I used to watch this one on TV all the time in my childhood. It always seemed to be on just before or after midnight & it really couldn't have been on at a better time. For "Deep Space" is the kind of b-movie which made after dark channel surfing in the 90's a most rewarding experience. It's the kind of film which just hooks you with it's charm despite looking like every other low budget creature feature of the era. But when you have such a cliche ridden script in the hands of veteran character actors like Charles Napier, Ron Glass & Bo Svensen the end result is always going to entertain no matter how little it offers in the way of originality...
...And indeed the main reason to watch this film is for the cast & their wonderful chemistry. The creature at the centre of this feature is nothing to write home about & is quite clearly modelled on the Xenomorph from "Alien"/"Aliens". Albeit a Xenomorph with less mobility, but more teeth & tentacles to make short work of it's victims. The deaths are plentiful, but most of these occur off-screen. In fact the only time we really get to see the creatures in action is during the non-fatal attack sequences. And notice I said CREATURES here as there is more than one. But don't be misled into thinking we have a horde of them neither! There is only one hulking main monster while the addition of a few of it's smaller siblings lends an otherwise predictable film an unexpected air of unpredictability...
..."Deep Space" may be a misleading title since the film takes place entirely on Earth & the origin of the creatures themselves is far less extraterrestrial than you'd expect. In fact it turns out that this is not a case for the men in black at all. It's actually those men in white (lab coats) who are the focal point of the story. Behind them we have the usual military presence you'd expect to see in such scenarios, but with this being the late 80's the audience is given a couple of buddy cops as their unwitting guides. The late great actors Charles Napier & Ron Glass play the two cops to perfection, imbuing them with more quirks & characterisation than was likely on the pages they read from...
...Like a middle aged Crockett & Tubbs, these two likeable law enforcers are constantly at odds with their boss (played superbly by Bo Svensen) & seemingly always on the verge of suspension. They stumble upon a mysterious case of severed limbs strewn across what appears to be a crash site for something which they're not meant to know about. A few run ins with the FBI later & these two are abruptly taken off the case by their ever disapproving boss. But like any unarthodox 80's cop pair they cannot leave it alone & soon enough they find themselves in the middle of a 50's style b-movie with a rampaging monster. And this is exactly what "Deep Space" is at heart. Much like the same year's "The Blob" (which begins almost exactly the same), the film is a throwback to the kind of drive in Horror movies which became cult classics decades earlier. But with a strictly 80's sensibility. And like the 1988 remake of "The Blob" it is a damn good time which deserves to be experienced by more!
S. S. S.
...And indeed the main reason to watch this film is for the cast & their wonderful chemistry. The creature at the centre of this feature is nothing to write home about & is quite clearly modelled on the Xenomorph from "Alien"/"Aliens". Albeit a Xenomorph with less mobility, but more teeth & tentacles to make short work of it's victims. The deaths are plentiful, but most of these occur off-screen. In fact the only time we really get to see the creatures in action is during the non-fatal attack sequences. And notice I said CREATURES here as there is more than one. But don't be misled into thinking we have a horde of them neither! There is only one hulking main monster while the addition of a few of it's smaller siblings lends an otherwise predictable film an unexpected air of unpredictability...
..."Deep Space" may be a misleading title since the film takes place entirely on Earth & the origin of the creatures themselves is far less extraterrestrial than you'd expect. In fact it turns out that this is not a case for the men in black at all. It's actually those men in white (lab coats) who are the focal point of the story. Behind them we have the usual military presence you'd expect to see in such scenarios, but with this being the late 80's the audience is given a couple of buddy cops as their unwitting guides. The late great actors Charles Napier & Ron Glass play the two cops to perfection, imbuing them with more quirks & characterisation than was likely on the pages they read from...
...Like a middle aged Crockett & Tubbs, these two likeable law enforcers are constantly at odds with their boss (played superbly by Bo Svensen) & seemingly always on the verge of suspension. They stumble upon a mysterious case of severed limbs strewn across what appears to be a crash site for something which they're not meant to know about. A few run ins with the FBI later & these two are abruptly taken off the case by their ever disapproving boss. But like any unarthodox 80's cop pair they cannot leave it alone & soon enough they find themselves in the middle of a 50's style b-movie with a rampaging monster. And this is exactly what "Deep Space" is at heart. Much like the same year's "The Blob" (which begins almost exactly the same), the film is a throwback to the kind of drive in Horror movies which became cult classics decades earlier. But with a strictly 80's sensibility. And like the 1988 remake of "The Blob" it is a damn good time which deserves to be experienced by more!
S. S. S.