La galaxia del terror

Early eighties Roger Corman sci-fi flick featuring a cast of b-grade actors on a mission to a distant planet to investigate a dying signal from a doomed space vessel. Once they arrive on the planet they soon discover that the crew is no more and that a black pyramid draws them in mysteriously. The cast's worst nightmares are manifested into reality as they are picked off one by one. But by whom exactly? If you were stumped as to who it was might I interest you in some low-property tax swamp land.

I have never been much of a Corman fan but this is one of his most ambitious and entertaining films. The fact that this is considered one of the 50 worst films of all time is not only silly but calls into question the bad movie credentials of whomever listed Galaxy of Terror. Have you even seen War of the Robots? Any movie that dispatches Erin Moran by crushing her skull and features the Hentai-like mutant worm raping to death a very buxom Taaffe O'Connell deserves cult status damn you! This is my third Zalman King film reviewed on this site, through no fault of my own mind you, and his limited range as an actor leaves little wonder why he made the move to directing light porn. Edward Albert is not very engaging as the male lead Cabren while I hope Sid Haig was paid by his screen time rather his amount of dialogue. Robert Englund, Ray "I've been old for 1000 years" Walston and Grace Zabriskie, who was great in Twin Peaks, round out the cast. If you happen upon this movie give it a watch. It's sure to entertain.

I really wanted to see this film, especially because my kids liked it years ago and I never saw it. Of course, it probably was okay then but it is far too simple to enjoy it now. It is not boring because there is something happening all the time but it is not interesting and really only the sex and violence stands out today. I still love the poster.

I can still remember watching this film in the wee hours of the morning at about 13 yrs old; I wanted decadent, late night cable programming, and this one delivered. Twenty years later, I still remember it for one scene: a giant maggot raping a woman. It was a completely gross, bizarre, yucky, surreal moment in cinema, but unlike anything I had ever seen. I still can't get over how weird it is and how something like that made it into a film. The rest of the film contains a few other bizarre scenes but beyond this, the film is really just a waste of time. However, the production design (James Cameron) for this film was actually pretty original and well done for the time/budget (the planet the crew is trapped on has a kind of strangely dim lighting and claustrophobic feeling).

I can't believe that people keep comparing this film to Alien. First of all, the original Alien had a budget of 11 million dollars. Galaxy of Terror was made for around 5 million. Second, Alien was "inspired" by many horror/scifi films that went before it. If it wasn't a crime for Alien why then is it a crime that this film used a currently popular genre title as inspiration? Third, Galaxy of Terror has more in common, at least story wise, with Forbidden Planet than Alien.

This has the look of a much more expensive production and it takes full advantage of it's exploitation roots. It has a fun cast, some minor gore (much less than you would expect in a film like this), and some gratuitous nudity especially during a rather nasty scene.

It's a fun diversion for fans of these types of films and can be recommended for many reasons. You get to see Robert Englund before he donned the glove, Ray Walston after he was everybody's Favorite Martian and Erin Moran after her years as Joanie. You also get to see some early effects work by James Cameron.

Sure, it gets a little confusing in spots and there's some continuity problems and more than it's share plot holes, but it's still a terrific movie to look at, great set designs and some of the monster effects are decent (and some are bad). It's all that I expect from Roger Corman with more than enough to keep me interested.

Make sure to catch the uncut print if you can!!!

When i saw the trailer for galaxy of terror i knew it was going to be good,as a roger Corman produced b-movie it is a wild ride.sort of like alien on a lower budget.it stars Eddie Albert Jr.zalman king,Sid haig, ray walston(my favorite martian)Robert englund(nightmare on elm street) Erin Moran(Joanie on TV's happy days)and grace zabriskie(twin peaks) its bizarre science fiction horror about a group of space travelers on a rescue mission encountering terrors of all sorts,a women is raped by a giant worm,now thats bizarre.James Cameron was involved in the production.critics bashed this and it was one of the movies on the DVD 50 worst movies of all time,sorry i don't agree.its the best of the alien rip offs.7 out of 10