Inseminoid

Plot synopsis:
On a desolate planet, a team of 12 Xeno project scientists are conducting an archaeological excavation of the ruins of an ancient civilisation. Shortly after an underground tomb network is found to contain crystals and wall inscriptions, photographer Dean White (Dominic Jephcott) is engulfed in a rock blast and left incapacitated. Deciphering the alien language in the caves, xenolinguist Mitch (Trevor Thomas) theorises that the civilisation was built on the concept of dualism: the planet orbits a binary star, and a pair of twins seems to have ruled the race that once inhabited it. Medical assistant Sharon (Heather Wright) discovers that an energy field surrounds the crystals, which causes her to deduce that a "chemical intelligence" controlled life on the planet.
A mentally unbalanced Ricky Williams (David Baxt) is driven to re-enter the caves when a sample of crystals pulsates and the chemical intelligence exerts its influence through a mark on his arm. Thrown into a grille in a compromised environmental suit, Gail (Rosalind Lloyd) commits suicide, removing her helmet and freezing to death in the toxic atmosphere while trying to amputate her trapped foot with a chainsaw. Documentation officer Kate Frost (Stephanie Beacham) shoots Ricky with a harpoon gun before he opens both the inner and outer airlock doors and renders the air inside the base unbreathable.
Following the burial of Ricky and Gail, Mitch and Sandy (Judy Geeson) return to the caves to collect more crystals. A monstrous creature appears and dismembers Mitch before raping Sandy. Found distraught, Sandy receives treatment from Sharon and chief medical officer Karl (Barry Houghton), who discovers that the assault has triggered an accelerated pregnancy despite the regular intravenous injections of contraceptives given to the women in the team. When further explosions within the catacombs scupper chances of deeper investigation, the surviving members of the team are left with nothing to do but await the arrival of a Xeno rescue shuttle.
The intelligence assumes control of Sandy, who has been marked in the same way as Ricky. She stabs Barbra (Victoria Tennant) to death with a pair of scissors, demonstrating superhuman strength while committing the murder, and then mutilates Dean and the remains of Mitch, drinking their blood. The rest of the team seek refuge in the Operations Room as Sandy destroys essential machinery – including the base transmitter – with explosives. When the imbalance in Sandy's mind appears to correct itself, Karl, Sharon and Commander Holly McKay (Jennifer Ashley) attempt to sedate her to spare the unborn children. Sandy's madness returns and Holly and Karl are killed in an accident with heat-sealing apparatus, whereupon Sandy disembowels the corpses.
Senior officer Mark (Robin Clarke) radios Sandy – his romantic interest – from the Operations Room to stall for time as Kate and operations chief Gary (Steven Grives) depart to requisition chainsaws from a storage room. The ruse is uncovered and Sandy harpoons Gary outside the airlock, breathing the atmosphere to no ill effect as she mauls his flesh. Preparing for a final confrontation, Mark stumbles across Sandy's newborn, mutant twins. He entrusts them to Sharon as the mother blasts through the Operations Room door and destroys all the equipment inside, although it is evident that she no longer possesses unnatural strength. Crippled by an explosive charge, Kate is gored to death. In a last stand, Mark strangles and kills Sandy with a ripped-out cable. He returns to Sharon to discover one of the twins biting at her slit neck, before its sibling launches itself at him.
Twenty-eight days later, Xeno Auxiliary Module 047 lands on the planet to investigate the loss of contact with the team. With the base in ruins, the mission records destroyed and the scientists either murdered or missing, combat marksmen Corin (Kevin O'Shea) and Roy (Robert Pugh) abandon the search for survivors and pilot Jeff (John Segal) contacts Xeno control to request clearance to return. The final shots reveal that Sandy's children have stowed themselves away inside a storage compartment on board the shuttle.

Tags: violence, murder

Review:
Low production values, low production costs, bad acting, bad dialogue, bad special effects - we found it hilarious (unlike Boggy Creek II, which was just plain awful)After the prologue, the opening line is "Hey wait a minute!" as in "what's this strange thing I've found on this strange alien world" - get the idea?
INSEMINOID Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 (J-D-C Scope)Sound format: MonoWhilst exploring a series of caves beneath the surface of Jupiter's moon Xeno, a scientific research team unleashes a long-buried alien creature which impregnates one of the female members of the crew (Judy Geeson).
With the subsequent pregnancy developing at an alarming rate, Geeson is compelled to protect her unborn 'children' from scientific scrutiny and begins to massacre her colleagues, one by one...Responding to the worldwide appetite for overblown space operas established by STAR WARS in 1977, yet remaining true to his roots as a purveyor of exploitation-horror movies (SATAN'S SLAVE, PREY, etc.), British director Norman J.
