| Dead Space | |
|---|---|
 VHS cover | |
| Directed by | Fred Gallo |
| Written by | Catherine Cyran |
| Produced by | Mike Elliott |
| Starring | Marc Singer Laura Tate Judith Chapman Bryan Cranston Randy Reinholz Lori Lively |
| Cinematography | Mark Parry |
| Edited by | Lawrence Jordan |
| Music by | Daniel May |
| Distributed by | Concorde Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 72 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Dead Space is a 1991 American science-fiction horror film directed by Fred Gallo and produced by Mike Elliott. [1]
In the research facility on the planet Phablos, a virus is created in a botched experiment which turns those infected into monsters. An emergency distress call is sent from the lab. A spacecraft crewed by Commander Steve Krieger and robot sidekick Tinpan respond to the emergency call from the planet, but their craft is attacked and damaged on the way to Phablos.
Upon their arrival at Phablos, those in charge of the laboratory explain that they have managed to contain the virus. Krieger accepts the lab's claims and begins repairs on his ship. The scientist had not been entirely honest with Krieger, and had been attempting to study the virus rather than contain it.
Unfortunately, the virus escapes and infects a lab worker, leaving the lab to face a killer virus that turns them into alien monsters.
Krieger and Tinpan attempt to stop the monster, but their weapons prove ineffective. One of the lab workers develops a bioweapon that proves effective in stopping the monster.
The movie is a remake of the 1982, Roger Corman-produced horror film Forbidden World and while there are minor differences, it still retains the original main storyline and character set-up. Singer said that he had fun shooting the movie, and felt that it was an "unpretentious, rip-roaring space adventure." [2] The film had a working title of Biohazard. [3] Like the original, some of the space battle effects were reused from Battle Beyond the Stars .
The effects team wanted a monster different from anything that had been seen before, a task made more complicated as the movie was shot in three weeks. An inner harness was developed which allowed for rapid mobility of the actor in the monster suit. GM foam and hair inserts were used to show the transformation of human into monster. [4]
TV Guide found the movie a weak entry into the man versus monster genre. It felt it borrowed heavily from Alien and Star Wars and had many plot holes. [5] While Gorezone liked the technical aspects of the monster effect, it preferred the original Forbidden World to this remake. It also stated that the monster seemed more of a mutant dinosaur than mutated human. [6] IGN found the movie to be a typical Corman movie, but that the movie was notable for Bryan Cranston in one of his earliest roles. [7]
In 2010, Shout! Factory released the film on DVD, packaged as a double feature with The Terror Within as part of the Roger Corman's Cult Classics collection. [8] The film is in fullscreen aspect ratio. IGN called the transfer "[...] incredibly faded and murky, with dust and dirt present throughout, and even some annoying digital artifacting." [9]
As of January 2022, the movie is available to stream for free on many sites, including Tubi, Plex Inc. and the Shout streaming app [10]
Roger William Corman is an American film director, producer, and actor. Known under various monikers such as "The Pope of Pop Cinema", "The Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood", and "The King of Cult", he is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are low-budget cult films including some which are adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe.
Battle Beyond the Stars is a 1980 American space opera film produced by Roger Corman, directed by Jimmy T. Murakami, and starring Richard Thomas, Robert Vaughn, George Peppard, John Saxon, Sybil Danning and Darlanne Fluegel. Intended as a futuristic "Magnificent Seven in outer space", the screenplay was written by John Sayles with the score by James Horner and special effects designed by filmmaker James Cameron. The film was theatrically released by Corman's New World Pictures and was a moderate box office success, despite receiving mixed reviews from critics.
It Conquered the World is an independently made 1956 American black-and-white science fiction film, produced and directed by Roger Corman, starring Peter Graves, Lee Van Cleef, Beverly Garland, and Sally Fraser. It Conquered the World was released theatrically by American International Pictures as a double feature with The She-Creature.
Monster a Go-Go! is a 1965 American science-fiction horror film directed by Bill Rebane and Herschell Gordon Lewis. The film is considered to be one of the worst films ever made.
Shout! Studios is an American home video and music distributor founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases, issued in DVD or Blu-ray format, include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy specials. Considered a boutique Blu-ray label, Shout! Studios, in addition to its mainline home video releases, also releases films under the sublabels Scream Factory, Shout! Select, and Shout! Factory Kids.
Forbidden World, originally titled Mutant, is a 1982 American science fiction-horror film. The screenplay was written by Tim Curnen, from a screenstory by R.J. Robertson and Jim Wynorski. It was co-edited and directed by Allan Holzman, who had edited Battle Beyond the Stars two years earlier. The cast includes Jesse Vint, Dawn Dunlap, June Chadwick, Linden Chiles, Fox Harris and Michael Bowen. Forbidden World has also been released under the titles Mutant and Subject 20.
Gamera: Super Monster is a 1980 Japanese kaiju film directed by Noriaki Yuasa and produced by Daiei Film. It is the eighth film in the Gamera film series, following the release of Gamera vs. Zigra in 1971.
