Beyond the Universe

This splendid low budget feature is arguably one of the more intelligent dystopian lo-fi Sci-fi offerings from the frequently fruitful film-making partnership of the extra-terrestrially talented duo Robert Emenegger and Allan Sandler. Set doomily on a ruinous, post apocalyptic earth, the ecological tipping point has long been reached, the deleterious combination of global climate change, persistent, hyper-destructive natural disasters, dangerously depleted oxygen levels have fatefully led to the implementation of martial law, wherein the despotic ruling elite covertly expedite a cruel 'final solution' for the old and infirm, with only the rebelliously humane crew aboard the science vessel 'The Oracle' to heroically, and no less secretively formulate a more holistic remedy than the totalitarian government's mass euthanasia programme!

There's a pleasingly gnostic, Robert Silverberg quality to 'Beyond The Universe', and the fine cast effectively draws you into the increasingly desperate plight of genius altruistic scientist Dr David Troth (David Ladd), his equally humanitarian, exceptionally appealing lover Doctor Eve Adamson (Jacqueline Ray), affable Doctor Coblenz (Henry Darrow) with their epigrammatic leader, the kindly messianic figure of Hermes Anderson (Christopher Cary) inspiring them with his unshakable faith in the positive outcome of their esoteric plan. While the budgetary limitations are plainly obvious, it must be also said that 'Beyond The Universe' has an edifying, ecologically sound message, the likeable characters motivations are convincingly sympathetic, and no discussion of an Emenegger/Allan Sandler production is anywhere complete without a salutatory mention of the galactically groovy synth-tastic score! 'Beyond The Universe' has a courageously far-out concept, eschewing 'Star Bores' laser bombast for a more earnestly contemplative approach to science fiction.

Sorry, but the sheer awfulness of this film meant that the only thing I could do was laugh at it. BEYOND THE UNIVERSE is a wannabe sci fi epic, except the problem is that they only had a couple of hundred dollars to make the film, so everywhere you look you see sick on beards, wigs, and sets that look like they're made of cardboard.

Director Robert Emenegger certainly has form. He forged a career for himself in the late '70s and early '80s, making one low rent sci fi flick after another; LABORATORY and TIME WARP are other examples of his work. Sadly, while BEYOND THE UNIVERSE certainly has potential, the budget just can't match the level of imagination involved.

The narrative follows a strange morality drama theme, with futuristic elders choosing what to do in the wake of a catastrophe that destroys the Earth. Mucho stock footage is the order of the day here, alongside some wobbly spaceship stuff, just like in TIME WARP. There aren't even any cult actors here, just a ton of boring scenes of old guys sitting in a room and discussing important things. It's a mess.

This has to be one the the worst films ever made as it had no redeeming qualities. It looked very cheap, total budget $5,000? Terrible acting, sets, script, music, special effects ( especially the spaceship miniature). I like bad films that are entertaining but this was not one of them as it was just terrible in every way possible.

The old prophet character looked like someone from Ancient Greece and he had an awful fake beard badly glued on.

The best thing to do with all copies of this film is to put them in a rocket and send them on a swift one way trip beyond the universe.

Avoid at all costs.

When you first start watching this film you just can't get away from that fact that it is on a "cant afford more than $40 budget. From the absolutley ridiculous looking guns the security guards carry (they are basically long red plastic tubes with stripes down the side) to the stock footage frenzy early on in the picture, you get an idea of how much financial backing this movie managed to pick up. The spaceships wobble through the sky and whenever a special effect occurs the entire look of the film stock changes so you just know that a laser is coming. There's a great bit where a bloke is sucked out of the airlock and you see him floating around in space. The stars are blanked out in a two foot radius around him. Authentic scientific occurrence translated to film or just a dodgy old effect? Either way, you'll laugh out loud.

For all this however this film is actually really impressive. How is that possible with all the stuff mentioned above? Well the story is pretty cool with an earth dying of cancer. The ruling bodies deem that all the elderly and infirm are sent to 'rehab' which turns out to be another name for 'abandoned and left to die on an asteroid'. And the script while at times laughable, is also pretty well thought out. Director Robert Emenegger and Alan Sandler obviously put plenty of thought into the characters and situations despite their woefully low budget.

A couple of the actors are recognisable, one in particular who plays the security officer turned up on John Carpenters Prince of Darkness looking a LOT older.

The mystic overtones are interesting but a bit corny in places. And the head mystics stick on beard looks like its going to drop off at any minute.

3 out of 10 for the "Continuity" person proudly credited at the end. She misses a bit where our hero has a conversation with a board of directors while one of them has a pair of glasses that miraculously appear and dissapear depending on which camera angle is used.

From the typical synthesized sci-fi music (written by the director incidentally, probably for the same reason John Carpenter scored Halloween - cause he was cheap) to the daft but well thought out story, this is the type of film which if it had been made big budget may well have been a great film. For now it remains a curious little piece that has coolness and tackiness in equal measure.