Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		2.0
Audio		2.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		2.0

The Deadly Spawn Blu-ray Movie Review

Less staring, more munching

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf February 15, 2012

“The Deadly Spawn” is one of those no-budget horror pictures crafted by filmmakers who love horror pictures that just barely classifies as a horror picture. Time and a vocal fanbase have elevated the endeavor to cult status, celebrating its schlocky appeal and ferocious monsters, but there’s really nothing to “The Deadly Spawn” beyond some ingenious special effects and a few formidable visits to the gore zone. Look past the phallic fiend and here’s a comatose effort that’s hardly making an effort to provide characters worth cheering on, while the central otherworldly threat is a vaguely defined pest that seems entirely avoidable. I know, I know, it’s all in the name of B-movie fun, yet it’s difficult to get into an enterprise that appears to fall asleep on occasion, doing extraordinarily little with a promising concept collected from hundreds of merry creature features.

When a meteorite crashes in a remote forest, a hungry alien species is unleashed, bent on gobbling up anything stupid enough to stand in its way with its enormous, unholy mouth. Taking refuge inside the basement of a nearby home, the alien waits patiently for victims, soon swallowing the parents of teen Pete (a plucky Tom DeFranco) and his little brother Charles (Charles George Hildebrandt, son of art director and noted fantasy illustrator Tim Hildebrandt). With the monster devouring innocents, unsuspecting characters continue on with their lives above ground, finding Pete screwing up the courage to profess his love for science classmate Ellen (Jean Tafler), while young Charles works on his monster movie make-up skills, also taking part in a little analysis proposed by his concerned Uncle Herb (John Schmerling). Finally discovering the trouble lurking below the kitchen, the humans race to escape the alien’s wrath and pesky offspring, a squirmy plague that’s spread into the community, leaving locals panicked.

A grinning homage to the murky monster efforts of the 1950s, “The Deadly Spawn” has also retained the pacing and fluctuating sense of suspense from the era. Writer/director Douglas McKeown (this being his first and last taste of filmmaking) aims to please with this ghoulish effort (corralled by producer Ted. A. Bohus), gathering a wild range of influences to pay tribute to the matinee entertainment of his youth. His intentions are endearing, but his moviemaking inexperience is ruthlessly underlined throughout the picture.

It’s actually shocking to find “The Deadly Spawn” so sluggish and uninspired, with McKeown struggling to pad the effort with labored characterizations, eating up precious minutes of screentime with meaningless encounters -- the panic to pork up the running time increases as the picture unfolds, with frustrating editing by Marc Harwood not above holding on blank faces for an eternity. Keeping in mind that “The Deadly Spawn” is about a vicious alien invasion, the movie seems almost fearful to explore the extraterrestrial aggression in full. Perhaps the budget wasn’t high enough to fund additional ghoulish activities, but I’d rather watch the hungry, oily visitor of many heads snack on body parts than endure more of what passes for drama in this picture. The aforementioned scene of study between Charles and Uncle Herb is a significant example of a tepid idea for characterization dragged out to a point of screen death.

While the human elements of the picture are more deadly than the spawn, McKeown restores some needed nerve to the effort when focused exclusively on alien particulars. While lacking coin to explore monster attacks in detail, the production serves up a healthy portion of screen violence, with convincing puppetry assisting in the fantasy. A grotesque creation defined by its cavernous, teeth-filled mouth, the titular menace is memorable, giving the filmmakers something horrible to work with as they stage numerous stalking sequences, with the beast’s sperm-like offspring (a direct reference to “Alien”) excitedly taking down the locals, including a climatic assault on a lunch party populated with middle-aged women. Something of a sense of humor is also showcased in this siege, revealing a few ideal directions the screenplay largely avoided in pursuit of genre excitement it’s not capable of delivering.

The climax is where “The Deadly Spawn” finally awakens, pushing aside staring contests (nobody actually looks scared in this film, it’s so weird) and vapid conversations to mount chase sequences, where Pete and his friends find themselves cornered by the creature, while Charles employs his gift with movie magic (a precursor to the Tommy Jarvis character in “Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter”) to mount a retaliatory effort, making the monster manufacturers of Hollywood proud. The third act provides a few pleasing turns of death and household destruction, sold with a potent display of gore to keep the audience invested in the action, preferably with one eye closed. Thankfully, the production locates a pulse for the conclusion, paying off the creatures’ ravenous appetites with a satisfactory domestic rampage.

