Mutiny in Outer Space (1965)

Set in the 1990s but made thirty earlier when the future looked far more appealing than it ever does now (which why I'm watching it). This sixties quickie has the usual vices and virtues of shoestring pre-'2001' sci-fi (the movie not the year). The interior sets aboard Space Station X-7 are actually reasonably spacious for a change (which director Hugo Grimaldi capitalises upon with a couple of long sweeping tracking shots), the most obvious vice being the usual one of unconvincing model work whenever the ships are shown from the outside. The most obvious virtue (and the aspect of sci-fi from this period that I am usually least often disappointed with) is the also obvious one of the chic futuristic outfits and sixties hairstyles worn by the female personnel (of whom there are greater proportion this time round than tends to be usual in this sort of thing; nearly all wearing a uniform comprising tight sixties ski pants and polo-necked tops with pointed black cummerbund belts and ankle boots), compared to the depressing grungy look favoured by most post-'Blade Runner' sci-fi. As Lt. Connie Engstrom - "that great big beautiful blonde with the binary brain" - Pamela Curran (a veteran of the original 1958 'The Blob') cuts an impressive figure all the way from her snug-fitting britches to her elegant cheekbones and pulled-back sixties coiffure; as well as displaying a jaunty sense of humour that matches her permanently arched left eyebrow.The title itself is misleading, the mutiny itself comprising a rather unnecessary distraction consisting of the captain (Richard Garland) playing hide-and-seek with the rest of the crew which briefly disrupts the main storyline, which is the usual one about an unwanted intruder aboard a space ship; although this time it's a voracious fungus rather than a slavering biped. On the meagre budget permitted the most effective effects shots are probably those of the entire space station wrapped in its tendrils (we'll overlook the fact that it's not supposed to be able to survive in cold conditions). While all this is going on it makes a satisfying change to see those on the ground actually making themselves useful and supplying the killer punch that eventually sees off the attacker (which unusually for a fungus can wail with discomfort when assaulted).

Although dated 1965, this sci-fi outer space flick has a definite fifties look.It looks much like a McCarthy era film very basic, with a very basic, standard backdrop, and yet it has a 1965 message of anti McCarthy distrust of authority.That's fairly fresh, because we get the black and white basic look of the hard nosed authoritarian era, but in this movie, it is the commander of the unit in space who becomes deranged, though it be by a space fungus, still he becomes the unruly one.The story flows well, and there are some leggy gals strutting their stuff for the young boys.An interesting combination of two eras, taking the best of both eras. The stark, unassuming sets that let us enjoy the story (fifties style) and the notation that authority figures aren't always perfect (sixties).

I quite liked this film. Okay, the effects are...well...uhm...interesting even for 60s standards. So the overall look is very much that of an Ed Wood offering minus the wobbly sets. The acting is actually quite good especially in the sub plot. I think the story is quite unconventional and well told. The main plot is fairly interesting if not original but the sub plot about the fearless space captain losing his mind is unconventional and well told.To be honest, from my point of view the good storytelling is a bit wasted due to the cheap f/x. So all in all the film is entertaining and watchable.

I watched this movie first when I visited my best friend, it´s a tradition watching a DVD-movie when we met. It was not a well-known low-price-DVD which I didn´t know yet. The effects were lousy, the actors average, but this movie has a certain charme. If only Ed Wood had worked this way...Regards, Hans-Dieter