Sunday 11 September 2011

A Far From Human Birth



‘Inseminoid’ (1981) is a pretty sleazy film, but it has some interesting moments, not least its attempts to remake parts of ‘Alien’ in Chiselhurst Caves in Kent on a vastly reduced budget.

The story (set in 2001) concerns a group of scientists / archaeologists working in an underground lab on a poisonous alien planet. Sandy (Judy Geeson) is attacked, raped and impregnated by a monstrous creature. Driven insane by the experience and under the malign control of her evil alien twin foetuses, she kills her colleagues one by one, dismembering them and drinking their blood.

‘Inseminoid’ had a budget of £1m (a pretty paltry amount in industry terms, a career high for Warren) and is surprisingly ambitious: it has an elaborate set, lots of costumes, stars (Geeson, Stephanie Beacham, some real life Americans), and even some overseas filming (Malta doubled as the alien planet’s surface). It isn’t any good, of course, and it can be quite unpleasant, but it’s an interesting film, not least because it was one of the first productions to bomb at the box office but become a success through video sales, a pattern that, with a few refinements, has become the predominant industry template / fall back position for almost every film made these days.

1 comment:

  1. I love all of mr Warren's films (yes, that does include Bloody New Year), and this is no exception.
    A sickening premise, made even better by some delicious nudity from Judy Geeson (which she genuinely appears to have forgotten about during an interview I watched recently).
    Improves with repeat viewings, and the soundtrack is well worth tracking down.
    I prefer this to Alien.

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