Galaxy of Terror – DVD Review

The Film:

There’s a good chance that you haven’t seen Galaxy of Terror (1981). It was released to little fanfare, and while Nelson Entertainment released the film on VHS, even then, outside of a curious rental, many just passed it up. With the boom of the internet and the rediscovery of these so-called cult films, Galaxy of Terror was still left out in oblivion. Thanks to Shout! Factory, the film has been plucked out of obscurity and given a lavish DVD special edition. For Roger Corman fans, finally seeing the film is just worth it alone, but does it live up to the “terror” in the title, or just a forgettable film that deserved to be obscure?

Well, neither really. The film is mostly known for the talent involved with the production and a few bloody money shots, than the quality of the film, but the one thing it does have going for it, is that it’s a heck of a lot of fun. For that reason alone, it’s great to have this film back on DVD shelves. It’s ludicrous to really explain the plot, because it’s pretty hokey and unimportant, but more importantly, it’s a low budget copy of Ridley Scott’s genre-defining Alien without, you know, copying that film’s greatness. It doesn’t have the attention to suspense or menace as that classic film either, but being a staple of Roger Corman’s way of things, what it lacks in plot and character development, it makes up for in FX and set design. That’s why this film has always remained a curious piece. We get a young James Cameron, serving duties as an art director a few years before his own Corman-financed Piranha II: The Spawning, and for every second of its brief 81 minutes, the film is gorgeous in this area.

More to the point, fans love Galaxy of Terror for the rather violent nature, showcased in some gory FX scenes and a very memorable inter-species rape sequence. Even though the plot structure mimicked Alien, it certainly fed the drive-in crowd with the goodies of that market: nudity and blood.  Much like most Corman produced productions, the cool sets were reused for Forbidden World. Outside of seeing a guy with a red glowing head, a pre-A Nightmare on Elm Street Robert Englund, Sig Haig, and Grace Zabriskie, Galaxy of Terror is pure campy delight. We might not have drive-ins anymore, but having the ability – thanks to Shout! Factory – to pop this DVD in at midnight, is the reason why this film remained on people’s tongues. It might be cinematic junk food of the lowest order, but it’s perfect in the wee hours. Event Horizon, eat your heart out.

The DVD:

Audio/Video: For such a film, it’s amazing to see Shout! dust it off for a rather handsome, if soft, standard def presentation. It’s consistently good, with nice colors and detail. The darker scenes are a bit flat, but who cares: for its first ever DVD release, it’s great in this regard. The audio is fine. The mono does what it needs too, and while it’s far from the typical great audio tracks we’ve gotten accustomed too, it serves the bill.

Commentary: Actress Taaffe O’Connell, Makeup Artist Allan Apone, Prosthetics Fabricator Alec Gillis, and Production Assistant David DeCoteau all chime in for a really fun, but insightful track. Fans will eat this up with the info and luckily, nobody stumbles over each other, as it’s well organized.

Tales from the Lumber Yard: The Making of Galaxy of Terror: This six-part documentary offers fans an even more thorough look at the film. Even Roger Corman stops by. Don’t look for James Cameron, but he is discussed. Of importance, is that Shout! allows them to be frank, which leads sometimes to some not so good memories of Cameron and Corman. Thankfully, this is left in, as the patting-on-the-back gushes in most making-of’s, gets old. It runs an hour all together and is worth the time.

Ex-Rue Morgue Chief Jovanka Vuckovic offers up a nicely written liner notes in an Insert for the film,  a ton of concept and production Stills, Trailers, and a the screenplay as a PDF. Look for a reversible cover art featuring the film’s other title, Mind Warp – An Infinity of Terror.

Conclusion: A silly, but really fun Alien rip-off gets an incredible lavish edition for the first time from Shout! Factory.

The Film: Rating:

The DVD: Rating: