The Movies:

Shout! Factory has been doing a great job this year with the Roger Corman produced titles that they've licensed, reissuing titles previously available on DVD in massively upgraded editions and bringing a few new titles to the format as well. This double feature is a bit of both - it offers up an improved version of the previously available The Terror Within alongside the never before on DVD title, Dead Space. The titles fit together well, thematically at least, and make for a good pairing. Here's a look...

The Terror Within:

Directed in 1989 by Thierry Notz, The Terror Within is set in a future where a chemical warfare experiment has turned the planet into a post apocalyptic wasteland of sorts. While the surface world has been more or less wiped out, under the ground is a subterranean complex which houses a group of hardy survivors who are intent on finding an antidote that they can use to once again return to life above ground. Lead by Hal (George Kennedy) and made up of David (Andrew Stevens), a scientist named Linda (Terry Treas), a woman named Sue (Starr Andreeff), a mechanic named Andre (John Lafayette) and his assistant Neil (Tommy Hinkley) do what they can to survive, but it's not easy.

While on a routine mission to find some food, a few members of the party are attacked by the monsters that live on the planet's surface, leading Sue and David to go and investigate only to meet a similar fate. Those who survive the massacre discover a woman (Yvonne Saa) in need of help and bring her back to the facility only to find out she's pregnant. As they nurse her back to health, they soon learn the hard way that her baby is not a normal, healthy human child, but something very different and far more dangerous.

While it's not particularly original and owes a debt to a few horror movies that came before it (and obviously influenced it - Alien being the most obvious choice and a film which Corman's company would borrow from more than once), The Terror Within is, if nothing else, plenty entertaining. George Kennedy wanders around and periodically looks unenthused, while the rest of the cast do what they can with the material. The dialogue isn't particularly natural sounding, in fact it's a bit awkward and not really all that well written, but the plot moves along at a good pace and offers plenty of opportunity for monster mayhem to occur.

The effects aren't all that exciting but there's a fair bit of carnage on display in a couple of scenes. The set design is better than you'd probably expect it to be which allows for the film to actually generate a bit of suspense and tension towards the end. The Terror Within isn't a classic or anything, it's too derivative for that label to even come close to applying, but it is a fun, low budget B-movie with a few interesting cast members and a couple of standout scenes.

Dead Space:

Directed by Fred Gallo in 1991, this straight to video release stars Marc Singer as Krieger, a space pilot who, soon after we meet him, has some problems with his ship after making it out of a tense dog fight. As luck would have it, he intercepts a call for help and figures he can follow it to a planet where he just might be able to get his ship repaired. He and Tinpan (Roger Halston), his irritating robot sidekick, set course and arrive just in time for an alien invasion. Of course, being the hardened and rugged space pilot that he is, Krieger winds up front and center in trying to stop it from spreading and taking over the entire planet.

Dead Space is a bad movie. It was made late in the Alien rip off game and doesn't have the same resources behind it as other Corman knock offs and the movie definitely suffers for it. The sets are passable, but the actual creature never really moves - any time we see it, it's just sort of standing there and the film instead focuses on the cast members' reactions to said monster. This would be all well and good if the cast were good, but they're not. The acting is as bad as the effects and the pace and tone of the film is all over the place. On top of that, the picture is basically a remake of Forbidden World.

The film clocks in at just under seventy-five minutes and even at that brisk running time feels about fifteen minutes too long. There are some decent moments towards the end where things pick up but getting there is a bit of a chore. The film isn't completely unwatchable if your expectations are held in check and those who appreciate low budget knock offs will have fun with the film, but yeah, Dead Space is pretty bad (though it does feature a small role played by Bryan Cranston.

Video:

The Terror Within is presented in 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen and the transfer isn't bad at all even if it is pretty grainy in spots. Some minor print damage appears here and there in the form of specks and flecks but overall the picture is certainly pretty stable. Some minor compression artifacts creep into a few of the darker scenes but you won't likely notice them if you're not looking for them. Colors look nice and natural and all in all the movie looks pretty good. The second feature, Dead Space, is presented 1.33.1 fullframe. The framing looks good here, there's no obvious cropping so it might have been shot this way. Some scenes look a bit soft and the darker scenes are just a little bit murkier than they should be but these are pretty minor complaints. Generally the image is clean and perfectly watchable.