Mutiny in Outer Space

Starting in the 1950s, sci-fi movies frequently dealt with the theme of an extraterrestrial pathogen. Examples include cult films such as the seminal “The Quatermass Xperiment” (1955) and the rather unsettling “First Man into Space” (1959).

Despite that history, “Mutiny in Outer Space” is still innovative in its own way, because unlike the earlier examples cited, here the action takes place on board a space station rather than on Earth. This change in venue allows the co-directors, who also wrote the screenplay, to try to go the claustrophobic thriller route, or at least to better focus on the tension ensuing from an emergency situation playing out in a dramatically isolated environment.

Additionally, the risk of global contagion is taken extremely seriously, a storytelling decision that predates one of the most popular 1970s sci-fi themes by at least half a decade.

The film misfires in several regards, however:

1. the classic disregard for scientific accuracy (for example, the fungus’s moaning – absurd enough to start with – continues even in a vacuum!);
2. a cast of rough-hewn characters;
3. not-very-special effects (superimposed images, a few scale models, etc.);
4. an abrupt, extremely weak ending.