Corps étranger

I'm one of those people that actually enjoy B-movies. Well, B-movies that aren't stupid. Anyways, I watched "Within the Rock" with very low expectations. My expectations were exceeded. Let's face it: 90'S Horror and Sci-Fi movies were mostly crap. However, this film manages to pull off being crappy with a good story, average acting, average effects, and a pretty cool monster. This film has cool fights, suspenseful jumps, and an interesting look at space-mining.For the little amount of money that was used for this film, it was used well. I recommend "Within the Rock" for anyone who will settle for an average, entertaining Sci-Fi flick.

A rather large moon is on course for a collision with Earth. Dr Shaw (Caroline Barclay) is sent with a team of space miners to drill tunnels into that moon, preparing its destruction with explosives. However, they discover an ancient hostile life-form 'within the rock', and then they are killed one by one. Their survival is not made easier by Ryan (Xander Berkeley), the captain of the spacecraft who wants to use the opportunity and run with a fortune of platinum they discovered, too.

To many viewers, "Within the Rock" (1996) looks like a rip-off to "Armageddon" (1998) but looking at the dates, it can't be. Instead it is borrowing a lot from the usual monster movie sources "Alien" (1979) and "Predator" (1987) as well as earlier collision stories, a classic sci-fi theme going way back for example to "When Worlds Collide" (1951). The spaceship, where they still use floppy disks in the control room, looks early 80s rather than mid 90s; even for a TV production the effects are quite embarassing. So are the characters, because they leave tons of powerful explosives in the crates while trying to hit the monster with a pickaxe. The predictable story may be OK to watch once, but you won't remember it next week.

I can't judge this film using normal reviewing techniques, because it's not a big budget, Armageddon type film that will comepletely blow you away. What it is is a mildley entertaining, fun-for-anyone-after-a-completely-undemanding-film-sort-of movie. Given millions of dollars and time, this would have been a spectacular, if completely un-original, dim-bulb film. But it's not. It was probably filmed over a month or less, for about a million dollars. For that, it's pretty damn good! It had a good script, with only one scene of bad dialogue towards the end (just think the worst, oldest cliche). Just goes to show that all you need is one talented person to start a film (I mean this films Writer/Director, who obviously knew what he was doing) and you'll end up with something respectable. 6/10 or ***/*****

I really can't say anything bad *or* good about this thing. Its characters are likable enough, it's capably produced and designed, and professional-looking (except for that cheesy monster suit). However, it has no originality, no ideas, and nothing you haven't seen in ALIEN, PREDATOR, ARMAGEDDON and/or OUTLAND. It's just another formula, cookie-cutter, "grimy corporate drones in deep space versus unstoppable monster" flick. Pretty much a waste of time.

In a nut shell, this is quite the good movie for a low budget film. Theis crew hit all the right buttons, and with a bit more budget could easily have ranked higher.

My biggest marker, the script, was very solid. All the actors were given believable, appropriate dialog. The actors, with a few very recognizable names, nailed their parts, without trying to go overboard or out an appropriate character expectation. As a low budget movie their sets were limited and the creature wasn't extreme, but neither were any of them shoddy. The direction and scene setup were well thought through. All in all a SOLID performance by every segment of the cast and team.