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Star Slammer (1986)

** (out of 4)

Taura (Sandy Brooke) is sentenced to serve some time on a prison ship that floats around in outer space. As soon as she arrives she has to deal with not only a nasty warden but also the other women including one who plans on making Taura's life a living Hell.

STAR SLAMMER, also known as PRISON SHIP, is an ultra low-budget movie from director Fred Olen Ray, which might not be the most original thing you'll ever watch but it's at least slightly entertaining as long as you're not expecting something like Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY.

The film is basically just a lot of silly action scenes as the film wants to not only cash in on the sci-fi genre but also the women-in-prison one. The two work quite well with one another but as I said, there's certainly nothing original going on here. You've got the lesbian and mean warden, you've got outsiders causing trouble, there are the ladies fighting one another and you get the idea.

I will say that Brooke was a lot of fun in the lead role and she certainly helps push the film along. Suzy Stokey, Marya Gant and Dawn Wildsmith are all entertaining as well. You've also got Aldo Ray in a small role and one of the final apperances by John Carradine whose total screentime is around a minute. In fact, Carradine shot a bunch of scenes in one day several years earlier and those were scattered throughout several Ray pictures including JACK-O, which was released years after the actor's death!

STAR SLAMMER is pretty much low-budget junk but it's certainly fun enough to where fans of the genre should enjoy it.

This is a cheesy,low budget late 80's piece of crap. The opening score is a direct rip-off from Raiders/Lost Ark but changes every few notes so as not to be sued. Awful acting, some good gore, always threats of lesbianism but nothing to show for it, some strange costumes and "little people" running around with awful speeded-up voices. A mess, but my friends and I love to get together and watch "bad" movies and we really hooted and hollered at most of this. It's No Star Crash or Space Mutiny (true low budget cheese sci-fi disaster classics) but it has some fun moments.

There is a leech-eating scene.... need I say more? At one point, during the requisite prison cafeteria food-fight scene, several of the actresses literally crack up and start giggling during their lines.

One of the actresses, a doctor, was actually not half bad (in comparison), and I felt very sad for her; the rest of the actresses didn't seem to take the script seriously at all, and who can blame them? They were probably coeds promised free beer if they showed up and read from cue cards.

This movie is so very bad that it's actually hysterically funny.

The space fighting scenes are right out of Roger Cormens classic "Battle Beyond the Stars". (Like cut and paste out of it that is)Then for those of us who actually survive this epic to the end and make it to the credits, we seem to be misled, because at the beginning of the credits we are told to look for the next adventure of Tara in "Chain Gang Planet". What happened??? I realize this movie is bad, but hey, just for a good laugh I would pick up the next one on DVD. If you are a serious sci-fi fan, you might be better off to look to something else for your collection. If you are into low budget c-movies (I don't think of this as even a B movie) and are looking for a good laugh then look no further.

OK. So the line above is kinda silly, but so is this film.

Fred Olen ray is a master at spending no money, and somehow always having a film to show for it. Granted, most of his films end up being very static due to lack of monies for alternate takes and complex editing.

OK. So Ray isn't what you'd call Speilberg. His films concentrate on borrowed sets and costumes(this one's got them), has-been actors( Sid Haig, John Carradine, Aldo Ray, ect.), and some of the most stiff and lifeless dialogue this side of Ray Dennis Steckler.

PRISON SHIP( I saw this as STAR SLAMMER) is a piece of junk, filled with borrowed effects from BATTLESTAR GALLACTICA and BUCK RODGERS. There is some skin, but not enough. Mostly, there is talk, and as many a reviewer likes to point out, Fred Olen Ray makes very chatty pictures. That's because he either doesn't have the creativity, or the perspective, to realize that you don't need a ton of money to make a good film. You just need talent.

Why should I continue? PRISON SHIP is cheesy, and painful. Don't watch this unless you must see every film that John Carradine is in (or you really like train wrecks).