Subject 20’s final form - something like a spider-Xenomorph hybrid made out of paper mache - is less impressive than some of its earlier stages, but the journey is a lot of fun. No doubt inspired by the Xenomorph’s unique life cycle in Alien, Subject 20 is a metamorph whose genetic structure mutates as it grows, and the creature is largely kept obscured by shadows and fast cuts. Colby wants to terminate it and go home (“If it moves and it’s not one of us, shoot it.”), but the crew convinces him to help contain it. One of the facility’s experiments has gone wrong, leaving a genetic mutant known as Subject 20 on the loose in the space station. Cal Timbergen ( Fox Harris, Repo Man), lab technician Jimmy Swift ( Michael Bowen, Kill Bill), electrician Brian Beale ( Ray Oliver, Child’s Play), and head of security Earl Richards ( Scott Paulin, Teen Wolf). Barbara Glaser ( June Chadwick, V), lab assistant Tracy Baxter ( Dawn Dunlap), chief of bacteriology Dr. Gordon Hauser ( Linden Chiles), genetic synthesis expert Dr. Upon arrival, Colby meets the team: head of research Dr. He’s being rerouted to the remote desert planet of Xarbia to address an accident at a high-security research facility, where they’re experimenting with genetic engineering to create a new food source. SAM awakens Mike Colby ( Jesse Vint, Silent Running) from his cryogenic slumber, informing the commander that his flight home has been diverted. 1”) as quick flashes of footage from later in the movie provide near-subliminal stimulation. Taking a lead from 2001: A Space Odyssey, the scene is set to classical music (Beethoven’s “The Piano Concerto No. The emergency signal goes off, setting the plot in motion. Robertson ( Beastmaster 2) came up with a treatment in part inspired by Corman’s Attack of the Crab Monsters, for which they receive story credit, and then first-timer Tim Curnen was hired to write the screenplay.įorbidden World opens with a hypnotic, pulsating visual before pulling out from the monitor to reveal a spaceship cockpit piloted by SAM-104, an android that looks like a cross between Star Wars‘ stormtroopers and Battlestar Galactica‘s Cylons. Jim Wynorski ( Chopping Mall, Beastmaster 2) and R.J. Holzman’s original concept was “Lawrence of Arabia in space,” but Corman deemed the idea too expensive, so they agreed to do something in the vein of Alien instead. He gave Allan Holzman, who had edited a few pictures for him and wanted to direct, a matter of days to conceive a prologue to be shot on the set that weekend, with the rest to be written and filmed months later. In true Corman fashion, he decided on a whim during the production of Galaxy of Terror that he wanted to utilize a space ship interior before the set was taken down. But Forbidden World (also known as Mutant and as Subject 20) - which celebrates its 40th anniversary this week - is the more interesting case study. Galaxy of Terror is more blatantly derivative of Alien, but its cast features horror icons Robert Englund and Sid Haig and the crew includes a young James Cameron and Bill Paxton. Never one to miss an opportunity to make a quick buck, the trailblazing producer oversaw Galaxy of Terror for release in 1981 and followed it up with yet another Alien knock-off, Forbidden World, in 1982.īoth Corman productions have their charms. Not surprisingly, Roger Corman wasn’t far behind. The Italians were first to strike, rushing the boldly titled Alien 2: On Earth into theaters less than a year after Alien‘s release, and Luigi Cozzi’s Contamination followed shortly after. Its first sequel wouldn’t come for another seven years, but the interim was filled with a variety of imitators hoping for a piece of the intergalactic pie. Despite being met with mixed reviews upon its release in 1979, the massive box office success made it clear that audiences loved Ridley Scott’s Alien.
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