The Creature Wasn't Nice

You'd think a movie made in 1983 right on the heels of "Airplane!" and starring Airplane's own master of deadpan Leslie Nielsen, as well as Cindy Williams (Shirley from "Laverne & Shirley") and Patrick MacNee (whom I'll always think of as Sir Denis Eaton-Hogg from "Spinal Tap") would be a sleeper hit. Well, parts may put you to sleep, but other parts are definitely a hit. In the end I think "Naked Space" aka "Spaceship" aka "The Creature Wasn't Nice" is well worth the ride.

It should be noted that writer/director Bruce Kimmel never intended this comedy to be in the style of the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker films "Airplane!" and "Naked Gun", but they were marketed as such, and, according to Kimmel's liner notes on the soundtrack, the film was edited by someone else without his approval. I think Kimmel's style was intended to be something closer to Mel Brooks' early work "12 Chairs", "The Producers", not nearly as zany & absurd as you've been led to believe by the marketing. But if you take it all in stride, a fun time will be had by all.

"Naked Space" has a very low budget look which works in its favor. Most of the gags are pretty tame (the film is rated PG, almost G if not for some brief hilarious gore), and often you may find yourself waiting for a punchline that never comes. If you are expecting Airplane-esque hilarity, you may be disappointed. But the money shot, which even haters of this film must admit is pretty great, comes in the 2nd half when we get a moment of sheer Mel Brooksian gold. That's all I'll say because it's best left as a surprise. But if you don't mind a mild spo!ler, go to YouTube and search "I want to eat your face".

The 2nd great moment comes near the end of the film. If nothing else, watch the movie for those 2 scenes, watch it to see a rare assemblage of great 70s- 80s actors, or watch it to kill 91 minutes of your life. The hilarious songs, as well as the movie, were written by director Bruce Kimmel who also co-stars as "John Boy".

This has to be one of the lamest movies ever produced, despite the promise of a winning cast (Cindy Williams, Leslie Neilsen). However, if you can stick it out to about the middle of the film, you will find the cream filling inside the stale cupcake - a memorable song by a forgettable alien. I can still get my husband to throw things at me when I sing the first bar of that song...

This is one of the most bizarre spoofs I have ever seen! An unfriendly alien running amok on a spaceship full of idiots. Typically hit and miss, with lots of good ideas which don't always work. Still,Leslie Nielsen is at his stoney-faced best as the pilot, and the cast try hard,although at times they look slightly embarrassed.Nice songs too.

We expected "Naked Gun" style from the title also. Getting into it, we quickly found out the idiocy of this film.

We thought that one redeeming quality is that we can host a MST3K party using this film. (Although it may be TOO stupid to make fun of.)

Our overall impression is that these actors got together, got drunk, and decided to make a film.

The title suggests this was supposed to be in the same spirit as The Naked Gun, but the only similarity is Leslie Nielson. Drastically unfunny, even when it is technically bad. It drags like a rainy Boxing day. The sets are straight out of a 60's TV Sci-fi soap, the songs excruciatingly dull (and badly sung) and the the only suspense is how they got the money to make this low-point of Nielson's career.

Go and see a good film, like Plan 9, or Robot Monster! If you want to see a good film in the same genre (and budget) try Dark Star. Its beach ball monster shames the rubber beast in this film right back to Toyo studios.