With funding from British and Hong Kong sources, the film went into production at Chislehurst caves (a grim but picturesque location just outside London) shortly after Ridley Scott's ALIEN (1979) wrapped principal photography, though Warren and producer Richard Gordon insist the movie wasn't influenced by Scott's blockbuster in any way.Unfortunately, INSEMINOID's lofty ambitions are somewhat undermined by its modest £1 million budget, yielding a range of sets, costumes and visual effects which are more reminiscent of "Blake's 7" and "Doctor Who" than STAR WARS, and the cheapskate production values often provoke unintentional laughter.
Faced with some fairly amateurish dialogue, most of the cast can't help but sink to the occasion, though Geeson is remarkably good in the leading role, transforming herself from terrified victim to monstrous avenger with scene-stealing glee (unfortunately, she later bad-mouthed the film in no uncertain terms, despite recently admitting she'd never actually seen it!).
Stephanie Beacham (SCHIZO, TV's "The Colby's") plays the material with earnest conviction, while Victoria Tennant (THE WINDS OF WAR) makes no impression at all as one of the early victims of Geeson's rampage.For all its drawbacks, however, the film is fast-moving and eager to please, and benefits enormously from John Metcalfe's expansive scope photography, which Warren uses to evoke a sense of scale at odds with the movie's financial limitations.
An expedition team investigating a planet faces terror as a woman on the team gets raped by an alien (with something that looked like a plastic pipe filled with green ooze) and starts killing her colleagues.
Although the sets and visual effects are cheap-looking, the screenplay causes its characters to behave foolishly most of the time, and the electronic score may drive you mad, director Warren keeps up a brisk pace to prevent you from becoming bored, while Geeson delivers a pretty chilling performance..
Like a previous contributor, I saw Inseminoid on BBC 1 last Saturday too - but to my eternal shame, I must admit that I actually went out of my way to see it!Y'see, when I was a spotty teenager way back in the early 80s, I was always intrigued by this movie's premise - aliens!
On a remote planet,a group of archaeologists have established a base deep inside a network of caves.While out exploring one day,one of the team,Sandy,is abducted by a monstrous alien that forcibly impregnates her.As the alien fetuses grow inside her,Sandy is driven insane by the need for blood to feed her offspring and starts slaughtering her fellow scientists."Inseminoid" is a cheaply made "Alien" clone,but I don't care.It's a pretty good horror film on its own that kept me on the edge of my seat.There is plenty of gore and a little bit of sleaze,so I wasn't disappointed.The script is weak and the acting is average,but "Inseminoid" is fast-paced,twisted and immensely enjoyable.So if you liked "Galaxy of Terror" or "Forbidden World" give this one a look.Just ignore the negative reviews and check it out.7 out of 10..
Judy Geeson is excellent in a role that requires a hell of a lot of merciless ranting and screaming.HORROR PLANET refers to the original U.S. release of the film, which was cut.
The creature impregnates one of the crew members, and slowly she started to turn into a crazed killer while the alien offspring grows inside her.Now, the movie is driven by its story and acting talents, and barely relying on the special effects.
And after going back again and watching it as an "adult", there is little to really be fond of about it: the film is cold, distant, cruel, sickening, barbaric, perverse, twisted, and rather dull for periods of time.Yet HORROR PLANET has a very devoted cult following due to the presence of whacko director Norman J.
I am not overly fond of HORROR PLANET as a film, but the movie itself is a fascinating production that has a bizarre history that is almost more interesting than the story it tells.
Originally released as the more revealingly titled INSEMINOID in 1980, it was a British made production with a Dr. Who like budget, conveniently staged entirely underground or in space station sets so that no major special effects were needed beyond the gore effects.And like FORBIDDEN WORLD and GALAXY OF TERROR especially, HORROR PLANET embraced all of the sexual aspects of the ALIEN/human interaction's possibilities, doing so with attractive B supporting actresses known for their willingness to do exploitation work to help get a film done.
But HORROR PLANET [which came first] gives us more of a big insectoid/slug, which impregnates Ms. Geeson with it's disgusting, human skinned but insect headed progeny, and director Warren depicted their emergence such unrelentingly graphic slop that the original cut of INSEMINOID was Rated X by the MPAA.As such INSEMINOID could not find a distributor in the US in 1980, and was apparently banned in certain parts of Europe [including the original lobby poster design, which was deemed to be obscene], only finding a release in Japan where, as we all know, they will watch just about anything.
In 1982 a significantly cut version -- now called HORROR PLANET and again, distributed by Roger Corman -- was finally granted an R rating, and it's across the board "bomb" reviews for being apalling, gross, perverted ALIEN sleaze sort of guaranteed it's cult following when the movie turned up for home video in 1983 and again in 1988 on Laserdisc as well, all of which quickly went out of print and are now collector's items.
