Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #59327 in DVD
• Released on: 2000-10-03
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Formats: Color, NTSC
• Running time: 97 minutes

Customer Reviews

One of the best Alien rip-offs
I have never seen a rip-off movie try so hard to be original. Director William Malone sure tries hard, in both his directing and his script, but still fails to show any originality. Everything fromt he female lead to the actual design of the creature itself is a direct steal from Alien. With that said I have to say that Creature is actually one of the better Alien rip-offs that I have seen, and believe me there are plenty of Alien rip-offs out there. Most are very poor (Star Crystal and Dead Space come to mind), and though Creature itself isn't a great film, it actually comes out as one of the better of the bunch. Most of the cast actually try to pull this film off, especially the Stan Ivar and Wendy Schaal, but a few of the cast members come off looking really bad in the acting department. And what about Klaus Kinski? THat man was considered a great actor in his time, so what is he doing in Creature? Whatever the reason, I was still glad to see him and his short but memorable presence brings the film up in quality level. So is Creature a good film? No. Is it cheesy? Yes, though it tries hard not to be. Is it entertaining? You bet. A great midnight film that deserves a proper DVD release. Diamond Entertaiment gives us a nicely priced disc but the picture quality is only slightly better than the original VHS release from Media Home Video. Though the image isn't the best, it is far from unwatchable, and it can make a great entry into any sci-fi fans DVD library.

TRIVIA: THe film ahd a budget of $4 million and was titled The Titan Find in other parts of the world. The special effects crew went on to do the special effects for Aliens a year after working on creature. (I guess Creature was good practice for them)

THIS IS A TRUE 'B' CREATURE FEATURE -- SHAMELESS EXPLOITATION - GORE - NUDITY & SCARY AT TIMES TOO
IN A NUTSHELL: A 'B' CREATURE FEATURE THAT TRIES VERY HARD TO OVERCOME ITS OWN LACK OF ORIGINALITY

Yes, everyone who has seen this film or is considering viewing it now is familiar with the 'Alien' trilogy. Too bad, because this film would be a decent cheesy 'B' Creature-Feature if the 'Alien' franchise did NOT exist. Since 'Creature' is so reminiscent of 'Alien' a comparison is inevitable. In such a comparison the praise and box-office success that 'Alien' has enjoyed as well as its staying power over the years seems to be justified. Again, that in a way is too bad, because if 'Creature' was not so suggestive of 'Alien' it might be a success as a 'B' Creature-Feature. Recall, 'The Blob', with Steve McQueen, or 'Tremors' with Kevin Bacon. Neither of those films was original, in fact 'Tremors' was so similar to 'Jaws' that its original name was, 'Land Shark', but those films did manage to create an identity of their own and with it some film pathos. An identity and film pathos seems to be what is lacking in 'Creature'. After all, it does have scary moments and the long dramatic climax is rather suspenseful, but somehow a thrilling cinematic experience is never sustained long enough for this film to be memorable. Too bad, since I am a real sucker for this type of film, or rather the type of film that 'Creature' almost was.

William Malone, the Director, also Directed the 1999 remake of, 'The House On Haunted Hill', which gave him the chance to remake something without having to apologize for doing so. Malone also Directed 'The Incredible Hulk Returns', 1988, and 'Scared To Death', 1980.

A CAUTION TO PARENTS: NUDITY - GORE - VIOLENCE

There is some gratuitous gore and violence, plus some really gratuitous nudity, all of which precludes viewing by younger audiences. The nudity comes chiefly in just one scene, but it is rather extreme, and frivolous. I was grateful for the poor lighting during that scene.

-----> PRINCIPAL ACTORS <-----

Stan Ivar - Mike Davison
Wendy Schaal - Beth Sladen
Lyman Ward - David Perkins
Robert Jaffe - Jon Fennel
Annette McCarthy - Dr. Wendy H. Oliver
Diane Salinger - Melanie Bryce
Klaus Kinski - Hans Rudy Hofner
John Stinson - Astronaut #1
Michael Griswold - Concord Technician #2
Marie Laurin - Susan Delambre

-----> PRODUCTION CREW <-----

William Malone - Director / Producer / Screenwriter
William J. Dunn - Producer
Alan Reed - Screenwriter
Harry Mathias - Cinematographer
Tom Chase - Composer (Music Score)
Steve Rucker - Composer (Music Score)
Bette Cohen - Editor
Michael Novotny - Production Designer
Bob Skotak - Production Designer
Trevor Bloch - Art Director
Steven Nelson - Art Director
Mike Novatny - Art Director
Doug Beswick - Costume Designer
L.A. Effects Group - Special Effects
Robert Short - Special Effects

BOTTOM LINE: NOT A TERRIBLE FILM THOUGH IT SEEMS TO BE A DISAPPOINTMENT FOR MOST VIEWERS

If you want to see this film, you can get it on DVD with 2 other films, 'Snow Beast' and 'Track Of The Moon Beast'. The exact title is 'Classic Creature Movies II (Creature / Track Of The Moon Beast / Snowbeast)' and currently it sells for $5.98 direct from Amazon or from $3.43 via numerous Amazon sellers.

How NOT to do cheese
This movie opens with two astronauts finding some capsules on Titan. The capsules are semi-transparent, and they look into one and see a scary monster, which opens its mouth to reveal a bunch of sharp teeth. They jump back, but then for some reason convince themselves that they didn't see what they just saw (a trick of light or some such). So one guy wants to take a picture of the other guy standing next to the capsule, but he can't get both the astronaut and the capsule in the picture (why doesn't he take a step back?) so he has him sit on the capsule. Oh look, now the capsule has a hole in it...but not to worry. "Gee, I sure wish it was you sitting on this capsule" the guy says saveral times.

Guess what happens next? I mean, how can a person take anything that happens after that opening scene seriously? The rest of the movie isn't quite that bad, though some parts come close. The other big problem is that the dialogue is terrible throughout. The characters act like vacant love-struck teenagers. Although the characters are rather likeable and the females are certainly very attractive, I just couldn't get past the clunky, silly words coming out of their mouths.

There are some scary parts, in fact this could have been one heck of a scary movie, but everything is just so...well, goofy. Anyhow, I give it three stars because after a while you get used to the cheesy dialogue and the plot is actually interesting. The monster is quite well done considering the limited budget. Recommended for viewing after you've been smoking the same thing the writers and cast members were smoking.