Director: Bruce D. Clark
Starring: Edward Albert, Erin Moran, Ray Walston, Robert Englund
Year: 1981
These 80s low budget sci-fi/fantasy films with hand drawn cover art always get me, and sometimes they’re freakin awesome. Deathstalker, Forbidden World, and Krull are a few that come to mind, and Galaxy of Terror came before all three, so that’s to its credit, though it came after Alien, which it borrows heavily from. But it deserves a little nod for originality, and that’s where the positives end; otherwise it’s one of the worst movies I have ever seen.
A group of questionable men & women head to a far planet in search of a downed ship, all sent there by the Planet Master, who may have a scheme of his own that is unknown to them. Their mission is dangerous, just getting there is trouble, and once on the faraway world, they find that death waits around every corner. An entity of some sort is using their own fears against them, and they are being picked off one by one; will any of them survive to get back home and tell the tale?
It’s an abysmal failure from every angle, and Galaxy of Terror should lie forgotten at the bottom of a heap of old VHS tapes that may hide one or two gems, but this ain’t it. Think of all your favorite 80s space flicks, and then take out everything that made them good or fun. This film is pointless, aimless, boring, gross, and ultimately almost unwatchable, as characters do who knows what for who knows what reason for long enough that your brain feels fried. I do not recommend this product, would not buy again, minimum stars, official complaint.
My rating: ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