Alien, la créature des abysses

Antonio Margheriti's filmography is interesting and varied. It featured such well made Italian films as Danse Macabre and Schoolgirl Killer; as well as some trash, such as The Last Hunter, Death Rage and Cannibal Apocalypse. One thing you have to credit the director with, however, is that even when he's making trash; he usually makes it well, and while Alien from the Deep is not exactly a high quality piece of film-making; I do firmly believe that it would have been a lot worse in the hands of a lesser director. The title features the word 'alien' and the film was released not long after James Cameron's Aliens was a big hit; so seeing as this is an Italian film, it should be pretty clear that it's a rip off of the Alien films. Unlike the Alien films (but a bit like the first Predator film), this one takes place out in the jungle. We focus on a big (evil) corporation with an irresponsible approach to waste management; they're pouring it all down a volcano (oh yes), and naturally this leads to trouble in the form of a giant monster.

The film puts it's focus on a couple of people aiming to expose the big corporation's social ills, and this gives it a bit of plot to work with outside of the main monster theme. It has to be said that it can be a little dull at times; but things never ground to a complete halt and Margheriti keeps our interest well enough until the monster appears on screen. Naturally, the monster is saved for as long as possible; but all the scenes featuring it are generally well orchestrated and amusing. Only parts of the monster are shown at first; and it seems to be a sort of scorpion-like contraption...but this leads to disappointment when it's actually revealed towards the end, as it turns out to look more than just a little bit silly (HR Giger has nothing to worry about). The cast is nothing to write home about really; but we do get a pleasant surprise in the form of Charles Napier, who is perfectly cast as the main bad guy. Aside from the monster there's a few interesting ideas, and the monster itself is fun in the way it attacks from underwater and underground. The film is most definitely trash and there's no denying it; but it's also a lot of fun and I can recommend it.

Oh, how I loved this movie. It is filled to bursting with everything you could want from Margheritti, and then some! Lots of exploding miniatures, plenty of running through the jungle, and a heroine who keeps finding ways to lose her pants. The real charm of the movie is trying to count the myriad other films it is trying to rip off. Obvious nods to ALIENS abound, (flamethrowers,a battle with a towering monster and a big yellow vehicle), with plenty of allusions to the first ALIEN thrown in for good measure (building the weapons, the chamber filled with hanging chains). Amusingly the first hour seems to be a curious mishmash of either THE CHINA SYNDROME or SILKWOOD with, of all things, ROMANCING THE STONE!!!! It is all daffily endearing.

I am and have always been a fan of Italian cinema, especially horror. The Italians used to be the masters of it but sadly that ended in the 1990's.

This late 80's monster feature tells the story of an evil cooporation dumping nuclear waste into a volcano on a secluded island. It's down to a reporter, her cameraman and a er.....snake expert to bring them down.

But of course things aren't that simple, we have to throw into the mix an alien monster creature....thing.

Starring the always excellent Charles Napier, this above average monster film is actually well made but suffers on levels you would naturally expect. From the questionable script to the views of the monster being so restricted Alien From The Deep was doomed from the start but manages to remain watchable regardless.

Not one of the many Italian masterpieces but a harmless fluff piece for fans of the genre.

The Good:

Charles Napier

SFX are above par

The Bad:

Some of the script is rather bad

Monster doesn't get enough real screentime

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

In order to strike their foes Snakes can jump 6ft vertically

A snake bite to the ankle will cause a wound in the knee

Not exactly Margheriti's shining moment on screen, but it's still loads better than a lot of his other mid-to-late 80's work like CODE NAME: WILDGEESE or INDIO thanks to some energetic editing and rich special effects. Not to say the the effects budget was all that high, it was awfully low with plenty of painfully obvious miniatures blowing up in slow motion to make them look big. The goofiest effect has to be the full-sized robotic alien at the ending, which has lots of cool tubing and steam vents all over it but looked as though the crew had little or no control over it. When the alien first pops out of the woodwork it's legs dangle limply as though a crane is hoisting it up (and that's exactly what the crew probably used too).

To my knowledge, this is the only time Margheriti worked for Franco Gaudenzi, who usually worked fairly exclusively with Bruno Mattei. In comparison with most of Mattei similar work from the same period, this film seems almost classic. There's a fair amount of cheesy gore and horrendous acting. Co-star Robert Marius from AMERICAN COMMANDOS and COP GAME has to be the worst actor in the history of cinema. Aside from a pretty passive cameo by Charles Napier and Luciano Pigozzi wobbling around in his last role, the acting was all pretty uniformally hopeless. However, I don't see how this film earns the status as "Margheriti's worst film" even though it does flagrantly lift musical cues right out of Larry Cohen's Q - THE WINGED SERPENT. The film is exciting and action-packed enough so that it's never boring, and the finale isn't too big an ALIENS rip, with them using bulldozers instead of robotic lifters of course. Low budget in the extreme, but with enough amusing dialog and funny special effects to earn it a certain place in history. Not nearly as bad as Gaudenzi's other ALIENS ripoff produced the same year, SHOCKING DARK aka TERMINATOR II, which has to be an all new low.

"Alien from the Deep" is dull and dragging a horror/Sci-Fi from the usually great and reliable Antonio Margheriti, who admittedly already had to be retired around the time of release.

Two young environmentalists venture to an island resort to battle against a chemical plant company that dumps its barrels of radioactive waste straight into an active volcano. You've got to admit that's a pretty clever type of shenanigans if you're a ruthless and power-greedy businessman! The two get caught, however, but the girl escapes into the island jungle and finds rescue in the arms of a lone snake farmer (what an awesome profession that must be) and together they attempt to stop the illegal dumping. But it's too late, unfortunately, as the years worth of industrial dumping spawned a hideous monster. You'll have to be very patient and tolerant if you want to see a monster or alien or menace of any kind. We're far beyond the 50 minutes mark until there's a bit of gore and at that same moment the director thankfully reminds us that this movie is actually supposed to revolve on a monster of any kind with the discovery of a giant claw. Luckily from then and onwards, the pacing remains steadily fast, the atmosphere becomes grimmer, the make- up effects are satisfying and even Charles Napier's supportive characters – which until then was a dull persona – becomes sleazier. Still, "Alien from the Deep" takes itself far too serious, what with all its environmentalist lessons, and even has a certain aura of pretension hanging around it. There are some nifty miniature settings to recreate the destructive sequences that cost too much to film with real equipment and the monster – when you eventually get to see it in all its glory near the very end – is quite a massive and reasonably admirable construction.