The Deadly Spawn (1983)

The Deadly Spawn (1983) is one of those films you go into with no expectations whatsoever - another zero budget slimy killer alien movie from the eighties with a no name cast, over familiar scenario and undistinguished looking technical credits.  Yet, as it turns out, it is actually a surprisingly effective small scale horror film.  From the outset, despite a less than original premise of a meteor crashing in the woods and disgorging an alien life form, it subverts audience expectations - as is usual, a couple of campers are the first to encounter the alien, but we're then spared the usual endless scenes of people being chased around the woods by something horrible and slimy, with the campers quickly dispatched.  The action then moves to a remote house where, during a torrential downpour, the alien creature has taken refuge in the cellar.  Which is where things start properly, with various occupants getting eaten by the large toothed alien when they venture down into the basement - their absence initially going unnoticed as everyone else assumes that, as planned, they had left early on a trip.  The remainder of the film's action is confined mainly to the house, as the teenaged son, his friends and his younger, monster movie obsessed, brother, gradually become aware of the creature and its spawn (which are beginning to spread outside the house) and find a way to destroy them.  

What's impressive is the way in which the film makes the most of its confined setting, which never feels as if it is simply the result of a low budget.  More than anything, it gives the film a disconcerting sense of normality, as the macabre events unfold in the context of what appears to be an actual family home, (it was shot in the producer's home rather than a studio), encouraging the audience to suspend its disbelief and thereby making, for the film's duration, it all seem vaguely plausible.  Moreover, the apparent normality of the setting made various of the protagonists initial refusal to accept the bizarre things going on in the cellar itself seem understandable.  Establishing its milieu as utterly mundane, from the family dynamics to the torrential rain that falls throughout most of the movie, is undoubtedly the film's strongest suit.  Indeed, restraint is the tone maintained throughout the film: the acting performances from an unfamiliar cast are commendably low key and naturalistic, while the musical score is atmospheric and effectively complements the onscreen action, adding to the air of growing unease which gradually builds throughout the film.  While subtle in these respects, the film commendably doesn't skimp on gore and monster action.  The main creature itself, although somewhat rubbery, is an impressive and effective creation for a low budget production.  While the number of victims the creature and its offspring devour are kept relatively low, they are very well executed.  (At least one of the victims is also somewhat surprising, resulting in the plot moving in a different direction than expected).

In fact, the plot development also shows a lot more logic than is usual for such low budget science fiction flicks.  The eventual methodology for defeating the creatures flows naturally from both the characters' observations of the aliens and the younger brother's pre-established knowledge of monster movies.  Realising that they are blind and respond to sound, he is able to lure the 'mother' creature into a trap (rather as the Triffids could be), where she can be electrocuted (as in The Thing From Another World (1951)).  These references back to older movies is a characteristic of the film, (the final scenes, with the local cops and townspeople out killing the spawn with electric cattle prods, are somewhat reminiscent of the ending of Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968), for example), but never feel laboured or jarring.  Overall, I have to say that The Deadly Spawn turned out to be an unexpected pleasure - a well made and directed small scale movie that never over reaches itself and that properly understands the conventions of its genre.  Interestingly, it seems to be the only directorial credit for Douglas McKeown, who apparently went back to the theatre after making The Deadly Spawn, which seems a pity as, on the evidence of this film, he might have had an interesting career in low budget film making.