The Deadly Spawn Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

While I've never seen "The Deadly Spawn" before, I can't imagine this Blu-ray accurately represents the feature as it was originally exhibited. The AVC encoded (1.33:1 aspect ratio) presentation is a mess, with extraordinary filtering implemented to keep inherent grain down to a manageable size. Criminally, all fine detail has been scrubbed away, leaving monstrous stampedes and "frightened" reactions flat and uninviting, while critical textures of gore and location have lost their grit. The source material is in rough shape, with debris and scratches present throughout the movie, with a few damage points briefly disrupting the action. Additionally, on my BD copy, there's a second-long A/V dropout at the 75-minute mark. There are banding and macroblocking issues to contend with as well. Colors are boosted but clotted, with red making a satisfactory impression from costuming and bloodletting. Skintones look naturally vitamin-deficient from the human characters. Shadow detail is lost to impenetrable blacks, smothering low-lit scenes, hurting suspense. Granted, the film was shot on a low budget, fighting momentous focus troubles, but the disc doesn't provide the basics in HD atmosphere or depth. It's a soft, scratched viewing experience that's been smoothed out to a distracting degree.

The Deadly Spawn Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 LPCM audio track is a crowded affair with a tinny frontal force. Although the source material is limited in sonic scope, the mix doesn't carefully contain the cacophony of voices and sound effects, creating a sludgy listening experience that hits one too many shrill notes of violence and enthusiasm. Pronounced hiss and pops are also detected throughout the presentation. Scoring cues hold to their creeping synth intention, but fail to provide a desired crispness, buttressing the macabre events. Dialogue is smashed into one competition for the loudest actor in the room, losing a few exchanges to a wall of sound, a discomfort extending to the creature's wrath, which doesn't supply a layered sense of movement or intensity. The track is a little hard on the ears. While I'm sure nobody was expecting an immaculate rendering of the Z-grade feature's imperfect aural effort, it's disappointing to hear such feral frontal noise.

The Deadly Spawn Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Introduction with Ted A. Bohus (1:19, SD) welcomes the viewer to "The Deadly Spawn," while taking a few moments to display some merchandise for the film and goof around with an alien puppet.

• Audio Commentary with producer Ted A. Bohus and editor Marc Harwood is a jovial conversation between the professionals, who reflect fondly on their "Deadly Spawn" experience, cheering on the film's shortcomings. The track is easily more entertaining than the movie, as Bohus happily discusses the challenges of this low-budget venture, chatting up special effects, blatant continuity errors, and the general chaotic atmosphere of the set -- tensions eventually required the dismissal of McKeown toward the end of the shoot. The participants are honest about the feature, but the tone is generally celebratory, sure to please fans.

• Alternate Opening (4:43, SD) offers little to no discernible changes from the theatrical cut outside of a different opening title sequence.

• Casting and Gags (35:57, SD) supplies B&W VHS footage from the production's improvised rehearsals (Bohus is quite the ham), showing the cast as they figure out the script and peppy character interactions. Plenty of tomfoolery ensues.

• Bloopers and Outtakes (4:56, SD) provides a charming peek at the BTS effort, with cameras capturing the creation of special effects and cast interplay as the film wound its way through production. It's a shame the footage is so limited, as this collection of random moments truly underscores the backstage effort.

• Local News Segments (40:32, SD) stitches together a few news profiles on "The Deadly Spawn" and Bohus from the New Jersey area, highlighting the promotion of the film, with the producer out in front, attempting to charm people into a ticket sale. The footage ends up being more about Bohus than the features he's looking to advertise.

• "Take One" (24:58, SD) is a cable access show from 1982, interviewing Marc Harwood on his experiences shaping the movie and his feelings about the low-budget world of filmmaking.

• "Visit with the Deadly Spawn" (8:39, SD) is a comical visit with one of the feature's creature designers, who shows off his work and questionable sense of humor before revealing the enormous Deadly Spawn puppet used in the picture. Like all of the supplementary material on this disc, little explanation and identification is offered to encourage any appreciation for the footage.

• Slideshow (15:30) is a silent stroll through numerous publicity and production stills.

• Comic Book Preview offers four pages from the upcoming funny book prequel.

• A Theatrical Trailer and a T.V. Spot (2:24, SD) are provided.

The Deadly Spawn Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"The Deadly Spawn" is cheesy and reverential to budget moviemaking classics, making it likable but seldom enjoyable. The film has an ambition it never fulfills, leaving empty spaces where madness should reign. While its cult status is understandable with such a striking central figure of terror, the overall effort doesn't carry a momentous sense of genre ingenuity, rendering the monsters an occasional bloodthirsty delight in a movie that often doesn't know what to do with them.