80s horror and b-movie cult trash Part 4

The misses just keep coming! I take on three more 80s horror flicks that got taken out with the garbage.

FORBIDDEN WORLD (aka: Mutant) (1982)

Any movie that opens with a spaceship shootout that looks like cutting room floor footage from Battlestar Galactica gets my vote for an 80s essential. Even the robot manning the ship (actually, roboting the ship) looks like the spawn of a Cylon and a biker scout from Return of the Jedi.

After this pointless battle, the robot takes his human passenger to a faraway planet to help a bunch of scientists trying to create a galactic food source. Instead, they come up with a new life form that looks suspiciously like a Facehugger from Alien. And the mirroring of sc-fi faves of the time continues with a scene that will give you flashbacks to the Sand People segment of Star Wars.

The Facehugger begins mutating, eventually becoming a big black spider monster with huge teeth. Aside from this awesome creature, Forbidden World has plenty of other great stuff to offer. The scary all-synth music cues rule and the spaceship is drenched in red lighting.

There’s nudity and gore. There’s a chick constantly reacting to some sign of horror with piercing screams. And the other chick on board would go on to be Lydia, a Visitor whose bitchiness was no match against Diana’s diva greatness on V.

DEAD SPACE (1991)

Okay, it’s not from the 80s, but Dead Space needs to be included here because it’s actually a remake of Forbidden World. Ironically, it features another V alum, sexy Marc Singer.

By making a near duplicate of a film that wasn’t even ten years old, Dead Space perfectly demonstrates how bad the 90s straight-to-video era was after the brilliance that was the 80s. There is absolutely no spirit here, which is always a good indicator that a horror movie came from the 90s. The set is saturated in bright white light. Yawn. There’s less gore. The sex scene is just a dream. If there was a musical score, I didn’t even notice it.

There are a few pluses to this remake. Marc Singer’s hot, sweaty chest bookends the film. The cheese-tastic 80s spider with teeth is gone, replaced by a much more horrific alien creature in keeping with films of its time (Leviathan, Deep Star Six, etc.), plus the battle to the death is more action-packed and much more elaborate. And finally, there’s a rockin’ jump scare proceeding the sex scene.

THE TERROR WITHIN (1989)

Too awesome. Adorable Andrew Stevens and fricking Bryan Cranston take on a Rawhead Rex clone in an underground bunker after the apocalypse. Need I say more? I may not need to, but I always do.

During a trip above ground, this group of survivors comes upon a terrified woman, so they take her back down with them. Turns out she’s pregnant with the baby of one of these mutant creatures called Gargoyles (even though they look like Rawhead Rex, not gargoyles).

We get a classic belly burst and then the baby crawls up into the ventilation system. There’s a whole lot of time spent in the vents in this film, but eventually, the monster comes front and center for relentless chases and battles. 80s creature feature trash at its best.