Alien from the Deep DVD Review from One 7 Movies

AKA: Alien degli abissi, Alien - La créature des abysses, Alien - Tromos ston okeano, Aliens del abismo, Das Alien aus der Tiefe, Hirviö syvyydestä, Obcy z glebi

Directed by: Antonio Margheriti
Written by: Tito Carpi
Produced by: Gianfranco Couyoumdjian
Cinematography by: Fausto Zuccoli
Editing by: Alberto Moriani
Music by: Robert O. Ragland, Andrea Ridolfi
Cast: Daniel Bosch, Marina Giulia Cavalli, Robert Marius, Luciano Pigozzi, Charles Napier
Year: 1989
Country: Italy
Language: English, Italian
Color: Color
Runtime: 1 h 32 min

Studio: One 7 Movies

Nathaniel Thompson of Mondo Digital suggested something for viewers to do when watching “Alien from the Deep” and I can’t really disagree with his suggestion.  Thompson suggests “keep hitting the chapter skip button until you hit the 45 minute mark”, continuing by stating “you won’t miss a thing.”  Whether you take heed to this suggestion or not, “Alien from the Deep” does eventually deliver the giant creature goods.

The film follows two environmentalists who pay a boat to drop them off at a jungle island so that they may expose the radioactive activities of a company called E-Chem.  With the help of some locals, Jane (Marina Giulia Cavalli) and her cameraman Lee (Robert Marius) sneak into the island’s plant facility run by E-Chem and capture a video of plant employees dumping barrels of radioactive sludge deep inside the volcano.  The rest of the first half of the film follows the environmentalists attempts at evading captivity at the hands of the plant’s ringleader, Colonel Kovacks (Charles Napier, “Rambo: First Blood Part II”).

Jump forward past the 45-minute mark and the film begins to explore the consequence of the volcano as a dumping ground, when a giant menacing claw (resembling a robotic extraterrestrial lobster claw) goes on the attack.  The claw oozes green slime and when it comes in contact with human flesh, melts it away like quicklime.  The environmentalists conflicts become compounded and they now must evade E-Chem’s capture and the wrath of an angry mutant alien monster with a killer claw.

While the first half of the film is gingerly paced, the payoff is worth it for the giant monster.  There is no doubt that the creature behind the claw that viewers witness at the film’s conclusion is “Alien” inspired.  If H.R. Giger created a retarded alien for a film, than this would be it!  The problem is that the creature is underutilized – we mainly see the creature’s claw only, until the very end when the director Antonio Margheriti finally decides to divulge the goods.

You know what you’re getting into when it comes to a film like “Alien from the Deep.”  The film is cheesy, with outrageous acting (snake attack scene anyone?), situations and the icing on the cake being the creature effects.  There is also an amusing scene during the film’s final moments.  Jane gets slimed by the creature and is placed in a “decontamination chamber” where she gets doused in water leaving her in a see-through skimpy white outfit.  Fun times were had by all.

One 7 Movies releases “Alien from the Deep” on DVD with a full frame 1.33:1 aspect ratio which seems to be the going ratio as previous releases from other countries would suggest.  The audio choices are either English Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0 or Italian without the aid of English subtitles.  The film seems to be mainly recorded with English actors so the English audio option will probably be a preferred choice.  The supplemental features contained here are ‘Italian credits’ and a ‘Photo and poster gallery’.

DVD SPECS:
Aspect Ratio: 4:3 Full Frame
Region: NTSC 0
Audio: English, Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL:
- Italian credits
- Photo and poster gallery