Galaxy Of Terror - 1981 - USA - Sci-Fi/Horror
Galaxy of terror is a Roger Corman produced science fiction B-movie from the early 80's that I found highly enjoyable. Unfortunately, this one came out in the wake of the vastly popular and successful Alien series and was overshadowed by it, falling into obscurity. (most Roger Corman flicks do anyways)As the story goes, a starship crew is sent to a foreign planet on a rescue mission to find survivors of another downed ship. They soon find out that there are no survivors at all, but a hostile group of alien life forms intent of taking out any living thing in its path instead!
One of Galaxy Of Terror's strongest aspects is it's heavily present atmopshere. Despite being a bit cheesy at times, Galaxy Of Terror builds thick atmosphere through its creative strangeness/surrealism and eerie (sometimes odd) musical score, and manages to stir up some pretty damn creepy scenes. This film is definitely weird, but I find it adds to the confusion and the "unknown" that is most likely accompanies one when visiting foreign alien planets.
The creepy atmospheric feel can also be attributed partially to the excellent set design done by a then unknown James Cameron. The sets are wonderfully elaborate and great to look at despite the budget limitations, Cameron's budding talent is clearly visible within his work presented in this film. The alien landscapes are highly impressive, and the scenes of space look decently convincing for the time period and budget as well. On top of this, there's some pretty good costume and weapon design as well.
Surprisingly, Cameron is not the only big name attached to this movie. A young Robert Englund and Sid Haig co-star as well.
Galaxy of Terror also sports some pretty damn cool aliens. Each alien is different from the next and unique in its own way, and are often accompanied by their own comically bad sounds effects.
There's planty of good kills, and just enough gore to satisfy.
Oh yeah....and slug rape. That's right, a gigantic, slimy slug-like creature manages to rape a hot blond broad in a cave before disposing of her. A truly absurd scene.
Of the many sci-fi "alien rip-offs" to come from this period, this one rises far above the flock. It was very hard to get ahold of for quite some time, with very few DVD's in circulation and VHS copies going from as much as $100 online, but thanks to the fairly new Roger Corman Collection re-releases, this DVD is readily available and received a good treatment as well. Please do give it a watch! Another certified gem.
Plot - 7/10
Monster FX - 8/10
Action - 7/10
Blood n' Guts - 6.5/10
Cheese - 7.5/10
OVERALL - 8.5/10
Excellent Cameron set design that resembles the opening scenes of Terminator
This sounds great!
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