*** This review may contain spoilers *** *Plot and ending analyzed*A mix of the films, The Dark (1979), The Hidden (1987), I Come in Peace (1990), and Predator 2 (1990), it really does do much with the topic involved.First of all, the problem with Something Is Out There" (1988) is the sheer time itself. On TV, this clocked in at 5 hours, and what a waste of time. I kept waiting for it to get better, but it didn't.I like the corny intro and sappy 80' music, but not much else is worthy in this lazy production. Even the creature itself is hampered by fuzzy and dark camera work that obscures it. Rick Baker did the work on it.Well, the plot is layered with so many layers of filler, mostly the dumb cop arguing with everyone else. Family matters, his smoking addiction, and his relationship with the police commissioner's daughter played by a dull Kim Delaney, fills the run time.Robert Webber (12 Angry Men (1957), The Dirty Dozen (1967), and Midway (1976)) is the police commissioner. He's wasted in this sluggish production.A space prison ship that has some "evil" alien that takes over the mind's of the other prisoners destroys the power of the prison ship. A medical officer is the only one who survives, and well, she's hunting the alien on earth. She meets up an extremely unlikeable cop. His pal is George Dzundza. That's about it. They find the alien with relative ease. Throw in some stupid moments where everyone gets infected with the alien and then it ends.A lot of time is wasted on nothing at all, as I said, all they do is talk. What action there is doesn't have any dramatic effect at all. It all is a very tedious experience.

This 3-hour-long made-for-TV movie is actually a thoroughly entertaining sci-fi/horror hybrid. Two cops are on the trail of a ghastly urban serial killer which turns out to be a villainous alien xenomorph creature. A beautiful human female alien, also stuck on earth, is out to hunt it down. Joseph Cortese is the capable lead and Maryam d'Abo pulls her (sexy) weight alongside him. The pacing of the story is a bit off-balanced at times, but the ride remains consequently entertaining. Along the lines of Jack Sholder's "The Hidden" (1987), though a bit more largely scaled, with some great special effects and vintage creature designs by Rick Baker.

Detectives Jack Breslin (Joe Cortese) and Frank Dileo (George Dzundza) are investigating a serial-killer, who slaughters his victims and removes their internal organs. While in the crime scene, Jack notices the constant presence of a beautiful young woman, Ta'Ra (Maryam d'Abo). He finds her and is convinced that she is a doctor from a prison in the outer space. She explains that the murderer is a powerful alien, who is able to change his appearance, that escaped from prison, and she is chasing him. They join forces trying to eliminate the menace to planet Earth. "Something Is Out There" is a good sci-fi B-movie, using a similar storyline of "The Hidden" (1987). The story mixes crime, horror, sci-fi and action, and has in the beauty of the British Maryam d'Abo one of its greatest attraction. There are some good lines, and the movie is a good entertainment. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "Criatura Infernal" ("Infernal Creature")

Its a shame this piece of 80's goodness went virtually unnoticed. You had a very sexy alien, a hard jawed and jaded cop, and a shapeshifting alien all brought together to do battle in Los Angeles. Sure, other movies have had similar plotlines but what set Something is Out There apart from the overall premise, was that the characters had weight to match their looks and agenda. Its not enough that the jaded cop is uninterested of all the grisly murders going on in LA, it turns out that they are caused by one alien trying to assimilate into a lifeform suitable for earth, but he doesn't believe in aliens. Until, he meets Ta'ra who is the sole survivor of her crew, duty bound to stop the alien unwitingly released on Earth. And before that happend she was a simple med tech on board her prison ship, interested in doing her job well, the occasional romantic interlude with a male crew member and catching up on the captured broadcast of "Crime Story". Suddenly their lives intertwine into a life or death battle with the unstoppable. It did well enough to become a series and most of the episodes were really decent, but the demographics just weren't there and most viewers probably were turned off that the hunt to stop the orignal alien never was completed. SciFi channel sometimes airs this series but it deserves better, at least a run on home video if not DVD.