United States, 1981
Cast: Edward Albert (Cabren), Erin Moran (Alluma), Ray Walston (Kore), Bernard Behrens (Ilvar), Zalman King (Baelon), Robert Englund (Ranger), Taaffe OīConnell (Dameia), Sid Haig (Quuhod), Grace Zabriskie (Trantor), Jack Blessing (Cos), Mary Ellen OīNeill (Mitri)
Directed by: Bruce D. Clark

SEX:
VIOLENCE:

THE PLOT:
A motley crew of space jockeys journey to the planet Morganthus on a rescue mission only to find there are no survivors of the previous ship. While they explore the whereabouts of the wreck they find a mysterious pyramid. As they set about investigating this remnant of an alien civilization, their deepest fears come alive and the crew is cut short by a series of bizarre deaths.

THE VERDICT:
Those who donīt have a very high opinion of Roger Corman will find a lot to dislike in Galaxy of Terror. Like most of Cormanīs output, the entire film is built upon the conventions of the genre it belongs to, with nods to particularly successful titles such as Alien. While there are a number of unexpected turns in the story, if youīve seen other examples of the "haunted planet" subgenre you wonīt find it too dificult to predict who will live to see the end credits.

Thereīs really no point in discussing the plot. The first scene, in which a strange character known as "The Master" orders a rescue mission on a faraway planet with a few obscure remarks about what they might find in Morganthus, might lead some viewers to believe that the screenwriters (Bruce D. Clark and Marc Siegler) were aiming for some kind of metaphysical or psychological angle. Viewers familiar with Cormanīs approach to filmmmaking will recognize this is just a ploy to include a number of unrelated setpieces designed to satisfy the audienceīs hunger for cheap thrills..

For starters, itīs never entirely clear whether the rescue mission is run by the military or a corporation. Unlike Alien, where the commercial nature of the mission was a major plot point, the characters in Galaxy of Terror are dispatched to a potentially dangerous planet just to provide gory deaths and rape scenarios to the bozos sitting in the movie theater. The crew members scurry around the corridors of their ship and the pyramid for no good reason, as if they were daring the deadly aliens to come and get them. To make it easier for the strange creatures that are after them, they constantly split up and go off on their own, even though they know the entire crew they came to rescue was wiped out by some unseen force.

Anyone familiar with the "haunted planet" routine knows that the people who are to be slaughtered must engange in pointless bickering before meeting their untimely demise. It doesnīt make any sense to send a crew whose hatred for each other would prevent them from communicating properly, of course, but as far as the screenplay goes, itīs an easy way to add some tension to the story.

All of the above is enough for some reviewers to dismiss Galaxy of Terror as garbage. I guess it all depends on how you feel about the role of science-fiction in cinema. Those who see SF as a showcase for deep thoughts about the future of humanity are inevitable disappointed by the nonsensical script. On the other hand, those of us who are more interested in sci-fi as a source of entertainment can be reasonably satisfied by the fast-paced tale of ten astronauts who are stalked by their own phobias.

The FX are pretty good, with some miniature work that Iīm sure Corman has used again in a dozen other flicks and a number of slimy monsters. Since the movie relies heavily on the death scenes, the gore effects are also quite effective. This is what most reviewers mention as Galaxy of Terrorīs main selling point and with good reason, itīs quite obvious the filmmakers were more interested in coming up with an excuse to show Sid Haig having his left arm loped off or Erin Moran crushed by tentacles than a thoughtful examination of the human psyche. As for the charactersī fears coming to life, while some of them make sense, such as Grace Zabriskie playing the sole survivor of a massacre who relives the episode, they are mostly a convenient way to provide the required dose of skin and blood, as in the notorious scene where one of the women is assaulted by a giant worm. Then again, it seems the screenwriters expected at least half the audience to be more interested in getting to second base than in closely following the plot.

Galaxy of Terror also boasts good production values and an unusual cast. James Cameron was responsible for the production design and itīs good enough to make the viewer overlook the low budget. The weapons and accesories of the astronauts, while impractical, look cool and the alien landscape is suitably menacing. The pyramid itself, with its twisting corridors and walkways, is nightmarish enough to suit the needs of the plot. For b-movie fans, the cast is also a treat. When you have TV stars (Erin Moran of Happy Days, Ray Walston of My Favorite Martian and Grace Zabriskie of Twin Peaks), cult movie stalwarts such as Sid Haig and Robert Englund, and Zalman King, who would go on to a long and illustrious career in the field of softcore pornography, together in the same movie, you can rest assured the acting wonīt be an issue. Another reason to recommend Galaxy of Terror is its lack of comic relief. Thatīs right, for once there are no dumb jokes, mugging or painfully unfunny visual gags, just a bunch of people getting killed in creative ways.

Fans of the more "artistic" brand of SF will undoubtedly disagree, but I think Galaxy of Terror deserves to be better known. Itīs fun, especially if you have the mentality of a 14-year-old.

You donīt think so? Let me know: [email protected]

The other Rogue Reviewers and their contributions to this roundtable:

B-Hive, Stefan puts on his pajamas for Slumber Party Massacre 2
Monkeyhouse Lounge, Todd sucks the poison out after getting stung by Black Scorpion
Mutant Orange, Kenneth karate chops Futurekick, finds true love in The Lawless Land, and battles the alien from It Conquered the World
Severen's World of Really Awful Movies, Nichele sets the mousetraps for The Burial of the Rats
The Netherworld, Iīm dragged kicking and screaming into the Galaxy of Terror
The B-movie Film Vault, Jordan makes Humanoids From the Deep and Carnosaur extinct
Painful Cinema, Frederik scrapes up the roadkill after Death Race 2000
Danteīs Inferno and All Night Video Store, Dante grabs his luggage for a Journey To A Prehistoric Planet
B-Movie Central, Duane is stalked by The Beast From Haunted Cave
and The Dungeon, "It's clobberin' time" for Neo as he reviews The Fantastic Four.

Đ 2001-2002 Marco Gonzalez