Alien from the Deep

Adventure and environmentalism are the main ingredients of “Alien from the Deep”, the final sci-fi feature film helmed by veteran Italian director Antonio Margheriti, a great craftsman of the cinema of yesteryear.

The result is an entertaining, well-paced film that is sure to please those who look back on the genre with fondness and are willing to forgive the numerous weaknesses here, starting with a screenplay riddled with holes and a string of performances that aren’t exactly brilliant – on the plus side is Charles Napier who chews up every scene he appears in as the classic obtuse, bellicose soldier: “This is a war, and that’s something I know a lot about it!“.

The alien creature, whose appearance clearly betrays the film’s miniscule budget, doesn’t really look like a “biochemical being” (as the off-kilter scientist defines it). Instead, it more resembles a biomechanical creature, a sort of giant deep-sea diver with steroid-enhanced lobster claws. On the special effects front, the director partially compensates for the skimpy budget through his renowned flair with miniature models – in this respect, we’re not too far removed from his famous works of the 1960s, first and foremost “The Wild, Wild Planet” (1966, original title: “I Criminali della Galassia”).

Prolific character actor Luciano Pigozzi’s final motion picture.