Movie Review- The Deadly Spawn

The Deadly Spawn is a very strange movie. It's strange in the fact that it feels like a 50's B-Movie, but it was made in the early 80's. Other than that, there's really nothing to this film. It's just sorta there; it's not horrible, but it certainly isn't good.

The main problem here is, as I said, is that the movie plays out like a 50's B-Movie. The storyline is nothing more than the overused "Aliens land and kill some people" plot that was so popular in the 1950's. I wouldn't have a problem with that, if this were meant to be an homage to the  B-Movies of old, but it's not, and so there's no excuse for the plot to be so bland. The dialog is also a bland medium between hilariously terrible and just plain terrible. There's no memorable lines, everything's forgettable. Then again, so is the rest of the movie.

The characters are all very bland, too. They're all one-dimensional, and exist solely to keep the shambling husk of the plot moving. Fortunately, they aren't annoying stereotypes. Unfortunately, there's nothing to these characters other than being eaten by the aliens. And the acting is really poor, too. The character Charles in particular. He's really the only stereotype here, the "weird little kid who likes monster movies too much", but the script makes this stereotype even more bland than it already was. He spends most of the movie completely unfazed by the rampaging aliens. In fact, the first time he sees the aliens, which are eating his parents, he doesn't even bat an eye.

The only good things are about this movie are the special effects. Most of the budget seems to have gone to the alien puppets, and it really shows. This movie was made for about $25K, and for the budget, the effects are really convincing. On the DVD, there's a bit of behind-the-scenes footage that shows how some of the effects were employed, and they're all very clever. But special effects alone couldn't save this movie.

Overall, this is a very boring and cheap movie, with very little cinematic value. It's just so darn dull that it makes you question why someone took the time to grind out this waste of time. And while the effects are interesting, it's nowhere near enough to improve the film's quality. This is definitely a movie to skip.


Enjoyment: 1/5

Quality: 1/5

IMDB Page- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087998/