Galaxy of Terror (1981)
Even the best science fiction can come off as silly, what with its high-concept plotting, outlandish situations including spaceships and the like, and crazy-looking alien beings with whom the humans can interact (and, presumably, learn something from).
While 1981's "Galaxy of Terror" is hardly part of the best of sci-fi, it certainly does feature more than its fair share of unintentional daffiness.
Based on its timing, you could say "Galaxy," a sci-fi horror hybrid, was looking to cash in on the success of "Alien." But that would hardly be fair to make such a surface comparison, so let's do a quick rundown:
Motley crew of grizzled, emotionally wounded spacefarers? Check. Malevolent insectoid alien presence picking them off one by one? Check. Muddled dark, matte painting space effects featuring Geiger-esque designs? Check.
Yes, indeed, it does take merely moments to determine that this is nothing more than a cheap knockoff of Ridley Scott's sci-fi horror classic, but of course there are those signature Corman touches.
We get all the cheap effects you expect and none of that narrative quality we'd hope for. You never really get a full, out-of-the-shadows look at the monsters, and yes, I say monsters plural, because there are a variety of beasts menacing this production. There's a giant mutated maggot, a big alien-looking monster (whose design is eerily similar to an alien invasion film that came years later, "Independence Day"), a more centipede-looking critter and other more anonymous tentacley things.
What's that you say? Gratuitous boobage? "Galaxy of Terror" has that, too, highlighted by a sequence where a woman is smothered/eaten/slimed by the giant maggot, but it tears her clothes off along the way and the final effect (and her reactions) seem closer to "made love to her to death" than smothered/slimed/consumed.
The sound effects are the very type of thing that parody films are made of, with random muddy slops, laser screeches and generic alarm klaxons. At one point, a dead body screams as it reveals itself (though, to be fair, that may have just been a soundtrack cue and not really meant to be a real sound). The funniest thing is that the crew members stab and shoot it in "self-defense," long after they recognize it's a body and not a monster. Moments later, a hose serves as a red herring scare.
With a cast full of names pop culture fans are likely to have at least heard of, including Ray Walston, Sid Haig, Grace Zabriskie (who recently starred in HBO's "Big Love") and Robert Englund, better known by most as Freddy Krueger, the actors are at least good enough to recognize they are in a terrible movie and overact accordingly. It's particularly interesting to see Englund as Ranger, something of a tough guy.
Zabriskie also stands out as the ship's PTSD-afflicted captain who alternates between telling everyone things like "Stop being such a pussy!" and "Hey, come get something to eat!"
Zabriskie also delivers the movie's best line, unfortunately coming early on, when the crew must jettison some cargo: "Hold on to your shorts. We're going to dump!"
Haig gets arguably the second-best death when he dies quite literally at his own hand, and for the sake of surprise that's about all I'll say about that.
"Galaxy" is bad enough to be enjoyable and more or less checks off all of the standard schlock checklist items, but it still feels relatively by the numbers. There could have been a little more in the way of truly wacky, innovative and cheesy death scenes and a little more purposeless nudity, but if you're looking for a solid cheesefest, you can do much, um, better than "Galaxy of Terror."