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Dead Space (film)
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Wikipedia article
'Dead Space (Also known as Cosmic Virus Starsship Lab)' is a 1991 American science-fiction horror film directed by Fred Gallo and produced by Roger Corman.
Plot
In the research facility on the planet Phablos, a virus is created in a botched experiment which turns those infected into monsters. An emergency distress call is sent from the lab.
A spacecraft crewed by Commander Steve Krieger and robot sidekick Tinpan respond to the emergency call from the planet, but their craft is attacked and damaged on the way to Phablos.
Upon their arrival at Phablos, those in charge of the laboratory explain that they have managed to contain the virus. Krieger accepts the lab's claims and begins repairs on his ship. The scientist had not been entirely honest with Krieger, and had been attempting to study the virus rather than contain it.
Unfortunately, the virus escapes and infects a lab worker, leaving the lab to face a killer virus that turns them into alien monsters.
Krieger and Tinpan attempt to stop the monster, but their weapons prove ineffective. One of the lab workers develops a bioweapon that proves effective in stopping the monster.
Production
The movie is a remake of the 1982, Roger Corman-produced horror film 'Subject 20' and while there are minor differences, it still retains the original new main storyline and new character set-up. Singer said that he had fun shooting the movie, and felt that it was an "unpretentious, rip-roaring space adventure."Jankiewicz, P. King of the Beast. Starlog 271. p. 65 Feb. 2000 The film had a working title of Biohazard. Some of the space battle effects were reused from Battle Beyond the Stars.
The effects team wanted a monster different from anything that had been seen before, a task made more complicatied as the movie was shot in three weeks. An inner harness was developed which allowed for rapid mobility of the actor in the monster suit. GM foam and hair inserts were used to show the transformation of human into monster.Gorezone #18
Home Release
In 2010, Shout! Factory released the film on DVD, packaged as a double feature with 'The Terror Within' as part of the 'Roger Corman's Cult Classics' collection.
As of January 2022, the movie is available to stream for free on many sites, including Tubi, Plex and the Shout streaming app https://www.roku.com/whats-on/movies/dead-space?id=996f2c477df85113a898c35b6d6a9c72
Cast
* Marc Singer as Commander Steve Krieger
* Laura Tate as Dr. Marissa Salinger
* Bryan Cranston as Dr. Frank Darden
* Judith Chapman as Dr. Emily Stote
* Randy Reinholz as Tim
* Frank Roman as Sal Dickens
* Lori Lively as Jill Tollman
* Greg Blanchard as Joe
* Rodger Halston as Tinpan (as Rodger Hall)
* Liz Rogers as Devon Latham
Reception
Tv Guide found the movie a weak entry into the man versus monster genre. It felt it borrowed heavily from Alien and Star Wars and had many plot holes. While Gorezone liked the technical aspects of the monster effect, it preferred the original Forbidden World to this remake. It also stated that the monster seemed more of a mutant dinosaur than mutated human.Gorezone 118 IGN found the movie to be a typical Corman movie, but that the movie was notable for Bryan Cranston in one of his earliest roles.
References
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