‘distinct’ dark feel. At one time, an 11th century Benedictine monk had forbidden using this scale (and similar scales with the flat-second note) to compose music claiming it brought forth evil.

Witches in 3’s:
You will often see witches in groups of three. From Greek mythology to Shakespeare’s Macbeth to modern witchcraft tales, there is power in threes. In Wicca they represent the 3 stages of a woman’s life, child, adult, old age, and they complete the circle of life. However, in Satanism, they represent, darkness, chaos and conflict.

The Goat – everyone asks me about the goat (why me?). I have 5 reasons why the goat represents Satan.

1) “The Lord is my shepherd…,” Where as the sheep are tended and obedient, the goats roam the land freely.

2) All of the guilt of the people was symbolically placed on the head of the scapegoat (goat), who was then taken out into the wilderness and released (Leviticus 16:21-22).

3) The pagan deity Pan was symbolized as half man, half goat. He was mischievous and delighted in the pain and suffering of man. He lived in the wilderness where bad things happened to people, especially at night.

4) The half man, half goat image later showed up in Christianity as a more evil entity, the demon Baphomet.

5) Just look at the damn things eyes man! Drink goat milk? No way. You may as well be suckling on the teats of the devil >:)

Notice the inverted cross reflection on the back of the demonic entity.

Did not recognize Sid Haig with hair…

Three sisters… The Stygian Witches?

The Black Metal band, Leviathan the Fleeing Serpent that is interviewed early in the film is a fictional band. John 5 and Zombie wrote the music and the music video features the band in full black metal make-up and regalia.
Check out the video: http://www.uberrock.co.uk/news-updates/94-april-news-updates/7980-black-metal-band-featured-in-rob-zombies-the-lords-of-salem-release-new-dark-new-video.html

related articles:

Scariest Witches in Film