THE TERROR WITHIN

1989 / Director. Thierry Notz.
Review by Glenn Cochrane.

When I was 12 years old I had a huge poster of THE TERROR WITHIN hanging on my bedroom wall. The image mesmerised me and to this day I wish I still had it. I first saw the movie when it was a new release rental on VHS. My dad's love of sci-fi infected me and I remember being giddy with excitement by this schlockiest of rip-offs. Almost every movie that Roger Corman produces is derivative of something popular and THE TERROR WITHIN is no exception. Taking it's cues from ALIEN and THE THING the story takes place in a post-apocalyptic future where the Earth's surface is occupied by vicious mutants while the remaining humans live underground. As this is a low budget affair these remaining humans are represented but a small handful of researchers living in a research facility. When they find a distressed young woman on the surface they take her inside. Unbeknownst to them she is pregnant and within hours a grotesque mutant bursts from her stomach and escapes into the ventilation system. From this moment the movie is a search and destroy flick. Flame throwers, lasers and the biggest walkie talkies you've ever seen. As cliched and uninspired as the movie is, it's still a hell of a lot of fun. The mutant creature is both awesome and hilarious with it's rubbery man-suit coated in slime and equipped with massive claws. It looks like the creature from the black lagoon... I love this quality and it elevates an ordinary movie to something far more B and cult worthy. The gore is also wonderful, albeit contrived, and no vials of blood were spared. It had been years since I watched THE TERROR WITHIN and I think it has help up remarkably well. Check it out movie nerds. It was followed by a sequel and I'll be sure to revisit that again soon too. Stay tuned. 

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