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5.1/10
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In the distant future, a federation marshal arrives at a research lab on a remote planet where a genetic experiment has gotten loose and begins feeding on the dwindling scientific group.In the distant future, a federation marshal arrives at a research lab on a remote planet where a genetic experiment has gotten loose and begins feeding on the dwindling scientific group.In the distant future, a federation marshal arrives at a research lab on a remote planet where a genetic experiment has gotten loose and begins feeding on the dwindling scientific group.
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Well I've known and loved this one, since I was a tyke, and now own this video. It's your basic Alien ripoff, with a bunch of scientists hiding out in a remote space station on Xarba, where a troubleshooter Jesse Vint comes to save the day. However, the problem is an experiment, which turns out to be an alien, that escapes and goes on a rampage. However, the best thing about this film is the element of pure cheese; if you like how Corman used to put cheese in his films, you'll love this. Anyhow, the best is probably where they forcefeed the alien a lump of cancer and make 'em puke. That's great. However, the acting's pretty amateurish, the directing is about awful, the set and FX are about average for mid80s, the one thing though is the change of lights throughout the film, which can be found in Event Horizon and a dozen other films. It's a great cheesy flick for drivein and/or Corman fans, but those expecting a contender to ALien well you've been warned.
Look. Don't expect top notch quality here. This is your typical straight to VHS shlock. I used to eat this kind of film up as a kid on Cinemax. To be honest, this type of filmmaking is hard to come by these days. The VHS/Rental store era was a special time. Shame that this isn't a thing anymore, and streaming sites are more concerned with ensuring top quality (or close to it) film fare. Do yourself a favor. If you come across these old Roger Corman productions, watch it. It may be tough sometimes, but the payoff is worth it.
I first saw this in the late 80s on a vhs.
Revisited it recently on a fast forward mode.
The movie has a lousy sex scene mixed with a lousy 'cannot make out wots going on' kill scene.
Dawn Dunlap's nudity is the only saving grace. She looks more like a younger Denise Richards.
The fight towards the end with the alien looks as if the guy is fighting a bull or something but that too is ruined with shaky cam n reddish flickering lights.
Were the end flashback scenes required?
Revisited it recently on a fast forward mode.
The movie has a lousy sex scene mixed with a lousy 'cannot make out wots going on' kill scene.
Dawn Dunlap's nudity is the only saving grace. She looks more like a younger Denise Richards.
The fight towards the end with the alien looks as if the guy is fighting a bull or something but that too is ruined with shaky cam n reddish flickering lights.
Were the end flashback scenes required?
The story concerns the efforts of Mike and his sidekick, SAM-104, an android(or robot, if you will) and their investigation of an experiment gone wrong on planet Xarbia. A group of scientists stationed on this planet are conducting experiments involving gene splicing in order to come up with a solution for a "galactic food crisis", that will supply the hungry masses(hey, it's a big galaxy out there!) Their solution? "Meet Subject 20..." Only Subject 20 is not in an inviting mood, as we are about to find out... What is the secret being kept from Mike by the scientists? What is Subject 20? How many times will Mike "get some"? (Couldn't resist!) To find out, see the film... If you are looking for cheese or horrible acting, see the latest films that take place in a galaxy far, far away. But if you are looking for a film where most of the actors seem to be having a great time with their tongues planted firmly in their cheeks(and Mike's planted in other places), not worrying about the pressures of a gazzillion dollar budget that still yields garbage, see this film. And yes, I do love this film. Enough to own multiple copies.... Did I mention that this film has two very sexy(June Chadwick and Dawn Dunlap) female scientists in it, hey, that ups the score right there! :)
Producer Roger Corman was kind of like the Italians in his propensity for doing low-budget knock-offs of Hollywood hits. But one kind of film neither he nor the Italians (I saw this back-to-back with the similar Italian movie "Escape from Galaxy 3") probably should have attempted were these sci-fi extravaganzas. This movie is less notorious than Corman's previous space film "Galaxy of Terror" (where a female character is raped by a huge, slimy space worm and Erin "Happy Days" Moran's head explodes), but it's about the same quality.
Corman probably should have, at least, stuck to ripping off EITHER "Star Wars" or "Alien", but instead he wastes most of his meager budget in a pointless and risible spaceship battle scene at the beginning before settling into a fairly creative "Alien"-type story where a space crew in a remote outpost are menaced by a horrible creature. But the twist is it's not an alien, but a spontaneously mutating monster they created in a misbegotten experiment to deal with a food shortage back on Earth.
Jesse Vint is kind of an odd leading man for one of these kind of movies as he's mostly famous for 70's "hicksploitation" films like "Macon County Line" and "Black Oak Conspiracy". My favorite performances though come about an hour in when June Chadwick (as a scientist) and Dawn Dunlap (as a lab technician) take a shower together for some reason. This is a scene that was definitely missing from "Alien" (at no point did Sigourney Weaver and Veronica Cartwright take a shower together). Dunlap is especially appealing in this movie, even when she's not taking a shower (or otherwise getting naked). She's wasn't much of an actress, but in her short career she managed to work with both Roger Corman and the French photographer/director/pervert David Hamilton (she appeared as the title character in his notorious nubile nudie movie "Laura" when she was all of about 17). She's a few years older here, and, oh man, is she cute!.. But where was I? Yeah, this is OK I guess. It's definitely not "Alien", but. . .
Corman probably should have, at least, stuck to ripping off EITHER "Star Wars" or "Alien", but instead he wastes most of his meager budget in a pointless and risible spaceship battle scene at the beginning before settling into a fairly creative "Alien"-type story where a space crew in a remote outpost are menaced by a horrible creature. But the twist is it's not an alien, but a spontaneously mutating monster they created in a misbegotten experiment to deal with a food shortage back on Earth.
Jesse Vint is kind of an odd leading man for one of these kind of movies as he's mostly famous for 70's "hicksploitation" films like "Macon County Line" and "Black Oak Conspiracy". My favorite performances though come about an hour in when June Chadwick (as a scientist) and Dawn Dunlap (as a lab technician) take a shower together for some reason. This is a scene that was definitely missing from "Alien" (at no point did Sigourney Weaver and Veronica Cartwright take a shower together). Dunlap is especially appealing in this movie, even when she's not taking a shower (or otherwise getting naked). She's wasn't much of an actress, but in her short career she managed to work with both Roger Corman and the French photographer/director/pervert David Hamilton (she appeared as the title character in his notorious nubile nudie movie "Laura" when she was all of about 17). She's a few years older here, and, oh man, is she cute!.. But where was I? Yeah, this is OK I guess. It's definitely not "Alien", but. . .
Did you know
- TriviaDuring a screening, Roger Corman actually smacked an audience member on the head for laughing at the film. When Roger left the theater, the guy he punched poured soda all over his head from the balcony.
- GoofsIn the first lab scene on planet Xarbia, when Mike Colby says "That thing is trouble, I can smell it", we can see a yellow microphone appearing from the inferior-left that appears again on the next scene from the same plane.
- Quotes
Tracy Baxter: You know what? It looks like you could really use the steam bath!
Mike Colby: Well, I had a hard night.
Tracy Baxter: So fair's fair. Get naked.
- Crazy creditsThe concluding credits roll over the vomit covered corpse of the monster.
- Alternate versionsThe German version (labelled "Mutant - das Grauen im All") recycles the space battle of the first five minutes, with a new language track. Tracy's absence is explained away by simply not waking her from cryo-sleep; SAM's return upon destruction at the end of the original film is not explained at all.
- ConnectionsEdited from Battle Beyond the Stars (1980)
Details
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- Budget
- $1,000,000 (estimated)
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