Tag line : Your countdown to Hell is about to begin..

Set in the distant future, a rescue team are despatched to a remote planet to locate the crew of a crashed spaceship. Their mission doesn't exactly go to plan though, as they damage their craft during the landing and find themselves similarly stranded.

Whilst the crew attempt repairs, a small group head out to see if they can find the survivors from the previous craft. The planet initially appears to be a barren wasteland of rocks and debris, however as they venture outside they discover the ruins of a mysterious giant pyramid.

As they go on to explore further, it seems the planet isn't as lifeless as they thought as the crew predictably starts getting picked off one-by-one by mysterious forces that seems to originate from their darkest fears.

One unfortunate chap, played by B-movie regular Sid Haig, is impaled by a bunch of crystal spikes, another ends up with his head removed, whilst one girl gets incinerated, another (played by post 'Happy Days' actress Erin Moran) is squeezed to death by alien tentacles whilst one very unfortunate girl (Taaffe O'Connel) is attacked by a giant maggot with tentacles, which removes her uniform covers her naked body in slime and subsequently tickles her to death (all done in the best possible taste)!!!!

Pre-dating the likes of "Event Horizon" by several years, this low-budget early 80's B-movie by the infamous Roger Corman is surprisingly good considering its age, which was released to cash in on the popularity of "Alien". Whilst the effects may be cheap they are extremely effective, not to mention gory. The film also features a host of well known, and indeed semi-well known, cast and crew members including a young Robert Englund and TV/movie actor Ray Walston. It is also interesting to note that James Cameron and Bill Paxton worked on the film as crew members.

Overall Marks : 5/10.

Other Information.

• Alternate tag lines 'Hell has just been relocated', 'Imagine your worst nightmares come true'...

• The second unit director was James Cameron, who as a direct result of his work on the film got to direct "Pirahna 2 : Flying killers", which in turn lead to him landing the directors job on "The Terminator" and then "Aliens".

• The UK pre-cert video from the early 80's was uncut, but the BBFC sanctioned release from 1986 removed 3s from the scene where Taaffe O'Connel's character is attacked by the giant maggot. The 2002 DVD release was passed uncut, and the film has been screened uncut on the UK sci-fi channel.

• Actor Bill Paxton worked on the film as a set decorator.

• Zalman King, who played Baelon, went on to become a successful producer and director. Most of his credits being soft porn titles, having worked on "9 1/2 Weeks", "Wild Orchid" and "The Red Shoe Diaries".

• In order to get the maggots on the severed arm to squirm for the camera James Cameron came up with the idea of passing a mild electric current through it.

• Robert Englund had previously appeared in Tobe Hooper's "Death Trap" (aka Eaten Alive) and Gary Sherman's "Dead and Buried", of course he then went on to have a very succesful horror movie career as 'Freddy Kruger' in the "Nightmare on Elm Street" series of films.

• Ray Walston is probably best known for his role from the 1960's US TV show "My Favourite Martian". He went on to have a re-occuring role in the various "Star Trek" series as 'Boothby' the gardener at Starfleet academy. He has also appeared in the film "Popcorn" and TV mini series "The Stand".

• B-movie actor Sid Haid also appeared in "The Aftermath" as well as playing bad-guy 'Drago' in the 70's sci-fi show "Jason of Star Command". He has also appeared in "Kill Bill 2" and played "Capt Spaulding' in "House of 1000 Corpses" and "Devil's Rejects".

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