Humanoids from the Deep is a 1980 American science fiction horror film starring Doug McClure, Ann Turkel, and Vic Morrow. Roger Corman served as the film's uncredited executive producer, and his company, New World Pictures, distributed it. Humanoids from the Deep was directed by Barbara Peeters and an uncredited Jimmy T. Murakami.
Jim Wynorski is an American screenwriter, director, and producer. Wynorski has been making B-movies and exploitation movies since the early 1980s, and has directed over 150 feature films. His earliest films were released to film theaters, but his later works have predominantly been released through the cable or straight-to-video market. He often works under pseudonyms such as "Jay Andrews," "Arch Stanton," "H.R. Blueberry," "Tom Popatopolis," and "Noble Henry." His adult films often spoof popular horror movies: Cleavagefield, for example, parodies Cloverfield, The Bare Wench Project parodies The Blair Witch Project, and Para-Knockers Activity parodies Paranormal Activity.
Carnosaur is a 1993 American science fiction horror film written and directed by Adam Simon. The film stars Diane Ladd, Raphael Sbarge, Jennifer Runyon, and Harrison Page. Loosely based on the 1984 John Brosnan novel of the same name, it follows characters Doc Smith and Ann Thrush in their efforts to thwart Dr. Jane Tiptree's plan to exterminate the human race with a lethal virus and replace them with her own genetically created dinosaurs.
Big Bad Mama is a 1974 American action-crime-sexploitation comedy movie produced by Roger Corman, starring Angie Dickinson, William Shatner, and Tom Skerritt, with Susan Sennett and Robbie Lee. This movie is about a mother, Wilma, and her two daughters, Polly and Billie Jean, who go on a crime spree. After the mother unexpectedly falls in love with a bank robber it all ends, with tragic consequences. Big Bad Mama became a cult hit and was followed by a sequel, Big Bad Mama II, in 1987.
The Terror Within is a 1989 American science fiction horror film directed by Thierry Notz and starring George Kennedy, Andrew Stevens, Starr Andreeff and Terri Treas. It was followed by a sequel in 1991, The Terror Within II, with Stevens reprising his starring role while also handling the film's writing and directing duties.
Night of the Blood Beast is a 1958 American science-fiction horror film about a team of scientists who are stalked by an alien creature, which implants its embryos in an astronaut's body during a space flight. Produced by exploitation filmmaker Roger Corman and his brother Gene, it was one of the first films directed by Bernard L. Kowalski and was written by first-time screenwriter Martin Varno, who was 21 years old. It starred several actors who had regularly worked with Roger Corman, including Michael Emmet, Ed Nelson, Steve Dunlap, Georgianna Carter and Tyler McVey. The film was theatrically released in December 1958 as a double feature with She Gods of Shark Reef.
Not of This Earth is a 1988 American science fiction horror comedy film, directed by Jim Wynorski and starring Traci Lords in her first mainstream role after her departure from the adult film industry. It is a remake of Roger Corman's 1957 film of the same name, written by Charles B. Griffith and Mark Hanna.
Galaxy of Terror is a 1981 American science fiction horror film produced by Roger Corman through New World Pictures and directed by Bruce D. Clark. It stars Edward Albert, Erin Moran, Ray Walston and Taaffe O'Connell. Set in a dystopian future where humanity is a spacefaring race ruled by a sole person called "The Master," the film features a space crew confronting primal fears after they are marooned on a distant planet.
Midnite Movies is a line of B movies released first on VHS and later on DVD by MGM Home Entertainment. The line was begun by MGM in March 2001 following its acquisition of Orion Pictures, which bought out Filmways, the owner of American International Pictures. AIP had a library of B movies from the 1950s and 1960s that were science fiction, horror, and exploitation films. The Midnite Movies collection was primarily derived from the AIP library but also included Hammer Film Productions, Amicus Productions, United Artists, Cannon Films, and Empire International Pictures films as well. The DVDs were first released as single films, but most later releases would be double features on single double-sided discs. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment later became owners of the MGM library and continued the "Midnite Movies" line with distributor 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. All double feature titles released on the 20th Century Fox label were two-disc packages. By 2011, no new titles were forthcoming; the previous catalog titles slowly went out of print and the Midnite Movies website was taken down.
Up From the Depths is a 1979 horror film directed by Charles B. Griffith and starring Sam Bottoms, Susanne Reed, Virgil Frye, Kedric Wolfe, and Charles Howerton. The film, along with many other natural horror films at the time of its release, was made due to the success of Jaws.
The Thing is a 2011 American science fiction horror film directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr., written by Eric Heisserer, and starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton, Ulrich Thomsen, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, and Eric Christian Olsen. It is a direct prequel to the 1982 film of the same name by John Carpenter, which was an adaptation of the 1938 novella Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell. It tells the story of a team of scientists on a Norwegian Antarctic research station who discover a parasitic alien buried deep in the ice, realizing too late that it is still alive.
Biological warfare (BW)—also known as bacteriological warfare, or germ warfare—has had a presence in popular culture for over 100 years. Public interest in it became intense during the Cold War, especially the 1960s and '70s, and continues unabated. This article comprises a list of popular culture works referencing BW or bioterrorism, but not those pertaining to natural, or unintentional, epidemics.