I can't believe this was on Turner Classic Movies last night! I want to meet the programmer for TCM Underground and buy him a beer because they've shown some really interesting stuff in their brief history.
OK, it's a B-Movie and the ending made me go "huh? That's IT?" But aside from that, watching the characters get picked off and the way they happen is pretty entertaining, esp for a movie from 1981. Within the first 10 minutes you realize this is a B-Movie and, at least IMO, you can let my guard down a bit, remove your thinking cap and have some fun. I wouldn't be surprised if people started yelling back at the screen when this was in theaters. In fact, I saw this in theaters as a kid and one lady in the audience said in a really tiny but audible voice "Run, Joanie, Run!"
Which brings me to my second point: Galaxy of Terror is damn fascinating because of the people involved. If you're a movie producer try paying Robert Englund, Sid Haig, Zalman King, Ray Walston (well, he's dead but he was a known commodity), Erin Moran, James Cameron & Bill Paxton these days. Erin would probably be the only one to come cheap and yet here they all are working for schlock-meister Roger Corman and Cameron wasn't even the director! There's something intrinsically cool about that.
This whole thread reminds me of the Simpsons episode where John Waters tries to explain the concept of "camp" to Homer as "something so bad it's good" and all he hears are crickets. There's lot of fun "bad" movies especially from the 50s & 60s and I enjoy them all for their uniqueness. This is where "Hollow Man" et al fall short. They took themselves too seriously and were marketed as such therefore they come across as disappointments when really it should've been fun. If that makes me insane for appreciating this movie then get my strait-jacket ready.
Gene(points at his arm pit:Get a waft of that,man stink. See if that doesn't moisten your gusset!
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