Deep Space

My review was written in April 1988 after watching the movie on TWE video cassette.

Something went wrong with "Deep Space", a horror send-up that reportedly went through extensive post-production reshooting and tinkering before its recent direct-to-video release. Finished product doesn't fit its title in the slightest.

Both Chales Napier and Ron Glass are typecast as a couple of L. A. police detectives, partnered on a case when a monster from Outer Space crash lands and starts killing people. The monster was created by U. S. scientists for military research that went awry, with project director James Booth feeling the heat from his supervisor, a general played by Norman Burton.\ Pic is essentially a too literal, tired homage to Ridley Scott's modern classic "Alien", which already has been the model of several alien-on-Earth cheapies such as "Scared to Death" and "Alien Contamination".

Helmer Fred Olen Ray goes to absurd lengths to mimic "Alien", including a scene of a guard calling for his kitty cat which is staged identically, the monster dripping KY jelly. It striking with the same rapid movement (but ropelike tentacles), having a young version that is shaped like an oversize scorpion (instead of the octopus look) and even a variaton of the chest-burster scene. It's all silly, not funny or scary.

Cast includes numerous unimpressive cameos, including erstwhiel "Li'l Abner" star Peter Palmer popping up as a fellow copo; he has no scenes with his one-time co-star Julie Newmar, however. Lead players are okay, maintaining a flippant attitude. The monster vaguely resembles the beastie inserted at the climax of Jacques Tournueur's classic "Night of the Demon", and Napier ultimately wields a chainsaw against it.

The late, great character actor Charles Napier, a favourite of filmmakers Jonathan Demme and Russ Meyer, here has one of his rare leading roles. He plays Ian McLemore, your standard-issue rule-breaking, maverick police detective. He and his partner Jerry Merris (Ron Glass of 'Barney Miller' fame) pick up the trail of a monster that's crashed to Earth. But this is no actual extraterrestrial; it's a predatory life form that was designed by the government for use as a biological weapon. Various G-men try to stymy McLemores' efforts as he vows to find and destroy the rampaging, slime-spewing creature.

Afforded a relatively bigger budget than was usual for him, veteran B movie director Fred Olen Ray shows us a pretty good time with this one. It's knowingly cheesy stuff; the actors stop short of winking for the camera, but there IS a definite tongue-in-cheek quality to the whole script (written by Ray and T.L. Lankford). Some of the lines ARE pretty dopey. And Ray & company lightly poke fun at the conventions of the genre with their inclusion of various cliches (such as the hard-driving boss (Bo Svenson) who demands results). The body count is modest, but the monster is appropriately gnarly, the pace is good, and the movie generates some genuine chuckles along the way. It also features a unique seduction scene, as McLemore literally charms the pants off of hottie cop Sandbourn (Ann Turkel, "Humanoids from the Deep") by donning a kilt and playing the bagpipes.

As was often Rays' style, he packs the cast with a number of familiar faces, some from B movies of old, like Anthony Eisley ("The Wasp Woman"), Norman Burton ("Bloodsport"), Michael Forest ("Beast from Haunted Cave"), Elisabeth Brooks (the temptress from "The Howling"), James Booth ("Avenging Force"), Fox Harris ("Repo Man"), and Rachel Howard (Chili in "Friday the 13th Part III"). Julie "Catwoman" Newmar plays a psychic lady who has to try to convince authorities that her information has merit. The engaging Napier, all full of swagger, has good chemistry with both the sexy Turkel and the amiable Glass.

"Deep Space" is no great shakes, but then it's not even *trying* to be. It's merely good, straightforward entertainment that gives fans of the genre a good show for 91 reasonable minutes.

Seven out of 10.

A cut-rate imitation of "Alien" that has an air of sloppiness about it (the script could have been written over a weekend probably), but delivers the goods in the end with some good buzzsaw action and lots of slime. Problem is, it's STILL not particularly better than any other of the dozens of "Alien" ripoffs that are floating around.....(**)

An American satellite with a new biological weapon gets out of control and crashes onto US territory. A slimy monster emerges and manages to escape, killing everyone who crosses his path.

We have a great cast here, with Julie Newmar, Charles Napier and Bo Svenson. I mean, wow, good job guys, getting such a great lineup of character actors for such a disposable film. This puts "Alienator" to shame! Did you think the vine scene was eerily similar to the tree assault in "Evil Dead"? I sure did. Intentional? Maybe not, but when you are dealing with king of the B-movies, you never know when he might be ripping off "Evil Dead" or "Alien" or any other number of better-known films.

Veteran director Fred Olen Ray and cinematographer Gary Graver prove they have the skill to put together a good low budget rip-off of Alien--but that they aren't gonna any time soon.

The movie is essentially a long string of clichés: Napier and Glass play two cops who "don't play by the book" blow up a car by shooting it, killing a perp who's "just a kid", getting suspended by their hard-ass boss (but mysteriously continuing to work nonetheless), investigating a mysterious murder which is being covered up by the military which, naturally, has been engaged in creating a super-war machine, etc. etc. etc.

Ann Turkel does an admirable job, even though she's given the thankless task of being Napier's love interest and virtually falling apart every time something happens.

Then there's this whole business of stunt casting Julie Newmar as the psychic who tells Napier where the alien is.

The frustrating thing is that, in between the nonsense, FOR shows a real talent for pacing, action and shooting on a budget. He and Graver manage to create real atmosphere in the final scenes that, even though it's directly lifted from Ridley Scott's "Alien" (note the character name "Mrs. Ridley"), complete with inexplicable smoke, light, dripping water and even strobes, it's a tantalizing look at what the two are capable of when they set their minds to it.

But as much as I was rooting for it, when Napier says (in the post-coital dialogue with Turkel) "The street is my boss. Who's yours?" I realized that the movie had landed in camp-ville, like it or not, and there it would stay.