Related
Ridley Scott’sAlien(1979 ) spawn a 10000 of rent - offs , the best of which was theRoger Corman - producedGalaxy of Terror(1981 ) . Corman ’s low - budgetAlienclone contend to let in enough freakish elements to coiffe it apart from the other television system and big screen alien invasion .
WhenAlienwas released in the summer of 1979 , its startling visuals and taught direction kept audiences enthralled – and became a big bang for 20thCentury Fox . The bare narrative appeal a slew of manufacturer and film studios hoping to cash in in on its winner . The earliest example was the John ‘ Bud ’ Cardo filmThe Dark(1979 ) , a in series killer thriller retrofitted to include an alien being well after yield had ended . ButThe Darkwas merely the beginning of a recollective list of productions wait for way to attract audiences snarf on sci - fi tingle .
Related : Why Ridley Scott is Sci - Fi ’s Most of import Director
Stanley Donen’sSaturn 3(1980 ) was the first large budget pic to wager offAlien ’s success . It was soon followed by Italy’sContamination(1980 ) , the British productionInseminoid(1981 ) , the video movieIntruder Within(1981),and William Malone ’s sewer monster thrillerScared to Death(1981 ) . While that tenner would see at least a dozen extra film that would use theAlientemplate to make audience to buy tag , none of them would come in close to the audacious intrigue ofGalaxy of Terror . Corman ’s downhearted budget thriller was unleashed in the fall of ’ 81 and market as a lurid , action - pack exploitation version ofAlien . For once the New World Pictures merchandising department did n’t need to exaggerate – Galaxy of Terrordelivered .
Why Corman’s Galaxy Of Terror Is The Best Of The Alien Rip-Offs
While most of the films produce in the backwash ofAlien ’s success stick with its basic template , the patch ofGalaxy of Terrorstrays quickly and unabashedly . Director Bruce Clark , who co - drop a line the script with Marc Siegler , used the main components call for by Corman ; alien attacks , exuberant furiousness , nudity and action . Clark and Siegler flipped the script a mo , creating a unknown and unexpected odyssey . dependable to cliché , the spaceship Quest is sent to the major planet Morganthus to deliver the crew of a ship that clangor landed there . During their probe they discover everyone dead . While research the planet , they find a pyramid , which they foolishly decide to put down .
Once inside the alien construction , gang member begin to become flat – usually from the manifestation of their moody fearfulness . Fortunately for the audience , the crew is afraid of some really bizarre scenario . There is an fire by tentacle , spontaneous combustion , dismemberment by colossus , and most notoriously , the rape and murder of a crew member by a giant maggot . It turns out that the pyramid is the result of an nonextant race – make to test their children ’s ability to fight their fears . Well before Paul W.S. Anderson ’s equally derivativeEvent Horizon(1997 ) , the gang in Clark’sGalaxy of Terrorwere fighting squishy manifestations of their i d.
Starring an eclectic mold of atomic number 5 - movie and television stars , including “ marquee names ” Edward Albert , Erin Moran and Ray Walston , the moving picture proved a modest cash cow for New World Pictures . genuine to the resourcefulness of manufacturer Corman , the sets were re - used in the follow year’sForbidden World ( 1982 ) – yet another attempt to capitalize on theAlienformula . ThoughGalaxy of Terrorwas Clark ’s last film as a director , many of the cast of characters and crowd went on to have sizable career including James Cameron , who help oneself with production design , and actors Zalman King , Grace Zabriskie andRobert Englund . A late Scream Factory Blu - light beam dismission of a 4k CAT scan showcases the great motion-picture photography of DP Jacques Haitkin , who would go on to shootA Nightmare on Elm Street , also with Englund , and several other low budget classic .
Next : Event Horizon ’s “ profligate Orgy ” Original Cut Was Unwatchable
