James Reviews The Terror Within / Dead Space Double Feature [Roger Corman Cult Classics DVD Review]

With the recent passing of Dino De Laurentiis, it had me thinking of the other prolific genre producer who is still kicking around with movie projects. That man is Roger Corman, another icon in the film business, and looking down the list of films Corman has produced, you see first time directors, has beens, stars to be, remakes, retellings and various other degrees of genre films that the film goer loves to see. And this time around, Shout! Factory has released another double feature set in their ‘grindhouse-esque’ style, showcasing two lesser known films, and showing a few trailers to pad the films together.

The Terror Within is an Alien ripoff if I’ve ever seen one, but it’s such a fun one that you forgive it for the copied scenes, almost to the point where you shake your head and wonder if you’re sleeping and your dream is a lower budget version. But Alien didn’t have a weird mutated beast that rapes women in order to impregnate them and then its children burst out of the women. John Hurt didn’t realize he had it so lucky.

The film has George Kennedy slumming a bit, but he does wonders with what he has. His ragtag crew believe they are the last survivors of some sort of war that looks to have gone out, because their base is surrounded by rocks and desert. These mutants, or ‘gargoyles’ as they call them, patrol the land looking to rip the men apart and have their way with the women. It’s a B-movie and for that, I’m thankful. It’s a fun little flick that has some decent special effects and the acting from the main characters is competent. A worthy first feature in a two-for-one.

The second film on the disc is a doozy, for many reasons. It’s called Dead Space and has nothing to do with the video game series at all. A remake of Corman’s earlier Forbidden World (1982), this film stars Mr. Beastmaster himself, Marc Singer (looking ripped as usual). He’s playing a Han Solo type character named Krieger, who gets a distress call from the planet Phaebon, where there’s a research facility in a bit of trouble. A virus is on the loose and it’s up to Captain Krieger and his robot pal Tinpan to fight the virus before it becomes a monstrous behemoth. The film has some hokey dialogue, has a short running time (about 80 minutes) and some cheesy effects. But it’s also worth seeing for a young Bryan Cranston, now a three time Emmy winner, as Darden, a scientist who might be doing more harm than good.

Ultimately, it makes perfect sense why the two films were paired together. They are lesser Corman films, but both are fun films that are worthy of a night with friends, feeling as if they were seeing a true double feature, which isn’t around anymore for the most part. The films are once again shown with trailers in the beginning and the middle of the two features, which are other Corman releases, such as Not of This World, Up From the Depths, Galaxy of Terror and the far superior Forbidden World. You even get a commentary track on Dead Space from director Fred Gallo. Don’t go by the Amazon info page for the release, because it mentions a commentary on The Terror Within that doesn’t exist.

Shout! Factory again proves why they are becoming the genre lover’s equivalent to Criterion. They put out films you remember watching late at night, clean them up better than they’ve ever looked and add some extras, a bit of flair if you will, to make it worth your while. Another quality release with two lesser known films. A fun 3 hours that you should definitely share with others. It also makes me miss the good old days of film production company Concorde.