User reviews

"The Deadly Spawn" is a classic example of a horror flick made on a shoestring budget which is nevertheless worth watching due to the ingenuity of its creators.

The plot is basically non-existent. An alien comes to Earth in a meteor and hides in a family's basement. It starts picking people off and having little babies that look and behave like land-based piranhas.

The characters and dialogue are all completely forgettable. The enthusiasm that went into the creature and gore effects obviously didn't rub off on the cast.

But that's not what you watch it for. You watch it to see what a talented crew can do with little money and on that score, "The Deadly Spawn" more than delivers.

This is one of the best alien/monster slaughtering and splattering movies I've ever seen! It is so funny and creative as the monsters are something I hadn't seen before. They are ugly, disgusting, hungry and have about 7000 teeth! They can also move, but pretty slowly. How they did those monsters with the low budget? They look so fantastic and scary as they actually have nothing but huge mouths and hundreds of sharp teeth in them.

Some alien stone comes from the space and crushes into the Earth with these nasty visitors. Soon they find a new home in a cellar of one apartment, and then the "fun" begins. There is one slow sequence in the middle of the film and it is boring to sit through, but fortunately for most of the time, there is always something going on.

The effects and overall look of the film is so 80's and low budgeted and nostalgic and it really makes to miss those golden days when these were made. Nasty slashers, stupid Conan rip offs, alien clones etc. Those were the legendary days that produced us these gems, that we can now track down and enjoy. The Deadly Spawn is recommended HIGHLY for all fans of marginal cinema and especially monster cinema, because these babies are something new! They bite in a way that no other monster has ever bitten before! They appear also in a form of slithery worms, and it only raises the puke-o-meter and fun-o-meter, but only for those who understand these rare pieces of gold. Others will only feel sick watching these!

This film earns at least 7 ultra gory stars out of ten, and these films will NEVER die, no matter how many stupid mainstream efforts or "modern horror films" are made!

I first saw this in the mid 80s on a vhs. Revisited it recently. The initial kills r offscreen with jus blood on the ground, on the spectacles, on the bulb n on the wall with lots of slurping noise but the film does get gory later but nowhere tensed or fast paced. A woman's face gets munched upon by an alien suffering from bruxism. An old uncle gets devoured by the aliens offscreen. A teenager gets decapitated by an alien's teeth n the aftermath defenestration scene of the rubber body will make u lol. The salad scene from the film Slugs was inspired by a similar scene from this film. Inspite of the running time only 82 mins, the film gets tedious considering the old ladies' chit chat n the teenagers conversations.

This movie has a bigger cult following than many might think, and I am proud to say I am part of it. I see this film in the ballpark of "The Evil Dead", "Re-Animator", "Bad Taste", and many other classics of splatter legend. I don't feel the need to criticize the acting (unless you count the first two hapless victims), and this is because this movie does what most movies don't with their characters: it makes them REAL people. The fantastic elements blend beautifully with the boring, frustrating mess of most people's everyday life. Still, this is a fun b-movie, which means instead of depressing us with the real-life stuff, it puts some humorous spins on it. The gore and creature FX are amazing. Don't let that R rating fool you, this is one HARD R, so those with weak stomachs need not apply. The creature FX I was amazed by most of all. I would love to know how they did this with such a low budget! Everything in this looks extremely vivid and real (with the exception of some amateurish backgrounds at the beginning and end that are obviously pictures somebody painted or whatever). Even the computer cartoons of "Jurassic Park" do not hold a candle to these creature FX in the least. This is definitely one of the greatest indie/sci-fi/horror/splatter films ever, and I do wonder why it hasn't got the kind of recognition that movies like "Evil Dead" have (no big-budget sequels maybe?). As for those who call "Parasite" a sequel to this, I don't get it. Not only is this a film far more superior to "Parasite" and was seemingly made by totally different people, there is absolutely no way to connect them unless you're talking genre-wise. "Parasite" is in the far-off future, this one's in the present. "Parasite" is about genetically engineered creatures, this one's about space aliens. This one has a sense of humor. "Parasite" doesn't. In any case, I love "Return of the Aliens: The Deadly Spawn" (no matter what title it's under) for it is the classic that "Parasite" should have been and much, much more.

Thank god for DVD, I was waiting for a chance to see this film since I was but a wee pubescent gore fiend way back in the mid '80's when I saw a clip of it when I rented "Terror on Tape" (which was and still IS a much better compilation of horror films then the much better known "Terror in the Aisles, but I digress), while sleeping over my Aunt's house. This film's plot is just alien eats and eats and eats some more people. So was it worth the decades long wait?? Well for the most part a resounding YES. I knew it was going to be low budget and I knew it would have bad acting. But it was still a really fun movie for gore lovers. And i wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to fellow low-budget horror film fans.

