Customer Reviews

The Deadly Spawn [VHS]

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

At long last, Justice has been done! Synapse has spared no expense in bringing the awsome Deadly Spawn out from its dank, dark basement and onto your television in all its fetid glory. Never has the Spawn looked so good. What is nice to see is that the transfer, although sharp has managed to strike a balance between cleaning up the blips and bleeding colours but still retaining the grimy and dark tone of the film. As well, the DVD features some cool extra's including a comic style prequel which was really cool and would make a movie unto itself. Of course, the prequel idea would require a budget, which the original certainly did not have. This makes it all the more amazing Mr Bohus. and gang delivered the film they did on $25,000 measly bucks.
It starts in the woods as two campers on a hill see something fall from the sky. Is it a ping pong ball? Nope, its a meteor carrying its deadly occupant to earth. Of course, they have to investigate and if the spawn was an athiest, he surely grew tired of the one guys repeated invokations of god. He is quickly dispatched, his flesh tearing with all the sound of so much styrofoam. From there, the creature takes up residence in a basement where it becomes an unwelcome uncle Tom, wreaking havoc on the memebers of the house.
This film is a lot of fun, gore and good old fashioned monster goodness rolled into one. The creature is a throwback to the days before CGI ruined the breed.
This is the defintive version of the film the way it should be seen. Fans of monster films no longer have any excuses to keep this one out of their collection.

This is the perfect example of filmmakers who were somehow able to hurdle budgetary restraints and make a very entertaining and likeable film. All things considered, the monster effects are actually quite good, and rather than being merely laughable, the creature(s) feel like a definite threat, resulting in some relatively intense scenes. In addition to this, the film is infused with some great dark humor, especially during a vegetarian ladies' luncheon. I had the opportunity to see this film on the big screen last year, and it was obvious by the audience reaction (and the Q&A afterwards) that the film was well received and is effective after all these years. Now thanks to a this DVD release from Synapse Films, a larger audience will hopefully be able to see this film, looking better than ever. Check it out.

It is so wonderful that this classic B-film is available in a clear DVD (my old VHS is really showing age). The DVD even comes packed with plenty of extras which include quite a few picture galleries, a comic-book style prequel, audition footage where you not only see people who didn't make it into the film, but you see cast members trying out for different rolls, even an alternate opening. But best of all is the wonderfully clear print of the film.

A meteor crashes near a pair of really bad actors camping in the woods. They investigate and are quickly made into alien chow before the opening credits. The beastie then moves to the basement of a nearby house. Torrential rain may have been a coincidence during filming, but it added nicely. The houses inhabitants include a family of four and a visiting aunt and uncle. The parents try to set out early on a trip. The key people are really the kids. The older science and fact oriented brother, and the younger, monster-obsessed brother. One denies the existence of monsters and aliens even when experienced first hand while the other never believed they could be real but is well equipped for understanding the situation.

But the monster in the basement is not all (and no it doesn't stay down there). The creature is spawning and countless smaller aliens begin to infiltrate the house and the neighborhood looking for treats to eat. Eventually the locals and authorities get involved and work to wipe out the threat (sort of like in the end of Night of the Living Dead). But the ending is one that is unexpected unless you have gone through the extras before watching the film.

Pure grade-B fun with an interesting cast, some fun moments, plenty of obviously-fake gore. All in all it makes for a nicely rewatchable monster film.

Hi, this is Deadly Spawn producer Ted A. Bohus. Thanks for all the great reviews! The DVD is doing really well thanks to all of YOU! Check out the Deadly Spawn website at www.deadlyspawn.net
On the website you'll find a synopsis, reviews, behind-the-scenes photos, Deadly Spawn tee-shirts, CD's and toys. Also info about my other films and magazine: SPFX (Special Effects Magazine). Hope to see you all there! Thanks again!

A meteorite crash lands in a mountain near a town, a deadly three headed alien creature that resembles a three headed certain male's genitalia with sharp teeth hides out in someone's basement so that it can unleash it's spawn to devour human beings. However a kid with four teens must battle these hideous creatures so they can escape.

Gory and violent independent Science Fiction horror thriller made on a shoestring budget and took a whole year to make was released in 1983 in theaters, became a sleeper hit and a instant cult classic for years. There's good acting for a b-movie, nice special effects ( years before CGI), a good music score, twist ending, cool creature designs and gore as well! Hihgly recommended if you enjoy horror and Sci-fi.

The DVD has great picture & sound quality and the extras are very good such as commentaries, still and advertising galleries, a hilarious home video, a comic book prequel, alternate opening and credit sequence, bios and trailer.

