John C
Okay, let's talk about 1979's 'Alien.' On the surface, it's a pretty simple film: big monster stalks humans. If you don't like that sort of movie, you could say that premise is dumb, but, if handled right, then the audience who are into that genre will love it - like with 'Alien.' It's crazy that 'Deep Space' was released nearly ten years after 'Alien' and two years after it's excellent sequel and yet it looks so much worse on all counts.
It too has a simple premise - in fact, the SAME premise - big monster hunting humans. There's nothing wrong with that in a B-movie, but, this time, there's just nothing that makes it stand out. 'Alien' was set on a space ship, so the film-makers must have had to use a proportion of their budget on sets. 'Deep Space' is in a normal American city, so no extra costs for building sets required - yet still everything looks so cheap.
Here, a secret US probe crashes back down to Earth and its contents begin to run amok among the population. Police are investigating, but finding themselves thwarted by shady Government agents. Then you have a totally unnecessary psychic who phones up the leading man every now and again when the plot needs moving forward.
Again, 'Alien' had the bonus of an excellent cast who could elevate the script to levels higher than it probably ever should be. 'Deep Space' doesn't have the script, nor the quality of actors to support it. The monster itself is a blatant rip off of the xenomorph from the 'Alien' franchise, only it's just a man in a rubber suit, waddling around and looking so uncomfortable that I almost felt sorry for it in the end as it came across as just so damn pathetic.
Weirdly, as much as I'm slating the film on every level, it's not totally unwatchable. I didn't hate it as much as it may sound, but there's just so many better monster B-movies out there that there's simply no point in investing your time into this one. Or just watch one of the 'Alien' movies.
Rated 1.5/5 Stars •
Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars
12/11/24
Full Review
Audience Member
Obvious "Alien" ripoff has a meteor crashing near Los Angeles and a small crab-like creature emerging, which later in the film turns into a much larger Alien creature. Director Fred Olen Ray (a talented director of schlock) brings a more style than you get in most rip-off films, even if he's simply aping better directors, even going so far as to try to copy the strobe light effect when showing the larger alien creature. However, the film's main asset is that you do get character actor Charles Napier in the lead as an LA police detective hot on the trail of the alien, along with help from his sexy partner Ann Turkel (you may remember her from 1980s poster racks as a bikini pin-up model). Besides the charms of Napier, which really do go a long way, this film doesn't actually offer anything worth going out of your way to see here. This one is for Napier fans only (which I count myself among).
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
01/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
The title is misleading, but that's okay. It's a cheap movie, with poor acting and low effects- but it's so much fun. The characters are goofy, the monster is actually pretty cool, and there's plenty of gore and chainsaws. Rips off of Alien, in more-than-noticeable ways. It's monster b-movie trash at it's finest.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
02/02/23
Full Review
Audience Member
You know you're in trouble from the opening scene of "Deep Space". The obvious similarities between the alien crashing to Earth in this and the opening scenes of both versions of "The Blob" do not give the viewer a lot of hope that this has anything new to offer them.
In that respect, the film does not disappoint as it freely borrows from many other films as well, most notably and obviously from the "Alien" franchise. Director Fred Olen Ray was obviously working from a shoestring budget here as always, but it's the lack of imagination that kills this faster than the lack of money,
The origins of the creature is never fully developed as it's just mentioned as being yet another government experiment gone awry. It's hardly the incredible danger those government eggheads warn us it is anyway as it only kills about a half dozen people here, and it's hard to be scared by a creature that's not much taller than its human adversaries. This could have been a fun homage to similar films from the 1950's because it does contain all the rich cliches like the control room with a panel filled with random blinking lights and military cover-ups. But Rey has never been a very creative filmmaker and his movies never stray far from what's expected of them.
Most of the laughs here are unintentional and yet the frequent attempts at actual humor fall flat every time. The special effects are particularly shoddy, and disappointingly enough, almost all of the murders happen off-screen. It's pretty easy to tell from the bland title that "Deep Space" will not be anything special, but it is kind of sad that it never even tries to be.
Rated 1.5/5 Stars •
Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars
01/17/23
Full Review
Audience Member
A surprisingly awful flick is more like it. The creature is a total rip off of alien, a shot gun doesn't work but a chain saw does? There was no saving this movie, no even Anne Turkel half naked could save it. There was no tie in for Julie Newmar's character knowing the detective. The bagpipes were even fake.
Possibly the only worst sci-fi film than this was Cherry 2000.
Rated 0.5/5 Stars •
Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars
01/27/23
Full Review
Audience Member
72%
Suprise, suprise, the creature bares a striking resemblance to H.R. Giger's alien design. Charles Napeir is the man, as a man's man hero and you got to love those chainsaw endings.
"You have the right to remain silent."- Captain Robertson (Bo Svenson)
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/17/23
Full Review
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