Dark Universe

I've always enjoyed the laughable schlock that Joe Estevez does, and was disappointed that even though he got top billing he was a rather minor character. Some may poke fun at Joe's talents, but he's done over a hundred films so far and he's far more likeable than his equally pudgy, self-righteous commie brother, Martin Sheen.

MST3K could have done wonders with this one, but with a few witty friends and enough beer or dried vegetable matter to go around it could still be entertaining --- just don't even THINK of this as an actual movie!

I'd give it a star or two for some nice fleeting breasts, and an extra one for the most hilarious, faked-up special effects since the old Buck Rogers serials. The monster is definite proof that at some point Barney mated with "Alien." You can almost hear it singing, "I love you, you love me, let's terrorize the community!"

Wow, after seeing this movie, I feel like taking my money back. No, I think I should have been paid to watch this movie. I thought this movie was made in the 70s until I checked IMDB. Its actually made in 1993. There is absolutely no reason why you should watch this movie, unless someone pointed a gun at you. I watched this movie only because my friend borrowed it, for which I regret so much. There is no plot, a spaceship crash lands, astronaut turns into alien, kills everyone there, blah blah blah......so predictable that any 6th grade student can write a better script. The actors are so crappy that I swear you get more angry as you watch it. For instance, the same guy who gets attacked by the alien egg or something over and over, looks like he paid the producer to get the role,.........As a horror/sci-fi flick, it fails miserably, not even a good alien clone, which makes you think why they made the movie. It seems that the cover of the box cheated you to watch the movie. I'm so sorry that I watched this "MASTERPIECE". Avoid it all costs.

Admittedly, director Steve Latshaws' "Dark Universe" is miles away from being particularly "good", but this viewer found that he himself didn't altogether hate it. It's a passable (if uninspired) story. Its characters and cast are mostly nondescript, and the special effects are variable. They range from slick (the morphing) to incredibly crude (the main monster). The script by co-star Patrick Moran (who plays Carlson) does include some pretty silly lines. But when all was said and done, I did have some fun with this.

Martin Sheens' somewhat less talented brother Joe Estevez plays the owner / operator of a Roger Corman version of N.A.S.A. On its way home, his first spacecraft, the Nautilus, flies through a cloud of alien spores, which infect the astronaut on board (Steve Barkett) and continue to infect Earth life once the ship crashes back onto our planet. A secretive team assigned to investigate the crash hires young Tom Hanning (Bently Tittle) as a guide.

There's enough enjoyably icky stuff to make this amusing for some fans of the genre. The scenes with the monstrous Steve and a mutated armadillo generate only laughter due to the effects being so corny. The movie does have one thing going for it, at least: a decent music score by Jeffrey Walton.

Some of the cast pulled double duty, but the most notable among them is actually a real legend, Florida based exploitation filmmaker William Grefe ("Sting of Death", "Stanley", etc.) who appears briefly as Hannings' father.

Five out of 10.

Wow. I knew exactly what I was getting into. I love bad horror/sci-fi movies (well, definitely not ALL of them..) but this sucked. A few amusing bits of bad acting stand out amidst a backdrop of low, LOW budget "action." I guess there's a couple decent bits of nudity, and having the monster be named "Steve" is kinda funny. The lack of special effects at the film's start was nearly unbearable. The sad thing is I've seen stuff that's a hundred times worse. MST could've worked wonders.....

Dark Universe (1993)

* (out of 4)

Silly direct-to-video release about a space shuttle on its way back to Earth but it runs into an issue and crashes in the Everglades. The one astronaut on board turns into a murderous monster and it's just in time for a reporter, a swamp guide and others to come wondering out there. DARK UNIVERSE is a really, really bad movie but thankfully there are some pretty campy moments that make it worth watching for those who enjoy sitting through awful movies. If you're looking for any type of story, acting, directing or heartbreaking drama then you're going to be highly disappointed. There's really nothing "good" going on with this film but there are a few funny moments and it's too bad there weren't more of these. If I had to shine a spotlight on a highlight it would probably be the monster outfit. It's a clear rip-off of ALIEN and it's a wonder that the filmmakers here weren't sued because the similarities are incredibly strong. I did like the monster enough even though there were times where it seemed like it had no mobility to move around or do anything. The black tar look isn't the most original out there but it did lead to a couple good and gory kill scenes. The rest of the film is pretty much flat, boring and lifeless. Joe Estevez has a brief role as the guy leading up the space mission but even he can't save this thing. The rest of the performers aren't the greatest in the world but they're pretty much what you expect in a movie like this. At least a couple of them got naked. DARK UNIVERSE certainly isn't a movie that's going to appeal to many as most are going to hate it with a passion. If you like ultra low-budget, bad movies then you might want to give it a rental.