Synapse DVD Extras: 2 commentary tracks (the first with the director and a few cast members and the second with the Producer); alternate opening; audition tapes; stills gallery; outtakes; a 15 page comic book style prequel; and theatrical trailer

My Grade: B

Extreme experience. I have never seen such a disgusting movie like this. The plot isn't interesting, just some aliens and documentary on some family life. Ending is stupid, whole things is just cheesy. Forget it! Don't waste your time for this crap! The only positive thing is that aliens are nasty. But it isn't a reason why one should watch it. You'd better watch "Bambi" instead. It will be surely a better way of spending your free time. Such low-budget horrors without any enjoyable plot, special effects and good, original ideas are worthless. Waste of video cassette, really! Perhaps you've seen worse than this one, but don't check it! There's a whole bunch of boring films, don't be silly and don't watch it. I did it. I regret it. Your life don't have to be that bad.

This low-budget indie flick shows its roots with production values that seem about 10 years or so out of date, including a muddled sound design and fuzzy image quality. Despite bursting out of the gate at the start, the plot often struggles with pacing; the direction often comes off as weak and lethargic. In fairness, this seems to be the first of only two credits in any regard for filmmaker Douglas McKeown - and for that matter, most everyone in the cast or crew have few if any other credits to their name. It shouldn't be too surprising, then, that the dialogue tends to be gauche; that acting is at many times stilted, unnatural, and less than completely believable; that the picture has problems with internal consistency (a character is covered in blood in one moment, and in the next, they're barely touched). Funnily enough, it's effects supervisor John Dods who seems to have the most experience of anyone involved, and it should be said that the contributions of Dods and his collaborators are without question the most outwardly successful aspect of 'The deadly spawn.' The creatures and all the blood and gore are unmistakably fake, yes, but at that, all the nastiness looks fantastic (in accordance with suspension of disbelief), and should scratch the itch of any fan of monster movies.

Of course the film pales in comparison to most any other horror sci-fi flick one could name, that rather goes without saying. Yet if one recognizes the nature of the production - the lack of major financial backing, the inexperience of those involved, the earnest desire nonetheless to craft a violent romp of a genre flick - then this isn't half bad, and it even becomes kind of fascinating. There's no denying that it still has problems, but a great deal of sincerity and hard work went into making this, and for all the indelicacies and inelegance, the result is much better than not. Why, it's definitely far better than many genre flicks, even major studio projects, that have followed in the years since. Again, Dods' effects absolutely stand out, not least at the climax. Apart from the dialogue, McKeown's screenplay is reasonably solid; the scene writing and narrative are straightforward, but completely, compelling, and fun. (Ah, that ending!) While a little heavy-handed and club-footed, McKeown's direction is decent enough, and the cast put in fine effort. It's clear everyone on hand just wanted to have a good time, and they quite succeed in passing that on to the audience; what more could one want?

Even with faltering audio, the sound effects are executed well; the original score teeters on the fine line between "enjoyable and lending atmosphere" and "blunt and over the top," but like so many other aspects here comes across as more capable than not. At no point could one make any mistake about what they're watching; at its worst and at its best, it shines through what level 'The deadly spawn' is operating on. Faults and all, however, this is ultimately entertaining, and its deficiencies just become part of the tapestry. I'd hardly say this is essential, but if you have the chance to watch it, 'The deadly spawn' is a good way to pass 80 minutes. Recommendable particularly for fans of creature features.

Pure garbage. After watching this garbage I couldn't wait to see how much bashing it got on this site. I was wrong...most people actually praise this movie...why?

The plot is so random and small (alien mother and her offspring invade a farm house) that it constantly has characters talking about nothing just to fill time. I mean what was the scene with the uncle and nephew about? why was the uncle such a loser? they didn't even show him get killed. What was the point of adding that blond fat bimbo into the plot ten minutes before the movie ended? She didn't even look attractive. The effects are so bad, there not fun gory, just groan gory. The acting is irritating, I wanted everyone to die in this movie quickly.

The editing and direction in this movie are non existent..as for example whenever it wants it will show random shots of hands moving things and random shots of characters faces for no reason. Wait, I did see a quick sense of style which was one quick zoom in shot of wall socket..wow that's exciting as it gets.

The only cool deaths in this movie are the farm wife getting her face much-ed on and head chomping that will make u burst with laughter. Didn't see that one coming, I'll give it credit for that.

