The Terror Within and The Terror Within II - Watch, Rinse, Repeat

Both The Terror Within and The Terror Within II are available on Amazon Prime (as of this writing).  Both star Andrew Stevens.  Both involve mutant monsters chasing isolated people around enclosed places.  And both involve those monsters having a strong desire to mate with human women. (Maybe only male mutants survived? I don't think that's ever explained.

I love a good monster movie.  And even some bad ones.  These fall somewhere in the middle.  The first is definitely the superior movie, even though the second expands the post apocalyptic world a good deal and is a worthy sequel.  These are late 80s and early 90s features with no CGI for the creature F/X.


The "Gargoyle" mutant in the first film is a pretty obvious suit, but the design is fairly original and it does come across as menacing.  The beasts in the sequel range from this look to much more human looking monstrosities  with less of a "mask" look and one of them walks around the whole time looking as if it is covered in blood.


"The Terror Within" has a much more claustrophobic feel, mostly because only the very beginning takes place outside.  Once the creature finds a way into the compound the chase is on in dark corridors, hidden corners and ducts.  There's always ducts big enough to  hold monsters in sci-fi horror from the 80s.

"The Terror Within II" has many more outdoor scenes, a human settlement, a side story with female sacrifices, more characters to act as monster happy meals and yet somehow, eventually manages to repeat almost all of the first movie.  The only reason this REALLY bothered me is that David (Andrew Stevens ) makes all of the mistakes he should have learned from the first time around and the results are very predictable.

The first film had a killer cast with George Kennedy, Andres Stevens and Terri Treas all turning in expectedly good performances.  The real stand out for me, however, was Butch (Stevens).  I tend to watch dogs in films pretty closely and this one really did look to David (his handler in the movie) for his cues.  This is not usual with low budget fare.  It takes a lot of time and work to train a dog NOT to look to his (or her ) trainer off camera for cues.  We got lucky in "Savaged" that my dog, Valkrie, was so in love in Debbie Rochon.  She rarely took her eyes off her, although it is noticeable in one early scene when Debbie is walking Lotus (Valkrie) away from the camera, which I'm standing behind.
I suspect, with Butch's last name being "Stevens", that this interaction is because they used his actual dog.

Most of the acting in the second film is also adequate.  Considering this was Andres Stevens directorial debut and he starred and co-wrote the movie, it is really is a solid little piece of horror home cinema.  There are some low budget moments that stand out, perhaps most of the all the horrible "machine gun" action.  The sound F/X and shaking of actor Chick Vennera clearly indicate that he is supposed to be firing a machine gun, but no blanks were used, no smoke leaves the barrel and this was before the days of adding muzzle flashes in post.  The result is completely unconvincing and looks like kids playing cops and robbers.

I definitely suggest "The Terror Within" for anyone who is a monster in a maze fan and if you enjoy the first so much that you wish it was longer, watch the sequel.  You'll mostly get more of the same and you'll see the final act coming from a mile or so away, but you'll get more monsters and guts.

"Solid State" - A Wonderfully Lensed "B-Movie"

"Solid State", starring Debbie Rochon, Suzi Lorraine, Ava Brunini and featuring Vivica A. Fox, is a visually stunning, low budget sci-fi fantasy of epic proportions.

First, let me say, that this is one of the most beautifully shot movies I've every seen.  The muted colors to set the glum mood almost made me sad because the settings and shot composition were just so gorgeous.  The wide shots and camera movements were poetic.  Seriously, movies like this, low budget movies that may never be seen in a theater, are why Hi-Def and 4K TVs exist.  There is so much to visually showcase that an old style TV could not have done it justice.  Cinematographer Fabrizio Meynardi just did a wonderful job.

If you've ever wondered how a "washed up", all girl rock band making a come back in Italy would react during a world crisis from another world, "Solid State" is the movie for you.

I already said that I loved the Cinematography, right?  I mean, I wasn't too subtle about that?  Other things I love about this movie, Debbie Rochon ( no secret there ), Suzi Lorraine ( her character had the few funny lines in the movie.  It wasn't being played for camp. ), the tremendous scope, the epic underlying story, and the way it calls back to global disaster movies of the 60s and 70s.  It shows the world is in this horrible situation, but concentrates on a small group of survivors to show how they're dealing with it. Unlike many of those movies, we eventually find out why this group of survivors is the one we're watching.

There is a great use of stock footage here and some good CG.  There are also some F/X, which at this point, have become a bit overused in indie cinema.  Of course, back in 2012, they may have been a bit more at the cutting edge.  I never really did fully grasp exactly what was going on with the giant meteor and the zombie like monsters it spawned, but that may have been me not paying close enough attention to the story.  Also, there aren't a whole lot of likeable characters from the start, although the mains grow on  you as the movie goes along and fans of Rochon, Lorraine and Brunini will likely be attached to their characters somewhat by virtue of who plays them.

Keep an eye out for a nod to "This is Spinal Tap".

Another thing that stood out as "was that necessary" were the two montages sort of wedged into the movie  to bridge one act to the next.  They weren't bad, but they didn't seem to entirely fit with the rest of the movie's style.  Of course, things that "don't quite fit" into one's expectations kind of create a whole new style.  Maybe?

I'll say this, the movie was a bit of style over substance in my opinion, but not to the point where it wasn't entertaining.  It was just engaging in a different way than  you'd expect and then it would snap back into the formula, "look there's a big glowing light effect" kind of sci-fi epic we all expect.

I would recommend this one for genre fans.  I think it's highly stylized shooting and editing may put some audience members off, but if you're the right viewer, this is certainly the right film and there are quite a few memorable moments.

Currently streaming on Amazon Prime.  I feel like it's on some other free streaming services, but I'm not sure which ones.  If anyone knows, please comment below.  Legitimate streams, not pirated stuff.

Thanks.