Too many fans seem to be blown away

Masterful Movie

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

"The Deadly Spawn" is a classic example of a horror flick made on a shoestring budget which is nevertheless worth watching due to the ingenuity of its creators.The plot is basically non-existent. An alien comes to Earth in a meteor and hides in a family's basement. It starts picking people off and having little babies that look and behave like land-based piranhas.The characters and dialogue are all completely forgettable. The enthusiasm that went into the creature and gore effects obviously didn't rub off on the cast.But that's not what you watch it for. You watch it to see what a talented crew can do with little money and on that score, "The Deadly Spawn" more than delivers.

After being told by a fellow IMDber that UK DVD company Arrow was having a sale on Amazon Uk,I decided to take a look at the titles on sale,and I spotted a fun-looking, slimy alien monster movie,which led to me getting ready to see death spawned.The plot:Whilst camping in the woods,some campers notice an meteor fall nearby.Going to investigate the crash site,the campers discover that aliens have landed on earth,who brutally kill them the moment they get their first glimpse of the campers.Living near the crash site is a family consisting of Sam,Barb and their 2 kids Pete & Charles.After his mum and dad have gone on holiday, (talk about good timing!) Sam decides to check if a recent rainstorm has flooded the basement.Fearing that the basement has been flooded with rain,Sam soon discovers that the basement has been flooded by murderous aliens. View on the film:Before I get to the title it self,I have to mention that Arrow have given the film a terrific transfer,with the natural grit of the Video being kept,whilst offering a clear soundtrack and filling the DVD with detailed extras.Covering the full cost of the title at just $18,000,co-writer/(along with Ted A. Bohus/John Dods & Tim Sullivan) director Douglas McKeown takes advantage of shooting the film on video by covering the movie in low-lights,which along with building a creepy atmosphere for the aliens,also emphasises the fuzzy grain that the format offers.Along with displaying the video dirt,McKeown also runs down the film with ultra-gory alien/monster killings which McKeown presents with a real glee,which go from the delightfully rubbery,mega-tooth "final boss" to the surprisingly creepy, eel-like mini aliens.For the screenplay the writers attempt to cross mad alien/monster antics with teens in a mysterious peril.Whilst the writers do well in slowly increasing the horrific nature of the outrageously grisly murders,the teens in peril/mystery sadly slows the whole film down,due to the cast being shockingly flat,and being unable to express any sense of terror in even a mildly convincing manner,which leads to this spawn not being as deadly as it should have been.

"The Deadly Spawn" is very likable, earnest stuff, and one can tell that it's made by fellow fans of the sci-fi and horror genres. Made for approximately $25,000, and filmed on location in New Jersey, it's done in a fine old school style, with use of obvious matte paintings and the kind of practical effects that people like me thrilled over during their introductions to this kind of thing. Its story deals with a meteorite that crashes in the woods, a meteorite bearing a disgusting species that basically looks like a many toothed, very phallic version of Audrey II. (The miniature versions of the monster definitely will have viewers thinking along sexual lines!) After gobbling up some dumb ass campers, the creatures find a nice comfy home in the damp cellar of a nearby house, and during the course of the next (rainy) day, find an assortment of human victims on which to snack. Now, "The Deadly Spawn" is likely not going to quite be for everybody, as it takes its time preparing for its wild finale. One may grow impatient as the people inside the house go about their business completely oblivious to the danger down below. For a movie running a mere 82 minutes, there is some slow pacing going on, to be sure. But it's too hard to really knock a movie featuring such characters as a horror junkie kid (Charles George Hildebrandt) who's got enough smarts to figure out a way to destroy the monster (Give this kid credit, also, for staying so cool when he sees what remains of his mom.), his science obsessed teen aged brother (Tom DeFranco), and their psychiatrist uncle (John Schmerling) who takes the time to interview his precocious young nephew about his interest. The writing isn't completely predictable, with a nasty fate in store for a rather amiable character. There's lots of splatter tossed about, and genre lovers will be delighted once the attack is finally underway and our human cast starts getting munched on. It's never, ever taken too seriously, with the tongue in cheek tone emphasized strongly with that priceless "it ain't over yet" final shot. The acting is admirably sincere, and the shoestring budget, and absence of excessive slickness you'd get from a studio picture, makes "The Deadly Spawn" a pleasing, unpretentious, and simply fun experience, flaws and all. Seven out of 10.

As far as low budget alien invasions movies goes this movie was one of the best I have seen. It has been a long time since I have seen it, and the last time I did I was a kid, but I still remember it enough to know I liked every bit of it. I saw the movie with the super long title Return of the Alien: The Deadly Spawn, a title that was obviously trying to make itself out as some sort of Alien sequel like so many other alien movies of that time. This one did not really need to attach itself to that film though as it was a nice, super gory movie with a bit of humor in it to boot, humor that actually worked. The story has these aliens that look like tadpoles on the loose, and like all tad poles the turn into something bigger and even more deadly. In fact from how the movie ended I would say there is no telling how big they can get if they can feed enough. The creatures do lots of killing, even in their smaller tadpole like state and they cause a lot of havoc, thank goodness that kid shared the same hobby as Tommy from the Friday the 13th movies, though this came out first so one has to wonder if they stole that particular plot point from this film. I wonder if this movie is on DVD as I would love to see it again, granted I am sure the effects will not look as good and it will be dated, but from what I remember it will still be enjoyable to watch.