The score is so low key and generic that I really can't remember much about it...not very effective...even for a ludicrous b-movie like this. The dialog is so moronic and the actors are all un attractive.

I'm a huge fan of really bad movies (HellGate, Texas Chiansaw massacre the next generation, Troll 2, and Slumber Party massacre 2 have all made it to my collection and i love watching them) but this movie is too boring..maybe if it was a 15 min short it wouldn't be so bad...not a movie that trys to stretch itself for an hour and 20 mins...the ending was a crap fest also. Nice effects on that one.

zero stars out of ****

I really love this flick. It's cheesy, full of gore, has comedy (some intentional, and some unintentional), and cool low budget monster effects.

In other words, it's fun. horror movies are supposed to be fun. they are supposed to entertain us horror fans. this movie is very entertaining.

Made with a shoestring budget, it uses it's budget quite well and at least it wasn't "shot on video" (technique using a camcorder to make films).

The gore is kickin. You get peeled off skin, decapitations, bites, limbs chewed off, and more.

It is a unique film, and a great standout scene includes the monster's "babys" (they look like mean tadpoles with teeth) attack an old folk's home. totally funny stuff seeing a retirement home go into chaos.

If i were an actual film critic, i'd score this movie 4 out of 10. I'm not a film critic though, i'm a hardcore horror fan. Therefore, i'm giving this film a 9 out of 10. It's really one of my favorites because it's just no frills fun...and a great watch with your buddies when you're bored and want to kick back some beers.

NOTE: SPECIAL EDITION DVD RELEASE on October 26th by Synapse video. First time ever on DVD!

9 out of 10 (based soley on horror merits)

Some deadly aliens have landed on planet Earth. Soon they are hiding in the basement of a normal middle-class American family. The two brothers Pete (Tom DeFranco) and Charles (Charles George Hildebrandt) must outwit the killing aliens if they want to survive.

Supposedly made for only $25,000. It is the effects or the look of the aliens that in my book are excellent given the shoestring budget. The acting as well is better than you are expecting, but please remember its not like any of them were robbed on Oscar night. There are also a couple dialogue heavy scenes that maybe could have been rewritten to add some spice to those scenes, but it doesn't make me not recommend this to any fans of gory, low-budget horror flicks.

One of those many B horror movies of the 80s, watching The Deadly Spawn it is best if you put your brain on sleeping mode and just enjoy the total mess of a story (hungry aliens dinning on human flesh) and the sometimes - superb - trashy moments of gore. The true star here are those gory scenes, the rest is not memorable at all. Recommended if you digest such stuff like TerrorVision, Xtro, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Tremors and the like.

I can't be objective when I talk about horror movies or something similar... I've been a fan of b movies since I was 4. Personally I think that this is one of the best b movies I've ever seen. And everyone who likes that genre wont be disappointed. The rest of you, you who don't like monster movies and gore, keep away from it and don't kick a genre that you can't stand or understand, you are who will be disappointed (some of you maybe still like it). The genre lovers don't be afraid of it, you'll really enjoy it. I promise you.

But unfortunately my hopes were not answered!

Many people have given great thoughts on this movie, so I needed to check it out! But unfortunately this movie (at least for me) came off as pretty mediocre! The acting was poor (but I honestly did expect that!) and overall the movie pretty boring.

And don't get me started on the gore! People treat this movie like its one of the goriest movies ever made! And if this is one of the goriest than I must be the most gore-watchable movie buff ever!

This is a cheesy movie but not in the way that makes it good (like Killer Klowns from outer Space)! It is not very entertaining and I'd rather watch something like... (Insert good B-movie here)

The only reason I'm giving this a 5 is because the special effects are pretty good for such a low-budget!

Overall: Only watch it if you need to watch EVERY B-movie in history!

2.5/5 5/10

Extremely low budget, but lively sci-fi horror movie about a group of people trapped in a house full of toothy extraterrestrial monsters, hatched from a fallen meteorite, which look like a cross between a giant salamander and H.R. Giger's creation from the ALIEN movies.

The shoestring budget actually adds to the movie's charm, as it appears to have been written, shot and designed by a bunch of talented kids who had nothing better to do with the weekend (which is actually not far from the truth).

The dialog and performances, in general, are fair at best, but the swift pace, campy atmosphere and enthusiastic carnage balance out the shortcomings. Great music score, too. At any rate, you get the feeling that the filmmakers have a true love of the horror genre. It's creepy, gory, and a lot of fun, and would be a perfect flick for a Halloween horror-thon.

A meteorite lands on earth and a creature crawls out into the celler of a nearby house.

The creatures starts to spawn little aliens and they escape into the outside world and start to kill people.

