Stylish but barely mediocre overall

one of my absolute favorites!

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Another 80s Fred Olen Ray flick I had never seen, but knew quite well due to seeing stills of Sybil Danning in her tight leather outfit. Denae Chambers (Susan Stokey) hires Cort Eastman (Ross Hagen) and his female sidekick Eddy (Dawn Wildsmith) to help locate a rumored lost world in the center of the earth that might have tons of priceless jewels. Joining them on their expedition are Prof. Strock (Robert Quarry) and Andrew Paris (Jeffrey Combs). What they find after venturing 15 miles into a cave is another world ruled by an alien queen (Sybil Danning). This is so-so stuff from Ray that doesn't really pick up until the last 20 minutes. The best thing about it (other than Michelle Bauer getting topless) is the rapport between hard drinking Cort and Eddy. Combs is also an always welcome presence. Seeing this, DEEP SPACE, THE TOMB and PRISON SHIP all so close together also makes me respect the acting of Stokey as she played wildly different characters in each one. And, of course, Danning in anything 80s is require viewing. Yowza!

Fred Olen Ray is a cool dude. He's made over 100 movies, but this was made somewhat early on in his career. This film is a throwback to 1950's Z-grade monster cheapies, with a bit of 1930's serials thrown in as well. Yes, this film is beyond low budget. This is one of those flicks where they schlep a camera up to Bronson Canyon, and spend most of the movie running back and forth down the same cave. Also we get a side trip to Vasquez Rocks, which should be very familiar to fans of old sci-fi or old B-Westerns. The plot: is that really important? Just know we've a got a bad Indiana Jones rip-off played by Robert Quarry, his hard-drinking female second, a half-naked mute cave girl, the guy from "Reanimator", Sybil Danning as the "Alien Queen", and Robby the Robot shows up, amongst other foolishness I can't even remember.If you get the DVD, listen to Fred's commentary track, which is invaluable for film fanatics and aspiring indie filmmakers. Fred records great commentaries, filled with hilarious anecdotes about the world of zero-budget filmdom. This is no exception. So, on that basis, I give the movie a 5 out of 10. But I realize that most film goers don't share the love of low-budget sci-fi films that I do, so buy with caution.

Rent this picture only if you're trying to see everything Fred Ray ever made. Ms. Danning struts around in a black leather outfit with big shoulders and a cutout for her cleavage. Poor stop-frame dinosaur animation. No character development. Trite story. Skinny "cave bunnies," no titillation value. Unconvincing, pathetic troglodyte zombies.

Scientists discover an underground lost world populated by cavemen and dinosaurs. There's a novelty. There must be more 'lost worlds' on this planet than there are 'found worlds'.I only saw this film to see the dinosaur footage blatantly lifted from a never-seen dinosaur movie called 'Planet of the Dinosaurs', but a few minutes of a Tyrannosaur fighting the Beast from 20,000 Fathoms don't justify a film. 'Phantom Empire' might provide short-term entertainment to some, but it's just a waste of time, an insult to superior films of this genre. Most of the effects (aside from the footage) are dreadful, the only halfway decent one being Robbie the Robot from 'Forbidden Planet' with a different head. The characters are sci-fi cliches and are mostly obnoxious, the 'Alien Queen' and her scantily-clad minions are the nadir of low-budget exploitation twaddle.If you're some sexually-frustrated individual then I'm sure this will seem like pennies from heaven. Personally I'm thinking of writing to the producers demanding compensation for the hour-and-a-half of my life I wasted watching this cobblers.