But if watching Judy Geeson being impregnated by a giant worm, give birth to twin alien maggots and then murder & cannibalize the rest of the cast in some warped space fever/dementia is your idea of a good time, well Norman J.
I bought 3 movies recently in a pack, horror planet, galaxy of terror and creature.To be quit honest horror planet is not as good as galaxy of terror and creature but it does not deserve the very low rating it is getting.There are so pretty cool gory effect in the movie, the acting is not that bad and you have a few good actors in there too.The special effects are what you would expect from a 80 sci fi horror movie nothing to compare with alien but still not that bad either.This movie deserves a higher rating at least a 6 not a 3.4 like it as right now..
The budget of the film seems a bit low, but it works surprisingly well, and the alien is used sparingly, Geeson herself does much of the work and is very convincing, changing constantly between scared, vulnerable and helpless and homicidal and cannibalistic, when she goes mad she is very scary and intimidating, and shows sadistic relish for her victims, eating dead bodies and even eating a man's intestines just after shooting him while he is still alive and watching.
(you should really see her in 10 Rillington Place to give you an idea of how great she is, and what she is capable of)I had no idea what part (or how big) she played in this Movie, and along the same lines as great stars of the past like Diana Dors, Judy often plays in movies where her parts are small, or she gets killed off quite early on, so you can imagine my delight, when, not long after the film gets going (a possible spoiler here) when it looks like she gets killed, and I was ready for disappointment, it's actually only the beginning of her taking over and leading the whole Movie!After just reading the other 23 reviews from viewers, and how awful this film has been slagged, I'm not going to join forces; for two reasons;First; I've only seen it the once, and while many people may despair at my saying that any Movie should be seen twice before writing 'critical' comments such as I've read at least, I don't agree that every single Movie that is made has to be so realistic, that it's too real.
to the Movie, which basically involved a lot of beautiful atmospheric colour, and some beautiful haunting music, and so it 'looked' and sounded good, even though I was to wait a long time to see it.So no; I won't be returning the DVD for my money back yet, not until I've seen it at least once more, and then I'll return here to leave a more comprehensive review.I just think everything deserves a chance.
Soon the usual assorted crew members of the archaeological expedition are getting needlessly separated, doing stupid things like walking backwards down dark corridors, and generally doing everything they can to get eaten.When the highlight of the movie is someone attempting to cut off their own foot with a hedge-trimmer (and just exactly why an exo-archaeologist is wandering around an alien cave system carrying a hedge-trimmer is never explained) you know you are in trouble.There are many bad movie moments in this film.
(Including a couple of classically bad fights with actors 'punches' missing each other by yards.) Stephanie Beacham is the best thing in this movie and acts everyone else off the screen by doing as little as possible in the hope that no one notices her.
The cheap looking sci-fi horror thriller begins with a little intelligent dialogue but then descends into stupid and idiotic, mind-numbing action sequences that awfully detract from any possible enjoyment of the movie.
One was IMPOSTOR a big budget American movie that was very disappointing while the other was a British movie called INSEMENOID which won this weeks most reviled movie in every TV guide and for once the TV listing mags got it right since this is the worst movie I've seen all week Someone decides to do an ALIEN clone with a vampire which might have worked as a premise but Norman J Warren has decided to cast English Rose actress Judy Geeson as a cruel and blood thirsty vampire .
Warren's low-budget sci-fi/horror Inseminoid is an absolutely dire viewing experience from start to finish, cheap and nasty to look at, poorly directed, and devoid of any originality, atmosphere, tension or excitement whatsoever.Shot in and around Chislehurst Caves, which are made to look like an alien environment through the 'clever' use of coloured filters and a smoke machine, this cheap, exploitative piece of crap sees a group of interplanetary boffins (including past-their-prime Hammer babes Stephanie Beacham and Judy Geeson, and future star Victoria Tennant) discover a malevolent extraterrestrial buried in a tomb.
The creature infects a member of the team, turning him into a raging maniac, before raping Geeson's character, sending her into a non-stop fit of violent hysterics for the rest of the film (I found Geeson's performance virtually unbearable; I cheered when she got strangled).Visual effects are primitive (think 'Blakes 7' and you won't go far wrong), there is some rather basic gore which is unlikely to impress, and only Geeson gets her baps out (Stephanie's would have been better), but praise must go to the set, prop, and costume designers, without whose sterling work I wouldn't have laughed so hard: the movie's high-tech space base is constructed from plywood, vacuum formed plastic (decorated with naff futuristic stencil graphics), and assorted plastic crates; the deep space exploration team come equipped with a set of hedge trimmers (!?!?); and space-wear consists of a choice of silver or gold jumpsuit teamed with either a firefighter's mask or motorcycle helmet, and a length of vacuum cleaner hose attached to supply oxygen..
