I had no idea that the East Germans had made sci-fi films and this was my introduction to them. In many ways, the movie really is bad but most of these ways actually make it rather fun to watch. And, in a few ways, the film actually was pretty good--the plot, after a while, actually turned out to be pretty good.
A space ship from planet Cynro arrives from across the galaxy in response to a distress call. The rocket, oddly, nearly crashes as it's landing. Despite the great distance they traveled, the inhabitants (the Temians) insist there is no emergency on their planet. Then they invite the members of the crew to come to a really, really stupid party--at which time, scantily clad women dance about in strangely choreographed ways that were laughably bad. In addition, the Temians used mind control beams to convince the Cynro that everything was fine and that they should return to their home planet at once. However, one member of the crew did not go to the party and get probed and he is shocked when later the rest of the crew are so quick to return home and ignore that a distress call DID come from the planet and that their emergency landing was actually caused by the Temians! Still, the crew refuse to listen--having had their minds gently scrambled. There's a lot more to the film as well as the secrets the Temians are trying to hide--but I'd rather not spoil your fun. Plus, this aspect of the movie really is interesting.
What I liked about the movie was its kitschy moments that seemed totally random. For example, in addition to lots of bad dancing, nudity was tossed in at the oddest moments and the leader (a fat bald guy) kept bizarrely changing his hair color for no particular reason. All the oddness was pretty silly and it did tend to distract from a decent overall plot. However, I am sure that bad film buffs will probably enjoy all this weirdness and have a good laugh at the tacky 1970s touches that abound in this freaky film.
By the way, though I DON'T want to divulge the plot, I could see some communist ideology there about the exploitation of the proletariat as well as parallels (believe it or not) to the Cold War.
Oddly compelling and silly at the same time.
