The Deadly Spawn

aka Return of the Alien's Deadly Spawn

Director - Douglas McKeown
Starring - Charles Hildebrandt, Tom DeFranco (Dr. Alien), and Richard Porter
Release Date - 1983
Genre - Horror/Sci-Fi
Tagline - "The ultimate eating machine" and "They came to Earth to feed on human flesh"

Rating (out of 5):

 

     I had seen the posters and dvd artwork for this flick on horror movie sites for years but never paid them any attention.   It wasn't until I was watching this years Cinemassacre's Monster Madness series that I really had any desire to see this film.  For those of you that don't know what Monster Madness is, it is a month long series aired during October every year by James Rolfe.  Most of you may know him as the Angry Video Game Nerd (a review of his videos is coming soon).  Monster Madness is where he explores everything horror and each year there is a theme he follows when choosing movies to review.  His theme this year was 80's with his Monster Madness 80's-a-thon.  Anyway, being a huge fan of Rolfe  like I am, I decided to head out to FYE in search of The Deadly Spawn dvd where I found it very cheap.  However, once I got home and started researching stuff on it I was a little confused by what I was finding when I searched for it.  I kept running across a flick called Return of the Alien's Deadly Spawn and assumed it had a sequel but when I would search on imdb it pulled up just the Deadly Spawn.  After looking through a few horror sites I finally found out that the company that released The Deadly Spawn changed the title to capitalize on Ridley Scott's Alien by making it seem like a sequel. 

     The film follows a young horror aficionado living with his brother, mother, and father.  Also staying with them are his aunt and his psychologist uncle.  In the woods, near their home, a meteor crashes and a creature escapes and devours two campers.  The creature then seeks refuge in the young boys basement.  The following morning, while preparing for a trip, the young boy's mother and father go down into the basement and are, you guess it, E.T. food.  The aunt and uncle are there to keep an eye on the kids while their parents are out of town so when the parents are no where to be found it is just assumed they left.  The young boy's uncle wants to study him and his obsession with horror movies and special effects.  He tells him that his father wanted him to go along with his study and he reluctantly allows him.  After a few questions regarding him and his hobbies the uncle falls asleep where he will remain the rest of the film.  The boy then leaves the room and goes about his normal day.  Also, the young boys brother is home and a group of his friends are there doing teenager stuff.  While this is taking place the aunt leaves and an electrician enters the basement and is devoured.  Each time the creature eats it grows in size and to make matters worse it has produced offspring that terrorizes a nearby house.  When the creature gets so big it then takes over the upper level of the house and the two brothers must fight to survive as their friends are turned into alien snacks.

     I surprisingly liked this movie.  It has everything a horror hound that grew up in the 80's would love...except boobage.  As I type this I am watching Critters and the two films have a lot in common.  This film, as well as Critters, follow a family as they fight off extraterrestrial carnivores in a huge country style home.   Anyway, this movie reeks of 80's and I love it.  What I really like about the film is the effects.  This movie is extremely bloody and gory.  We have decapitations, faces being skinned, and slug like creatures burrowing into people.  Also, the creatures looks amazing...for the most part.  In some scenes when you see the creature in an angle is looks like a purple headed yogurt slinger which is kind of ironic since the director wrote a book called "Queer Stories."  Anyway, back to the review.  The acting is decent with some of the cast out-staging the rest.  I also liked the story.  The flick felt like an alien version of Night of the Living Dead but reversed with the characters trying to escape the home instead of barricading it.  What I did not like about the film was the story seemed kind of lacking and some stuff was never explained.  In the film one of the main characters actually dies and the second actress is actually the survivor.  This is not something typical with a horror movie.  Also, at the end of the movie a mountain bursts and a giant creature erupts from it.  How long had that been there?  Was it the same one that was in the house?  Wish some of that stuff was answered a little better.  Overall, this movie is definitely worth your time and your money.  They do an amazing job on a $25,000 budget.  Check it out.