Galaxy of Terror

Galaxy of Terror (1981)

The movie opens with the last survivor of a crashed ship sending out a distress call before some large and dangerous looking creature attacks and kills him. Then the action shifts to a planet where it’s leader (his head conveniently covered in some energy field) handpicks a crew for the rescue mission. But they also end up crash landing on the planet and when they investigate the other ship are attacked by an unknown creature. Realizing that the energy field that caused the ship to crash is emanating from a nearby pyramid they had off to investigate. Along the way they start to lose more crew members to some mysterious force that seems intent on killing them all. Eventually the mystery of the structure and why they were handpicked for the mission is revealed to the surviving crewmember. But what will they do with the information and will they ever get off the planet?

So when I sat down to what Galaxy of Terror I was all prepared for an Alien “inspired” film like many from the late 70s early 80s. While there are the requisite large creatures that attack and kill some of the crew the movie takes a decidedly strange turn and becomes more Science Fiction and less monster movie. If you are one of those people that hate “spoilers” then stop reading my review right now. Okay you have been warned. See the crew isn’t actually being killed off by aliens, but by their own fears. So while there are monsters in the movie they are all different. Each of the “monsters” in this movie are inspired by and play into the fears of their victims. This was not at all what I expected, and I have to say I was interested. But with that sort of positive start I was a bit disappointed that movie drags quite a bit towards the last third and the ending is really unsatisfying. And I’m not even sure that unsatisfying is a descriptive enough word. Galaxy of terror has a great deal of build up for what ends up being a rather ho hum and confusing conclusion. This is the single biggest problem with the movie and takes a lot away from the fun. Though I do want to give the movie credit for not just being another Alien like monster movie.

The cast is decent and filled with genre vets. Sid Haig is pretty good in his role, but I wish he had more lines. Though the one line he does have was sort of forced on him (according to the special features) as he wanted to play the part mute. We also get to see a young Robert Englund get plenty of screen time as one of the crew. If that weren’t enough Erin Moran of Happy Days fame portrays a psychic and is actually quite good. But the real topper is Ray Walston playing a mysterious member of the crew that was added at the last moment.

The effects from Galaxy of Terror are a mixed bag. Some of the sets are pretty damn impressive. Also some of the practical effects are cool with monsters and severed arms. I did laugh a little when some pretty bad stop motion showed up on screen. But then in these days of crappy CGI I did realize I was smiling at the old school feel of the effects. Overall for a lower budget movie it looks decent enough and more importantly the effects don’t’ undermine the story.

The positives: decent cast, and some good effects. The negatives: a story that can be slow and some dated effects. Overall I enjoyed the movie, but this really isn’t a must see.

2 ½ out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer