The Eighties Sci-Fi Thread.

[Susan Foreman]

Originally Posted by iank

The Hidden is AWESOME. I saw it again last year for the first time in decades and just adored it, so OTT. Pure 80s madness - they just really don't make movies like that anymore!

Thank Goddess!!!

*Joke!

[Inspector Abberline]

Without Warning (1980)
One thing that can be said for the 1970's and 1980's exploitation cinema,is that it kept alot of older characters in work. From the town drunk to the local mayor to the washed up town sheriff right down to the hooker with a heart of gold, any B-movie actor who had an alcohol problem or drug addiction to feed was always gainfully employed in some low budget slasher or sci-fi hokum. With a cast not to dissimilar to Jack Sholfder's Alone in the Dark (1982 ) which would re-unite Jack Palance and Martin Landau together for that 80-s slasher. The plot of Without Warning (1980) is not to dissimilar to Predator (1987) Umm Kevin Peter Hall even plays the alien here also. A skinny tall alien with a big bulbous head strolls the back woods shooting starfish like objects with teeth onto people that get in his way.The OAP cast are grumpiest argumentative bunch this side of Last of the Summer Wine,Jack Palance as Joe Taylor ,Martin Landau as Fred 'Sarge' Dobbs,Neville Brand as Leo ,Ralph Meeker as Dave and Cameron Mitchell as a gun nut toting father who gets his early on in the film.Amongst all the wrinkles is a very fresh faced looking David Caruso,an actor ive never really cared for,for some reason he never ever seems to smile.Also in amongst all the B movie faces is some talent behind the screen,Dean Cundey who was director of photography on pretty much every decent horror movie that came out of 1980's and Greg Cannom no slouch either who seems to have done effects work on every film ever made since. This probably explains why this low budget monster flick works so well , when others have fallen by the way side,its a nicely paced barking mad film,of course the alien is pretty kept hidden in the dark for most of the film apart from the face off between him and Jack Palance at the end.Greydon Clark the director worked with Al Adamson as an actor and also directed Black Shampoo,not sure if that's plus or what? but hey if you wanna kick back and enjoy the 80's again you could watch alot worse.



1/2 out of 5

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Battle Beyond the Stars (1980)

Bizarre_Eye's family were overjoyed to see him.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Altered States (1980)

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Blade Runner (1982)

[Inspector Abberline]

Outland (1981)
Taking its cue from the dirt under the finger nails working class astronaut slaving away for a big corporation,Outland (1981) borrows a lot from the first Alien movie with its industrial setting and disgruntled workforce.Federal Marshal William O'Niel (Sean Connery) is a new Marshall on mining colony run by Conglomerates Amalgamated,the running of which is over seen by manager Mark Sheppard (Peter Boyle). When a string of what looks like suicides start happening, Marshal William O'Niel uncovers an organised drug trafficking operation that is selling the drugs to the workforce to try and get there productivity up.Unfortunately the drug has some major psychotic side effects that send its users over the top and eventually mental.Federal Marshal William O'Niel then finds out that the whole drug operation is run by Mark Sheppard (Peter Boyle) ,which eventually leads to a showdown between the Marshal and a group of hired killers. Its no secret that Peter Hymams wanted to make a western,so combining High Noon with a bleak industrial sci-fi landscape make for a rather interesting concept and one of the more interesting science fiction films of the 1980's. Sean Connery as Marshal William T. O'Niel is his usual reliable good self,playing the lone law-man up against the odds.In fact he gives a fairly unstated performance,leaving his bond persona behind and actually playing a three dimensional character. Peter Boyle of course is marvellous as the head bad guy,although he doesn't get that much screen time his character in the film is always omni present.Outland has a nice gritty atmosphere to it,and the feel and the design of the mining colony creates a realistic setting.Of course one of the reasons I fondly remember the film was for its splattery moments,head explosions,gunshots and the perils of what can happen when decompression takes its toll.Like Alien id say that Outland (1981) has had its influences over the years,Event Horizon and even the recent Moon directed by Duncan Jones share similarities and themes,that said Outland is still a good old fashioned science fiction thriller.

Marshal William T. O'Neil: Because... maybe they are right. They sent me here to this pile of shit because they think I belong here. I want to find out if... well if they're right. There's a whole machine that works because everybody does what they are supposed to. And I found out... I was supposed to be something I didn't like. That's what's in the program. That's my rotten little part in the rotten machine. I don't like it. So I'm going to find out if they're right.

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[Demdike@Cult Labs]

I've never seen Outland.

[Inspector Abberline]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

I've never seen Outland.

Im not sure how successful it was when first released,so I think it may well of fell under a lot of peoples radar,personally I prefer these sort of science fiction films to the Star wars and its ilk.

[Susan Foreman]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

I've never seen Outland.

Originally Posted by Inspector Abberline

Im not sure how successful it was when first released,so I think it may well of fell under a lot of peoples radar,personally I prefer these sort of science fiction films to the Star wars and its ilk.

I saw it at the Ritz Cinema in Gosport when it was first released!

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

I've never seen Outland.

Ditto.