{"id":136,"date":"2010-03-09T22:11:51","date_gmt":"2010-03-10T04:11:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/arcanasphere.com\/blog\/?p=136"},"modified":"2010-03-09T22:11:51","modified_gmt":"2010-03-10T04:11:51","slug":"william-malone-love-fest-creature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcanasphere.com\/blog\/2010\/03\/william-malone-love-fest-creature\/","title":{"rendered":"William Malone Love Fest – Creature"},"content":{"rendered":"

Synopsis:<\/strong><\/h3>\n

An interstellar vessel on a mission to claim resources before a rival corporation can lay claim crash lands on an alien planet. \u00a0The meager crew is then toyed with and hunted by an extraterrestrial terror.<\/p>\n

In any given twenty minute stretch there is probably something to really like about this movie. \u00a0Unfortunately there seemed to be no cohesive whole to make one entertaining motion picture. \u00a0William Malone would go on to do television for over a decade after this, and he thankfully got better over time.<\/p>\n

Creature<\/a> begins fairly well. \u00a0Scenes are shot with attention to mood and color in a way that few low budget or horror films ever seem to even think of.<\/p>\n

Once the ship reaches its destination, we are treated to talking. \u00a0A lot of talking. \u00a0William Malone can typically direct a really fun character driven movie. \u00a0Creature, sadly, was not one of them.<\/p>\n

Some fan service arrives. \u00a0Nudity. \u00a0Gore. \u00a0Amazing gore. \u00a0Some of it outright memorable.<\/p>\n

Finally, the conclusion draws itself out with the same pacing problems that really crushed the rest of the feature.<\/p>\n

Thoughts while watching:<\/h3>\n

Blood and gore effects are light years beyond Scared to Death. \u00a0It takes some time for the horror element to kick in, but it’s fun once it does.<\/p>\n

On the subject of time: \u00a0The first 20-25 minutes had some beautiful work with colors and lights. \u00a0Everything between that and the 50 minute mark is really generic science fiction. \u00a0 A number of these characters resemble each other in almost every way. \u00a0They fill the logical and different roles as the ship’s crew, and provide a greater body count.<\/p>\n

Some really fun horror begins after that 50 minute mark. \u00a0Malone’s work with visual and makeup effects is as much improved as the gore. \u00a0The monsters look like monsters. \u00a0The corpses look like corpses. \u00a0The things in between are a treat for the eyes.<\/p>\n

The characters split up to explore a strange, labyrinthine space ship. \u00a0In House on Haunted Hill, the characters will split up to explore a strange, labyrinthine basement. \u00a0Never split up. \u00a0You’re stuck in the strange labyrinthine place, so there will be plenty of time to explore as a cohesive unit.<\/p>\n

In closing<\/h3>\n

The alien acts like a compendium of all things great about alien movies. \u00a0From cold-war body snatchers to early 80s slime-covered monstrosities, this creature does it all. \u00a0 The design and execution are a large and very welcome improvement over the Syngenor from Scared to Death. \u00a0What could have been a simple imitation of the H.R. Geiger Alien is given a lot of personality and a whole toolbox of evil tricks. \u00a0This is cool. \u00a0 Blood looks like blood, and less like orange corn syrup. \u00a0 There is so much going for this movie on the way in.<\/p>\n

Sadly, the movie lacked good characters or rhythm. \u00a0Characters were either forgettably generic or wildly unbelievable. \u00a0The mission leader started as the unbelievable type and eventually became just another face. \u00a0Malone’s talents for characterization were squandered on useless characters.<\/p>\n

If this movie would have found its rhythm, then even those faults could have been overlooked. \u00a0Enough heads are mangled, mutilated, or even blown up to make an excellent popcorn movie. \u00a0In fact, were I a character in that movie then I would want my last name legally changed to \u201cNot In The Face.\u201d \u00a0That way my name patch would be humorously juxtaposed against the most common cause of death in outer space.<\/p>\n

Creature, in short, did not live up to its potential. \u00a0There are brief, wonderful glimpses of something great trying to break through. \u00a0For reasons I won’t speculate on, they never get that chance.<\/p>\n

William Malone would go on to make very entertaining movies. \u00a0If not, then I would not be writing this. \u00a0I hate to write a \u201clove fest\u201d and write of my dislike for any of the works. \u00a0This is thankfully going to be the only down note of the entire project.<\/p>\n

Before moving on to House on Haunted Hill, I want to briefly touch on the television work that Malone did. \u00a0It was a sincere surprise to look him up on IMDB and associate his name with some favorite television shows. \u00a0Whatever Malone learned in those times would also go on to bring about one of the best moviegoing experiences that I ever had.<\/p>\n

There’s an up-note to end this love fest entry on after all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Synopsis: An interstellar vessel on a mission to claim resources before a rival corporation can lay claim crash lands on an alien planet. \u00a0The meager crew is then toyed with and hunted by an extraterrestrial terror. In any given twenty minute stretch there is probably something to really like about this movie. \u00a0Unfortunately there seemed … <\/p>\n

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