In deep space a group of people you couldn't care the least about get killed and eaten by a young women in their team who has been raped by an alien and goes on a murderous rampage - sounds bad - IS BAD!The acting is diabolical from everyone concerned, the dialogue is hilarious, The 'special' fx are so bad even five year olds would find it hard to be frightened, the plot is ridiculous, The direction is choppy and the editing so poor it gives you a migrain - apart from that it's greatThis Alien rip-off has long since been forgotten & no doubt been left off the 'actors' CVMY VERDICT:- Good for a laugh just don't expect to be scared 4/10 (for hilarity value).
The special effects are non-existent (e.g. motorcycle helmets are used for space helmets!) The music is sooooo bad you will be taking plenty of aspirin.I will be talking a little bit about the movie's plot and scenes, so if you really want to torture yourself.
Despite the fact that Mitch's steak sause covered cadaver was brought back too, the crew pretty much act like "Alright it's back to work!" The rest of the movie is excruciatingly long as Sandy freaks out and pretty much kills and eats everyone except Mark, who ends up strangling her.
Well judge for yourself, but ultimately it's films like this that make you treasure Alien even more; regardless of budget differences.Inseminoid, great title at least, is hysterically bad.
The set design may be no great shakes - the film looks more like a big-screen version of the cult TV series BLAKE'S SEVEN than anything Ridley Scott put his name to - but the caverns that double as the subterranean outer-space dungeons are none too shabby and quite convincingly lit (just forget about the silly red-filtered shots of the planet's surface, so obviously shot in a quarry somewhere), and John Metcalfe's widescreen photography makes the low-budget production look expansive, if not exactly expensive.In short, INSEMINOID is the simple tale of a bunch of incompetent, to say nothing of downright disagreeable cosmonauts who touch down somewhere in the outer reaches of the galaxy and promptly tamper with the ecosystem, including some malevolent crystals and some sinister-looking pods.
Before you can say "quatermass!", the crew members start getting bumped off, going crazy, cracking up, sawing their own feet off (a strong contender for the most cringe-inducing scene in the movie) and, in Judy Geeson's case, being forcefully artificially inseminated by a huge, glowering, crustacean life-form whose alien seed resembles lumpy green porridge.
Geeson blows one guy's stomach open with a bulky laser gun, slices up future Steve Martin better half Victoria Tennant with a pair of scissors and snacks on a shrieking Jennifer Ashley, taking time out in between committing these ghastly murders to give painful birth to two slimy and ugly lethal humanoid alien babies in a sickening sequence that's absolutely appalling to behold (naturally, it's one of my favorite moments in the film).
The cheesy music score by John Scott is a little too silly at times, but for the most part it's good schlock movie music.The acting from the mostly British cast is generally pretty good, with familiar faces like Stephanie Beacham and Victoria Tennant.
The cast, at least on the female side, includes some relatively well-known names such as Judy Geeson, Stephanie Beacham and Victoria Tennant, none of whom look as though they know what they are doing in a film like this.At its best, science fiction can ask some pertinent questions about how science and technology might possibly develop in the future, and also about the philosophical, ethical and social implications of those developments.
Warren & is probably better known in the US under it's alternative title Horror Planet rather than it's proper & better title Inseminoid, written by special make-up effects man Nick Maley & his wife Gloria everyone who says anything about Inseminoid seem to mention the fact that it's a low budget Alien (1979) rip-off which I think is a little unfair.
The acting is pretty good here & a decent cast are taking this far too seriously, there are one or two familiar faces here with Judy Geeson, Stephanie Beacham & Victoria Tennant all making an appearance.Inseminoid is a film which is just considered an bad Alien rip-off because I suppose basically it is but there's enough deviation here & the script takes slightly different directions that it's not the worst offender out there.
HORROR PLANET is one of the worst films ever made for these reasons (*includes spoilers*):1) After the "alien" mates with the woman, she just walks around with these bloodshot eyes.
One of the saddest things in the world is knowing that someone has a talent and doesn't use it.4) The writing is terrible and the make-up crew should've been fired for making everyone look like they were on crack.5) The whole scene with the "alien" mating with the woman is over the top.
And I thought that only a director like Hitchcock could have achieved such a brilliant masterstroke.Finally, the film is original in its idea of an alien monster raping a human female and the exploitation of the subsequent trauma she faces after becoming pregnant.
Amazing that he is put away by Kate(Stephanie Beacham)yet the entire crew has a problem killing another, Sandy(Judy Geeson)who is kidnapped by a big bug-eyed alien who inserts a tube into her vagina with little monster fetuses making their way into the human womb for gestation.