Deep Space (1988)

Deep Space: Directed by Fred Olen Ray. With Charles Napier, Ann Turkel, Bo Svenson, Ron Glass. An American satellite with a new biological weapon gets out of control and crashes onto US territory. A slimy monster emerges and manages to escape, killing everyone who crosses his path. Police Lieutenant McLemore gets the job to stop the killing machine.

“The late, great character actor Charles Napier, a favourite of filmmakers Jonathan Demme and Russ Meyer, here has one of his rare leading roles. He plays Ian McLemore, your standard-issue rule-breaking, maverick police detective. He and his partner Jerry Merris (Ron Glass of u0026#39;Barney Milleru0026#39; fame) pick up the trail of a monster thatu0026#39;s crashed to Earth. But this is no actual extraterrestrial; itu0026#39;s a predatory life form that was designed by the government for use as a biological weapon. Various G-men try to stymy McLemoresu0026#39; efforts as he vows to find and destroy the rampaging, slime-spewing creature.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAfforded a relatively bigger budget than was usual for him, veteran B movie director Fred Olen Ray shows us a pretty good time with this one. Itu0026#39;s knowingly cheesy stuff; the actors stop short of winking for the camera, but there IS a definite tongue-in-cheek quality to the whole script (written by Ray and T.L. Lankford). Some of the lines ARE pretty dopey. And Ray u0026amp; company lightly poke fun at the conventions of the genre with their inclusion of various cliches (such as the hard-driving boss (Bo Svenson) who demands results). The body count is modest, but the monster is appropriately gnarly, the pace is good, and the movie generates some genuine chuckles along the way. It also features a unique seduction scene, as McLemore literally charms the pants off of hottie cop Sandbourn (Ann Turkel, u0026quot;Humanoids from the Deepu0026quot;) by donning a kilt and playing the bagpipes.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAs was often Raysu0026#39; style, he packs the cast with a number of familiar faces, some from B movies of old, like Anthony Eisley (u0026quot;The Wasp Womanu0026quot;), Norman Burton (u0026quot;Bloodsportu0026quot;), Michael Forest (u0026quot;Beast from Haunted Caveu0026quot;), Elisabeth Brooks (the temptress from u0026quot;The Howlingu0026quot;), James Booth (u0026quot;Avenging Forceu0026quot;), Fox Harris (u0026quot;Repo Manu0026quot;), and Rachel Howard (Chili in u0026quot;Friday the 13th Part IIIu0026quot;). Julie u0026quot;Catwomanu0026quot; Newmar plays a psychic lady who has to try to convince authorities that her information has merit. The engaging Napier, all full of swagger, has good chemistry with both the sexy Turkel and the amiable Glass.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Deep Spaceu0026quot; is no great shakes, but then itu0026#39;s not even *trying* to be. Itu0026#39;s merely good, straightforward entertainment that gives fans of the genre a good show for 91 reasonable minutes.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSeven out of 10.”