The Terror Within (1989)

A handful of folks hole up in an underground laboratory in a remote desert region after a plague wipes out most of mankind. Trouble ensues when a pregnant survivor gives birth to a vicious predatory mutant (Jack Valan in a gnarly rubber suit) who quickly grows to adult size and goes on a murderous rampage. Director Thierry Notz, working from a familiar, but serviceable script by Robert McKelvey (it's basically your umpteenth "Alien" rehash), does a capable job of creating and sustaining a grimly serious tone throughout, milks a considerable amount of claustrophobic suspense from the subterranean setting, delivers a handy helping of nasty gore, and stages the tense and thrilling climax with real skill and verve. This film starts out a bit too slow, but fortunately kicks into high gear and really starts cracking once the monster gets loose. The sound acting by the sturdy cast helps a lot: Andrew Stevens as the rugged David, George Kennedy as no-nonsense lab head Hal, Starr Andreeff as the sweet, spunky Sue, Terri Treas as tough, feisty doctor Linds, John LaFayette as the easygoing Andre, and Tommy Hinkley as wisecracking goofball Neil. Stevens' dog Butch is likewise impressive as a gutsy and protective expert tracking canine. Moreover, there are also a few effectively harsh touches which include an attempted abortion that goes hideously awry and an extremely brutal monster rape set piece. Ronn Schmidt's competent cinematography makes the most out of the desolate desert and tightly confined lab locations. Rick Conrad's shivery score does the spirited shuddery trick. A fun flick.

A Roger Corman quickly produced cheapie that wears its influences proudly, as many elements (character descriptions to lifted sequence ideas) just reek of Ridley Scott's 1979 feature ''Alien''. However this systematic fodder remains enjoyable (for most part, despite its often lumpy pacing) on a very b-grade level, as it doesn't pretend to be anything else than cheap, exploitative fun. Instead of being set in space like that classic, the action takes place in a post-apocalyptic setting due to a chemically induced plague wiping out the majority of the earth's population. Nevertheless a small bunch of scientists are holding up in an underground laboratory in the bone-dry desert, but their existence is soon threatened by genetic mutations known as gargoyles. These beasties are quite randy too, because at nearly every opportunity they go out of their way to impregnate the women. What the story lacks in imagination (as it does draw upon a predictable amalgam) and coherence, it makes up for in durable performances (a likable Andrew Stevens, George Kennedy, John Lafayette, Starr Andreeff and Terri Treas all keeping it straight) and gruesomely tacky splatter (even though it doesn't have much impact in engineering the deaths and tawdry jolts). Being rough and crude, it's kind of similar in style / budget to the likes of ''Creepazoids'' and "Parasite". The creatures are kept off screen during the first half, to only be heard and getting some POV shots. Nonetheless we do get to see them, and it's a fair looking monster design of a man in a rubber suit. Everything looks low-rent, which is cemented by its compact setting and stuffily framed direction but still lingering within is a grim atmosphere. The music score tagged to the project isn't too bad either, being high-strung but ominously pitched. Mechanically uninspired, but gruellingly cheesy entertainment.

Okay, you've heard about "so-bad-it's-good" movies before, but this demented little thing plays in an entirely different league. "The Terror Within" is so bad it's ….really, truly freaking abysmally bad! It's a cheesy and minimally plotted 80's earthbound "Alien" imitation and it's produced by Roger Corman, so that ought to give you an immediate idea about the overall quality of this production. You may prepare yourself for the worst, and then still "The Terror Within" will surpass your most cautious expectations. This is one of them films that gives you absolutely no feedback or background about anything that happens before, during and after the main events in the plot. The script even fails to inform what year the events take place in, what kind of company the 6 protagonists work for or how the breed of gargoyles developed itself so rapidly. All we know is that some kind of "accident" wiped out 99% of the earth's population and that the few remaining survivors on the surface are continuously threatened by gargoyle-creatures. Six people in a subterranean laboratory, led by the poor & desperate-for-work George Kennedy, attempt to save what's left of humanity, but they clearly don't have a clue what they're up against. Unaware of the fact that the gargoyles mate with regular females, they take a pregnant girl into their lair and numbly observe how she gives birth (in a sequence shamelessly copied from Ridley Scott's milestone) to a ravenous and fast-growing monster. Now they're all trapped underneath the earth, with two remaining female employees as potential monster-mommies. Admittedly, the plot description for "The Terror Within" doesn't sound half as bad as initially feared, but honestly the film is stuffed with plot-holes the size of the Grand Canyon, laughably inane dialogs, poor acting performances and tiny stupid oddities that are almost too amusing for words. Here's a brief listing of all the crazy stuff occurring in this film (extra spoiler warning). 1)The gargoyles may be tall and strong, but apparently they're quite terrible in the sack. The monster only was a few nanoseconds alone with the girl, but it clearly was more than enough to impregnate her. 2)Actually, the monsters look a bit like an over-sized version of Duckman. 3)The hero (Andrew Stevens) is obviously more upset when his dog gets injured than when his black colleague and even his girlfriend get torn to pieces. 4) Presumably the film is set in the future, but technology appears to have taken a huge step backwards. The characters operate the largest walkie-talkies you've ever seen and the only exit out the subterranean lab is through a ramshackle shed. 5) At a certain point, the remaining survivors try to attack the creature by blowing on a dog whistle. I guess their next move would have been to throw a banana peel in front of its feet. 6)The film probably just took a few days to shoot; still I think George Kennedy had other, more urgent places to go to. Halfway the story his character just vanishes after an idiotic kamikaze run into the creature. Still, you don't actually see him die so you expect him to return at some point. Guess again. Strangely enough, and despite the rather cheesy & tacky monster designs, the killings are pleasingly gruesome and blood-soaked. The aforementioned birth-sequence may be very unoriginal; at least it's suitably repulsive and even mildly shocking. The finale is effective as well, since the gargoyle meets his death in a rather nasty fashion. As if you couldn't guess yourself, "The Terror Within" is an awfully crappy 80's cheeseball, definitely worthy of the Roger Corman label. It could be considered "entertaining", but you'd have to be in the right mood.

Man this thing stinks bad! I don't think I've ever seen a worse piece of garbage in my life. I love B grade horror films, but this stinker takes it to a new low. Acting stinks. Script stinks. Effects stink. I don't think this film has one good thing about it. Maybe the relief of seeing the closing credits is about it! And to top it off...they made a part two! Pass this thing up if you see it on the rental shelf. My friend didn't, and we really paid dearly for it! Time wasted that I'll never get back. I do believe tweezing my own nose hairs would be more fun. Well thats it. Be warned! THIS THING SUCKS!!! 1 out of 10 rating.