Also recommended: "Killer Klowns from Outer Space", " The Thing (1982 and 1951)", "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" ( Both versions)", " Alien Series", "Predator 1 & 2", " Alien vs. Predator", " Critters 1 & 2", "Evil Dead 1 & 2", " The Toxic Avenger", "Re-Animator", " Contamination", " The Faculty", " Day of the Dead", "From Dusk Till Dawn", " Insemenoid", " Dead & Buried", " War of the Worlds ( Both versions)", " The Blob ( 1988 and 1958)", " Night of the Creeps", " Lifeforce", " Starship Troopers", "Total Recall", " Dreamcatcher", " X-Files Movie", " Metamorphosis: The Alien Factor", " Creature ( 1985)", and "Xtro".

This is truly on of the most original sci-fi creatures I have ever seen. The movie is about a meteor that crashes on earth. Some people discover it and in it is a living creature. The creature begins to multiply in numbers and size upon eating its favorite meal--humans. Very cool little flick with plenty of gore, interesting story, excellent creatures. Check it out, it is a worthy addition to your sci-fi/horror library. I don't want to ruin anymore of the story so go on and get it...you will not regret it.

I finally found it. Now I know I didn't imagine this movie. It starts of with two guys camping. A meteor crashes near them and then they get killed by something.Afterwards the creature shows up in the basement of this house. It also is spawning little alien parasite slug looking things. It kills the parents. Thn the electrician gets killed later on when he tries to fix the wiring. You have to see it to enjoy this. It also helps if you like this types of films.

When I say my Dad rented every Horror flick under the sun and allowed me to watch them,(most of them), I mean it! Although too young to remember the title, I only had a few scenes from 'The Deadly Spawn' stuck in my head. There were only two. One is a woman's head flying out a window of a white two story house and the other, a scene were the little boy has to confront the alien and kill it while in the basement! Those rows of teeth the alien has is hard to forget! Heck, the alien itself is hard to forget haha. It wasn't until I was in my early twenties when I bought a book titled, 'Creature Features', by John Stanley, and fount out the title of this awesome b-horror! I had already had a fair amount of Horror flicks, but not having this one, drove me NUTS! I remember jumping with joy as soon as I came across the title in my book!!! At last I had figured out what my movie was! At that time it had not hit dvd yet so I had to turn to ebay for a hefty price for a vhs copy. Thank you Synapse Films for releasing this Horror gem on disk! A truly must own flick for fans of B-Horror! All I need is more Ted A. Bohus produced films such as 'The Regenerated Man' and 'Mind Killer'!!! Come on Synapse!...make it happen!

Let me start by saying that this movie has been through one hell of a history, along with Last House on Dead End Street (even less budget, around 800-3000). Douglas Mckeown was smart enough to direct a movie with a few close friends and it became a HUGE hit after 23 years!. The characters live out their normal lives when the ultimate alien is living in their basement, unaware that they're being devoured one by one. Pete is the science geek, Ellen is the love interest (Hint: noone is safe!), Frankie is Pete's best friend, not very good on science, Kathy is a friend of theirs (famous line of the movie is said by her) and Charles, the horror fan. The main title music always gets my spine tingling, it's very chilling for a horror movie (Another Hint: Hollywood don't know how to make great composers). The reason why this movie is successful being a cult hit is because you can believe the situation they're in, they don't know anything about it until the last 25 minutes. It was only shot on 20,000 budget and the special effects are amazing (that's what all the money went to!) Heads dropping off, little Spawns swimming (they have their own personality, subtle hint), faces being ripped off and that's just the tip of the iceberg on the effects used. So, if you want some cheap entertainment thatwill give you the creeps, go for this title, you'll not be disappointed.

Rated R18+ for Aussies for Violence, Gore, Nudity and Coarse Language

I have to agree with what another reviewer wrote about this film that it rises above its low budget origins, the special effects are what made this film even better. When I saw that this film was being rereleased on dvd I just had to order it as soon as posible, it seems that the film makers try their best to make a pretty gory and disgusting horror film which is realy great despite the very low budget. The image quality is realy clear and some dark scenes at the basement are visible and not to dark, the scene where the kid watches his mother's decapitated head being eaten by the small aliens is priceless and is my favorite scene in the film, his reaction is very wierd he realy is a bad actor lol. The older brother doesn't seem to beleive what is going on as the big alien is devouring alot of people that enter the house including his uncle who is spending the weekend there. there are alot of gory scenes in this film including face ripping and very nice decapitations and eyes are ripped out of their sockets and the big alien which is the star of this film seems to be very impresive with its huge jawline and nasty looking teeth and it looks like it might have come out of someones worst nightmare, overall I think the film was great and it would appeal to fans of low budget horror films and I definently think that it beats alot of these modern horror films that are being made today.