Galaxy of Terror (1981)

Director:

Bruce D. Clark

Writers:

Marc Siegler (writer) &
Bruce D. Clark (writer)

Release Date:

October 1981 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Horror | Sci-Fi | Mystery

Tagline:

Hell has just been relocated!

Plot:

SciFi suspense thriller in which a rescue space ship crew meets up with horrors projected by their own imaginations.

Plot Keywords:

Space | Gore | Monster | Female Nudity | Rape

Cast

Edward Albert	...	Cabren
Erin Moran	...	Alluma
Ray Walston	...	Kore
Bernard Behrens	...	Commander Ilvar
Zalman King	...	Baelon
Robert Englund	...	Ranger
Taaffe O'Connell	...	Dameia
Sid Haig	...	Quuhod
Grace Zabriskie	...	Captain Trantor
Jack Blessing	...	Cos
Mary Ellen O'Neill	...	Mitri

Also Known As:

Mindwarp: An Infinity of Terror
Planet of Horrors
Quest

Runtime:

81 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

France:-12 (TV rating) | France:-16 (original rating) | Australia:M | UK:18 | USA:R | Iceland:(Banned)

Filming Locations:

Venice, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

New World Pictures

Trivia:

A clip of this movie is on "The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made" DVD Region 1 NTSC.

Goofs:

Continuity: Quuhod drops his crystal throwing star to remove one of the broken points from his arm. When this proves futile, the throwing star reappears in his hand.

Quotes:

Alluma: Aren't you afraid?
Cabren: Too scared to be.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Some Nudity Required (1998)

Cool, Creepy, Gross Sci-Fi Sleaze

GALAXY OF TERROR is by no means a great movie. But it's a good bit of nasty fun, with generous helpings of sleaze and outrageousness to keep even jaded viewers hooked.

First of all, let's get the whole "rip-off of ALIEN" thing out of the way right off the bat. Other than the first few scenes, in which the crew of a space vessel is ordered to land on and investigate a desolate planet from which strange signals are originating, this movie has virtually no similarity to Ridley Scott's film at all. Let's not forget that most low budget extraterrestrial monster movies in the wake of ALIEN were compared to their more expensive predecessor (or that ALIEN itself was shamelessly derivative of a half-dozen sci-fi flicks from the 50's and 60's).

The crew land, and soon come to realize that their own worst fears are manifesting themselves physically and attacking them. The control freak pilot finds herself confronted by an unstoppable alien force. The spiritual warrior's mystical crystal weapon turns against him. The gung-ho, by-the-books leader's childhood fear of monsters comes back to haunt him. And, in the movie's gross-out highlight, a female crew member's revulsion of worms results in her being stripped naked, coated in slime and raped by a giant maggot!!!

There's no shortage of carnage and wackiness, and it all leads up to a surprisingly metaphysical conclusion. Many of this movie's critics have found the ending to be a ridiculous cop-out, but I found it ambitious and thoughtful. Perhaps snobby film buffs can't accept that a low budget sleazefest like this can ultimately rise above its own baseness and deliver a profoundly mysterious ending.

GALAXY OF TERROR is one of the more imaginative and bizarre of Roger Corman's late 70's/early 80's productions. It features some art direction and 2nd unit work by James Cameron, and has the gritty surreal look of a Lucio Fulci zombie flick. And how can you pass up a movie in which Erin Moran (Joanie from HAPPY DAYS) gets her head squashed by an alien squid? I recommend this movie highly to schlock fans of all ages.