The Terror Within
The Terror Within
| 20 January 1989 (USA)
The Terror Within Trailers

Experiments in biological warfare have destroyed all but a few remnants of the human race. Alone in a lab, eight students work feverishly to create a vaccine before they are forced outside in search for food. It is then that the surviving scientists discover creatures mutated by the plague. Now they prepare to do battle against their worst fear: The Terror Within.

Reviews
gpeltz

I am taking about "The Terror Within, 1989, A Roger Corman Production. Spoiler Alert. I will be talking about the plot, This movie has the iconic George Kennedy as the senior lead. A role well suited to the veteran Sci Fi ace. Here he leads a scientific exploration group in a post apocalyptic world. Along for the ride are the usual staff: From the grunt workers to the top. The cast,:Andrew Stevens as David, Starr Andreeff as Sue, Terri Treas as Linda, and a handful of others, go through their actions in earnest, Imagining themselves, I suppose, in a bigger budget production, where they are not terrorized by a guy in a rubber suit. Lord they do try, The picture looks good, all production values on the mark, the writers have a tendency to repeat sequences, things are done in pairs, search the lower decks, " is the baby human?" let's split up" Don't leave the control room, The flaws are breath taking, The plot takes a "Ten Little Indian" turn by midpoint, I am sorry, so sue me, but the monster on the soundtrack reminded me of the great Supy Sales's, off stage pet, "Black Tooth" Blarh ! So the crew is wiped out by reason of stupidity, The rubber guy got them and they did not even shoot their weapons or blow their whistles, All very entertaining, Take the kids, they won't get the "pregnant part" anyway. Real popcorn thrower. I give it Three out of Five "short of a hoot." Stars

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Scott LeBrun

"The Terror Within" is adequate sci-fi / horror, no more and no less. Still, it's about as good as a low budget Roger Corman knockoff could be; it's reasonably well produced (by Corman himself) and directed if mostly predictable and routine stuff.It takes place in a future world where most of humanity has been decimated by a chemical experiment that got out of control. But the people of the deep underground scientific base Mojave Station were able to administer themselves an antidote, and now they spend their time foraging for supplies and looking for other survivors. When members of their team encounter a crazed young woman (Yvonne Saa), they find that she's pregnant - but not with any human child. The resulting "gargoyle" that emerges when they try to abort it then proceeds to slaughter the hapless crew one schmuck at a time.To Cormans' credit, the sets look decent, and also giving the look of the movie some degree of quality is the work of cinematographer Rohn Schmidt, who's gone on to big things such as the feature film "The Mist" and the TV series 'The Walking Dead'. Rick Conrads' music is actually quite good while the creature effects by Dean Jones prove to be adequate. (In an interesting development, the monsters have super sensitive hearing, akin to that of dogs). However, the movie does so much cloning of "Alien" as to be somewhat groan inducing, right down to its creation of two comic relief characters (played by John Lafayette and Tommy Hinkley) clearly patterned after Parker and Brett from the '79 film. It manages to create some suspense, and come up with a somewhat cathartic finale.A committed B movie cast plays this as well as they can, with Oscar winner George Kennedy lending some credibility to the proceedings. Andrew Stevens (who went on to direct "The Terror Within II") is likable enough, as are lovely ladies Starr Andreeff and Terri Treas. Lafayette and Hinkley are able to generate some laughs, while both Saa and Andreeff supply any eye candy the viewer could want.If you can't get enough of this kind of thing, "The Terror Within" is certainly watchable if not inspired. As has already been said in other reviews, yes, you can do better, but you can also definitely do worse.Six out of 10.

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Woodyanders

A handful of folks hole up in an underground laboratory in a remote desert region after a plague wipes out most of mankind. Trouble ensues when a pregnant survivor gives birth to a vicious predatory mutant (Jack Valan in a gnarly rubber suit) who quickly grows to adult size and goes on a murderous rampage. Director Thierry Notz, working from a familiar, but serviceable script by Robert McKelvey (it's basically your umpteenth "Alien" rehash), does a capable job of creating and sustaining a grimly serious tone throughout, milks a considerable amount of claustrophobic suspense from the subterranean setting, delivers a handy helping of nasty gore, and stages the tense and thrilling climax with real skill and verve. This film starts out a bit too slow, but fortunately kicks into high gear and really starts cracking once the monster gets loose. The sound acting by the sturdy cast helps a lot: Andrew Stevens as the rugged David, George Kennedy as no-nonsense lab head Hal, Starr Andreeff as the sweet, spunky Sue, Terri Treas as tough, feisty doctor Linds, John LaFayette as the easygoing Andre, and Tommy Hinkley as wisecracking goofball Neil. Stevens' dog Butch is likewise impressive as a gutsy and protective expert tracking canine. Moreover, there are also a few effectively harsh touches which include an attempted abortion that goes hideously awry and an extremely brutal monster rape set piece. Ronn Schmidt's competent cinematography makes the most out of the desolate desert and tightly confined lab locations. Rick Conrad's shivery score does the spirited shuddery trick. A fun flick.

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macabro357

But what else would expect from the likes of Roger Corman?Chemical warfare experiment kills of most of the world's population. There are a few 'normal' people left like our protagonists (Andrew Stevens, George Kennedy, Teri Treas, etc..) and then there are the gargoyle-like creatures who impregnate female humans in order to procreate their own kind.See, Andrew Stevens & Co. are left inside an underground lab that spared them from the effects of the plague, so in one of their reconnaissance patrols out in the desert, they bring back a wounded human female (Yvonne Saa) to the complex in order to treat her. When they find out is that she is pregnant and that she was impregnated by one of the monsters, they decide to do an abortion. But just as they're about ready to perform the procedure, the little gargoyle pops out of her stomach ALIEN-style and escapes into one of the complex's air vents. It's an ok scene but we've all seen it before.Stevens & Co. then spend the rest of the movie trying to hunt down the creature as they are slowly being killed off one-by-one. The best scene is towards the end of the film when one of the gargoyles is trapped in the ventilation shaft and is cut up, sliced and diced by the fan blades. Pretty good although I wish it were more graphic.It looks like Corman & Co. spent a little bit of money on the set design but don't expect any of the fanciest gizmos from STAR WARS or any of the ALIEN sequels. At least the sets don't look too much like cardboard.Released on DVD the same time as THE NEST (Teri Treas appears in both), you could do a lot worse on a Saturday night. You could also do a lot better, too. 6 out of 10

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