Galaxy of Terror

Early eighties Roger Corman sci-fi flick featuring a cast of b-grade actors on a mission to a distant planet to investigate a dying signal from a doomed space vessel. Once they arrive on the planet they soon discover that the crew is no more and that a black pyramid draws them in mysteriously. The cast's worst nightmares are manifested into reality as they are picked off one by one. But by whom exactly? If you were stumped as to who it was might I interest you in some low-property tax swamp land.

I have never been much of a Corman fan but this is one of his most ambitious and entertaining films. The fact that this is considered one of the 50 worst films of all time is not only silly but calls into question the bad movie credentials of whomever listed Galaxy of Terror. Have you even seen War of the Robots? Any movie that dispatches Erin Moran by crushing her skull and features the Hentai-like mutant worm raping to death a very buxom Taaffe O'Connell deserves cult status damn you! This is my third Zalman King film reviewed on this site, through no fault of my own mind you, and his limited range as an actor leaves little wonder why he made the move to directing light porn. Edward Albert is not very engaging as the male lead Cabren while I hope Sid Haig was paid by his screen time rather his amount of dialogue. Robert Englund, Ray "I've been old for 1000 years" Walston and Grace Zabriskie, who was great in Twin Peaks, round out the cast. If you happen upon this movie give it a watch. It's sure to entertain.

I can still remember watching this film in the wee hours of the morning at about 13 yrs old; I wanted decadent, late night cable programming, and this one delivered. Twenty years later, I still remember it for one scene: a giant maggot raping a woman. It was a completely gross, bizarre, yucky, surreal moment in cinema, but unlike anything I had ever seen. I still can't get over how weird it is and how something like that made it into a film. The rest of the film contains a few other bizarre scenes but beyond this, the film is really just a waste of time. However, the production design (James Cameron) for this film was actually pretty original and well done for the time/budget (the planet the crew is trapped on has a kind of strangely dim lighting and claustrophobic feeling).

Following a failed voyage to the planet Morganthus, the spaceship Quest is dispatched from the Planet Xerxes for a rescue mission. Once there, the crew discovers the remains of the crew of the doomed voyage as well as a strange pyramid containing unspeakable horrors.

Galaxy of Terror is a 1981 sci-fi/horror film from producer Roger Corman. The film saw him attempt to cash in on the success of Alien much in the same way Battle Beyond the Stars was his answer to Star Wars. Once again using the talents of James Cameron who provided the impressively improvised effects, with Cameron hired as an art director and effects supervisor alongside Robert Skotak. The movie has carved quite a legacy for itself (one of infamy as well as curiosity) and while I can't say much for quality of its writing, from an atmospheric and technical perspective it's undeniably memorable.

Starting off, the writing of Galaxy of Terror is often very confused and muddled with the nature of elements such as Xerxes' "Master" or the borderline Darwin Award behavior of the some of the crewmembers making it pretty obvious plot is not this movie's strong suit. Rather than creating a streamlined narrative Galaxy of Horror is mostly a showcase of impressive effects work in both creature design and gore work and both the curiosity factor of seeing James Cameron's humble beginnings as well as the grotesque nature of the kills and creatures has given the film a lasting legacy (such as the forceful nonconsensual sexual escapades of a certain giant worm).

As far as Alien rip-offs go Galaxy of Terror is certainly memorable in its exploitation and nastiness value even though with its thin characters and borderline nonexistent story that's the only real selling point. Depending on what you're looking for Galaxy of Terror might satisfy those trashy cravings we all deny having in spite of our knowledge to the contrary.

I can't believe that people keep comparing this film to Alien. First of all, the original Alien had a budget of 11 million dollars. Galaxy of Terror was made for around 5 million. Second, Alien was "inspired" by many horror/scifi films that went before it. If it wasn't a crime for Alien why then is it a crime that this film used a currently popular genre title as inspiration? Third, Galaxy of Terror has more in common, at least story wise, with Forbidden Planet than Alien.

This has the look of a much more expensive production and it takes full advantage of it's exploitation roots. It has a fun cast, some minor gore (much less than you would expect in a film like this), and some gratuitous nudity especially during a rather nasty scene.

It's a fun diversion for fans of these types of films and can be recommended for many reasons. You get to see Robert Englund before he donned the glove, Ray Walston after he was everybody's Favorite Martian and Erin Moran after her years as Joanie. You also get to see some early effects work by James Cameron.

Sure, it gets a little confusing in spots and there's some continuity problems and more than it's share plot holes, but it's still a terrific movie to look at, great set designs and some of the monster effects are decent (and some are bad). It's all that I expect from Roger Corman with more than enough to keep me interested.

Make sure to catch the uncut print if you can!!!

I first saw this in the early 90s on a vhs n had a solid wtf reaction regarding the notorious rape scene of the buxom babe. Revisited it recently. The plot is basically a rip off of Alien but the film has some well known horror veterans, Sid Haig n Robert Englund. It also has erotic film director Zalman King. Inspite of the film being a Roger Corman production, it has some well done effects due to the involvement of a very early James Cameron. Cameron must be laughing at the thrusting movement of the giant worm.