A Group of friends meet at the house to revise some scientific school work and discover one of the aliens spawn but pretty soon they are over ran by a horde.

A kid who likes horror films who also lives in the house finds he parts of his dead parents in the celler and decides he is gonna try to kill the main monster.

There is Loads of gore and death with pretty good effects The music is quite decent too.

To me what they did with such a low budget is astounding.

This movie entertained me all the way through, which in the year 2014 a movie from the 80's can't do anymore.

Compare it to 10 million dollar CGI snooze-fests and this movie is GOLD.

GOLD I SAY!!! The effects are where the movie stands out.

Usually it's a kid with a bucket of fake blood but when it's there, GOD DAMN it's awesome.

My final verdict 12/10.

Best movie since Dawn of the Dead (1978)

I don't know what happened with horror movies in 1983, but I'm yet to find one that actually blew me away. The best by far were 'Cujo' and 'Videodrome'.

I'm still sitting here wondering what the hell I just watched; that being 'The Deadly Spawn'. This movie is at the bottom of the barrel of bad horror movies, with B-movie acting at its worst, B-movie visuals almost at its worst, and B-movie props also incredibly bad! On top of this the movie has weird dialogue with the characters saying and doing the strangest things. Speaking of characters, I didn't care about any of them. There's no clear protagonist - just a bunch of uninteresting, bland, two-dimensional characters. A young boy, Charles, comes to the rescue during scenes towards the end, but he doesn't have protagonist trademarks and didn't feature much during the film.

'The Deadly Spawn' is more comedy than horror, but it certainly ain't funny - it's just bad in every way. In fact, it was laughably bad - and that's no laughing matter! The creatures were lifeless, mechanical things. And what an absolutely stupid climax! This is an 80's horror movie you'd want to avoid - unless you enjoy laughing at badly made vintage movies...

Would I watch it again? There's no chance...!

When I used to go to the local Mom and Pop video store I would be confronted by cheap pieces of film disguised as entertainment such as this. One look at the cover tells you all you need to know. The correct reaction is "I don't want to see THIS movie!"

Bingo. If you're like me, that is incomplete. I don't want to see this movie. I NEED to see this movie. I will do whatever it takes to buy this movie which I am now enjoying on my copy on VHS with the oversized case.

A labor of love produced on a $30,000 To $50,000 budget backed up by a serious love of old time schlock cinema.

Ted Bohus did graduate to some better budgets, such as Vampire Vixens from Venus which via friendship with Fred Olen Ray did include Michelle Bauer in the cast, but this work including nobody you ever heard of is one of the best cult movie classics you can get a hold of.

As usual with reviews of this type of movie, do not expect high art. Just turn you brain off and enjoy the ride.

I just watched this absolutely weird piece of 80's-No-Budget-Junk and I loved it! Here's why:

First of all, it's better than "AVATAR". But that goes without saying.

No, seriously: I wouldn't call this a cult-movie and I don't get why some people in this forum compare it to "Evil Dead". It is a homemade horror-movie too and it has some over- the-top gore scenes, but the similarities end right there. Apart from that it is much more a parody of 50's alien films. Have a look at the posters in the hero kid's room and you'll see what the creators had in mind.

At times the movie gets quite impressive FX-wise, for example when it comes to the creature scenes in the cellar, which feature great puppetry and theatrical lighting. Once the monsters get out of the dark, the general impression turns from creepy to hilarious, and the showdown is quite disappointing. But still not as bad as "AVATAR".

The characters are a bunch of nerdy kids plus some notably ugly grown-ups, and they altogether have some of the weirdest dialogs you'll ever find in a movie.

I give this 7 of 10 for being fun from the beginning to end, for fast pacing, great gore-scenes and total weirdness.

"WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD?"

At last, I watched the full uncut. Full uncut is only available in the US and in Germany were I bought it at a convention with lot of extra's. Was it worth it, oh yes. I would classify it in the region of Slithis and The Abomination, be aware, The Abomination was made later but the comparison between them is the look of the alien(s). Sure, Brain Damage (from 1988) his aliens are looking the same like those in this flick. Luckely, here we don't have stop/motion. Still, we have to deal with a low budget but a nice one. The story line is okay and the effects are the reason why it has his cult following. When the aliens attack they attack in a gory way. Mostly the attacks are off camera but the result of the attacks are shown, geeks will love it especially the attack of the aliens on mother's skull. Sure, some outside shots are made of a model, funny to see but I have seen worser. Only the end is a bit of a laugh. But nevertheless, you have to watch it, sometimes it's a bit of what the hell, the scene with the old people, and sometimes you will love the use of the red stuff.