Good Night Hell

Every once in a while, Roger Corman produces something that, within its genre, is worth seeing. Enter THE TERROR WITHIN, one of the better ALIEN rip-offs that Corman has made(next ot GALAXY OF TERROR, of course).

The story is old, and to discuss it would just waste space, and not surprise anyone. What is surprising is the excessive amount of gore. There are neat creatures, buckets of blood, and tons of entrails. This is wholesale gore, and there is a little bit(very little) suspense as well.

For a post-apocalyptic slant on ALIEN, this one isn't bad.

But what else would expect from the likes of Roger Corman?

Chemical warfare experiment kills of most of the world's population. There are a few 'normal' people left like our protagonists (Andrew Stevens, George Kennedy, Teri Treas, etc..) and then there are the gargoyle-like creatures who impregnate female humans in order to procreate their own kind.

See, Andrew Stevens & Co. are left inside an underground lab that spared them from the effects of the plague, so in one of their reconnaissance patrols out in the desert, they bring back a wounded human female (Yvonne Saa) to the complex in order to treat her. When they find out is that she is pregnant and that she was impregnated by one of the monsters, they decide to do an abortion. But just as they're about ready to perform the procedure, the little gargoyle pops out of her stomach ALIEN-style and escapes into one of the complex's air vents. It's an ok scene but we've all seen it before.

Stevens & Co. then spend the rest of the movie trying to hunt down the creature as they are slowly being killed off one-by-one. The best scene is towards the end of the film when one of the gargoyles is trapped in the ventilation shaft and is cut up, sliced and diced by the fan blades. Pretty good although I wish it were more graphic.

It looks like Corman & Co. spent a little bit of money on the set design but don't expect any of the fanciest gizmos from STAR WARS or any of the ALIEN sequels. At least the sets don't look too much like cardboard.

Released on DVD the same time as THE NEST (Teri Treas appears in both), you could do a lot worse on a Saturday night. You could also do a lot better, too.

6 out of 10

Long story short, most reviews are accurate unless they say this movie sucks. In which case they don't enjoy movies. Maybe don't watch it if you are strobe sensitive.

Stupid thing-that-would-not-die mess has George Kennedy (no idea why he is in this) leading a group of humans who live underground in a post-apocalyptic future. Biological warfare has all but destroyed most all the human race and gargoyle-styled monsters roam all over the Earth's surface. Soon Kennedy and his crew have to come up to get food and rescue a frightened young girl who seems to be on the brink of death. Naturally they take her underground, but what they don't know is that she is carrying the child of one of the monsters who raped her. What do you suppose will happen when she gives birth? Another crazed picture from the sci-fi/horror genre of the 1980s never did do much business at the box office and made no real impression with the very few that sat through this yawner. Typical jack-in-the-box scares are not near enough to save so much unwanted dead time. Turkey (0 stars out of 5).

Good for the effects, even has a familiar face. Mutants own the world and humans live like rats in underground hide outs. The mutants are called gargoyles which is fitting probably because they are so rapey. This is where the whole alien chest burstie thing kicks in and these mutants are extremely ugly, your parents would not approve if you brought one of these home ladies.

So there's explosives, high powered lasers, light sex scene, monster rape scene and lots of shout outs to the alien movie tropes and what not and its all because of dudes in pink rubber suits. There is also a neat bit of psych going on when they refuse to abort and monster fetus on request which you have to laugh at. Enjoyable pretty much all the way through.