Alien from the Deep (1989)

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 NapierSFX are above parThe Bad:Some of the script is rather badMonster doesn't get enough real screentimeThings I Learnt From This Movie:In order to strike their foes Snakes can jump 6ft verticallyA snake bite to the ankle will cause a wound in the knee

Tirelessly prolific veteran Italian exploitation picture director Antonio Margheriti's cinematic oeuvre is a very mixed bag, running the gamut from delightfully sleazy ("Cannibal Apocalypse") to nice, spooky, dripping with sepulchral atmosphere fright film fun ("The Virgin of Nuremburg," "The Long Hair of Death") to entertainingly goofy sci-fi ("The Wild, Wild Planet," "War Between the Planets") to pleasingly tacky spaghetti Westerns ("The Stranger and the Gunfighter," "Take A Hard Ride") to the unavoidable occasional dud. This sci-fi/horror/conspiracy thriller sadly constitutes as one of Margheriti's dullest and least satisfying features, mainly because it's crucially bereft of the gleefully trashy verve which distinguishes his more enjoyable efforts. In its place there's no sex or nudity, mild profanity, tame violence, an interminably draggy pace, a wearily drawn-out narrative, and tepid action sequences; in short, everything a solid, rewarding little B-movie needs to seriously smoke is noticeably absent here. The blah plot offers a tediously trite'n'tired mishmash of boringly overused clichés, centering on your standard evil corporation illegally dumping radioactive waste into a dangerously volatile volcano located on a remote obscure island. Two wet-nosed bleeding heart liberal limp dishrag Greenpeace workers discover the pernicious goings-on and spend the rest of the film being hunted down in the dense tropical jungle by the usual assortment of greasy company flunkies. Oh yeah -- and there's a lethal, clawed, slime-drooling, steam-expelling extraterrestrial subterranean creature the pair also uncover and do their best to protect from the conglomerate's vile, greedy clutches. Token semi-name rugged, craggy-faced, firm block-of-granite character actor Charles Napier portrays a typically malevolent nasty army colonel on thespic automatic pilot throughout, wearing a fixed scowl on his puffy, roughhewn mug and grumbling all his dialogue in a deep, earthy, barely audible rumble mumble. Napier's given precious little to do that's worth seeing, an unfortunately malady that infects this dismally dreary clunker as a lethargic whole.

Great entertainment here, folks. I had the pleasure to watch the UNCUT Japanese print of this cool Italian "Alien" rip-off. The action sequences are violent and full of automatic weapons. The soldiers are evil in their conquest to stop a man and woman from spilling the secret of nuclear dumping in a volcano. It seems before they can get away, the radiation attracts an evil alien intent on taking over the world. Even tho the alien monster is silly, the movie on a whole is a decent spaghetti-made gory alien monster movie!Rating: 7/10 because even tho the budget was small, director Antonio Margheriti still manages to catch the attention of the audience and the effects are pretty gory. If you liked this movie, also check out "Cannibal Apacalypse" and "Blood For Dracula" for more shocks!

`It's gigantic, evil and invincible!' boasts the tagline. Well, this alien dwarfs the original alien in physical size only. Although the film takes place on a tropic island, a few similarities to `Alien' are obvious, down to the fact that the heroine has to stand the last fight with the creature wearing nothing but her white underwear. No, I don't complain about that ;-) Anyway, the huge creature which can move under the ground is quite scary (but only until it stands up and suddenly looks like a cross between a senile robot and a lunatic crab), the characters (including a snake hunter, Greenpeace investigators, a not-yet-mad scientist and an unscrupulous officer trying to `control' the situation) help to develop an interesting storyline, and I cannot agree with reviewers who consider this a simple rip-off. There is a lot more to see, `Alien degli abissi' is not too bad entertainment from an experienced director (voted 6/10).