Alien from the Deep (1989)

Director Antonio Margheriti brings us another Italian “homage” to Alien with this creature from outer space gone amok movie.  Here we have a couple of Green Peace members showing up on an island to expose the evil doings of an evil chemical company that is dumping nuclear waste into a volcano.  You might ask yourself what is a chemical company doing with nuclear waste…  This isn’t the kind of movie where you ask logical questions okay?  Anyway this makes the volcano super fueled that attracts an alien that is biological and metal.  It shows up and starts to melt and infect everyone that it comes into touch with.  Lucky for the Earth there is a mad scientist type that has figured out a hydrogen thing that will kill it.  Though they just end up tossing it into the volcano with a bulldozer. 

The best way for me to describe this movie is with the word ridiculous.  Alien from the Deep is a very silly and goofy movie that is trying to cash in on the success of the Aliens franchise.  That said the creature is a minor player in the plot and only shows up until we are almost an hour into the movie.  Most of the movie is about the evil company and the man in charge of it’s operations on the island vs. those trying to expose what is happening.  So we get a long chase across the island followed by a rescue attempt to spring the person that was caught.  Hell even when the alien shows up it really is just used as a plot device to bring the story to an end.  Still even though it isn’t what I thought it was going to be Alien from the Deep is paced pretty well and is sort of fun from start to finish.  That is again keeping in mind that it is way over the top and is never to be taken seriously.

Since we are on the subject of things not to be taken seriously we need to talk about the special effects.  Right off the top I need to mention a couple of hilarious bits where someone falls or jumps from a high place.  Both times it is a really badly done shot with a dummy that rivals the famous one from Zombie Holocaust (though the limbs do stay attached on this one).  But the creature design is even better then this.  For most of the movie it is a claw that chases the cast around with the rest of it out of sight.  Think Kong grabbing Fae Wray for what most of the action sequences look like.  When we do finally see the creature it kind of looks like a giant garbage can on stilts with a single oversized claw attached to it’s side.  Instead of looking scary I was laughing at the big reveal.  Though that isn’t necessarily a bad thing since I was still enjoying what was on the screen. 

I’ve told many of my friends who roll their eyes when I start talking about a movie like this that Italian “homage’s” (rip-off is such a nasty term) can be an acquired taste.  They normally have a lower budget and a higher quotient of cheese then the movies that inspired them.  But if you dig this sort of flick then I think that Alien from the Deep is one that you will enjoy.  Like I said it is ridiculous, but lots of fun.

3 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer

© Copyright 2011 John Shatzer