El terror en nuestro seno

Well, I had a chance to sit down in 2020 to watch the 1989 movie "The Terror Within" for the first time. I had already seen the 1991 sequel "The Terror Within II" and wasn't impressed with that, but still I managed to sit down to watch this first movie as I hadn't already seen it.

And while "The Terror Within" wasn't an overly impressive or outstanding movie, it was at least better than its sequel in many ways. But I will say that "The Terror Within" is not a bad movie, as there are far worse movies of this type out there. It is watchable and enjoyable enough for the cheesy movie that it is.

The storyline is pretty straight forward and very easy to follow. It is a storyline that is a lot akin to the story told in the "Alien" movie, like it or not. However, the movie was sort of dystopian future in its setting, and it actually worked out well enough.

As for the cast in the movie, then I was only familiar with George Kennedy, and it was sort of odd to see him in a movie such as this. While he fared well enough in "The Terror Within", he did feel a bit out of his element in this type of movie.

"The Terror Within" is a creature feature, and luckily we do get to see a lot of the creature that is stalking the characters in the subterranean complex. Sure, the creature design are old and bears witness to being made in 1989, but I am sure that back then they were pretty impressive. But by todays standards, then this was a mere rubber suit with a facial mask that was unable to articulate.

I am rating "The Terror Within" a mediocre five out of ten stars. The movie was watchable and sort of entertaining enough. However, this was by no account a milestone in cinematic history. Nor is it a movie that actually spurs a second viewing once you've seen it the first time.

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.

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

A Roger Corman quickly produced cheapie that wears its influences proudly, as many elements (character descriptions to lifted sequence ideas) just reek of Ridley Scott's 1979 feature ''Alien''. However this systematic fodder remains enjoyable (for most part, despite its often lumpy pacing) on a very b-grade level, as it doesn't pretend to be anything else than cheap, exploitative fun. Instead of being set in space like that classic, the action takes place in a post-apocalyptic setting due to a chemically induced plague wiping out the majority of the earth's population. Nevertheless a small bunch of scientists are holding up in an underground laboratory in the bone-dry desert, but their existence is soon threatened by genetic mutations known as gargoyles. These beasties are quite randy too, because at nearly every opportunity they go out of their way to impregnate the women. What the story lacks in imagination (as it does draw upon a predictable amalgam) and coherence, it makes up for in durable performances (a likable Andrew Stevens, George Kennedy, John Lafayette, Starr Andreeff and Terri Treas all keeping it straight) and gruesomely tacky splatter (even though it doesn't have much impact in engineering the deaths and tawdry jolts). Being rough and crude, it's kind of similar in style / budget to the likes of ''Creepazoids'' and "Parasite". The creatures are kept off screen during the first half, to only be heard and getting some POV shots. Nonetheless we do get to see them, and it's a fair looking monster design of a man in a rubber suit. Everything looks low-rent, which is cemented by its compact setting and stuffily framed direction but still lingering within is a grim atmosphere. The music score tagged to the project isn't too bad either, being high-strung but ominously pitched. Mechanically uninspired, but gruellingly cheesy entertainment.