Mutiny in Outer Space (1965) User Reviews

Not as bad as I expected...in fact, I think it's worth seeing.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 24 December 2017]

On the way from the moon to the space station, a fungus breaks out on the rocket and it's alarming how quickly the stuff is spreading. Unfortunately, the Commander seems to be space sick and won't even listen to the warnings by some of his crew. Instead, he orders the ship to continue towards the station, and it ends up spreading the fungus there as well. To make it worse, the fungus kills! If the Commander doesn't relent, mutiny is sure to break out sooner or later.

This movie is a mixed bag. The special effects are pretty shabby (particularly the space footage), though that's pretty much true of ALL space films made before "2001". The dialog is pretty sexist at times...again, a product of the times. But the story itself is actually pretty good as the megalomaniacal angle was pretty good and makes the film worth your time if you like this sort of thing.

Entertaining B scifi programmer

[ebeckstr-1 · 6/10 · 5 November 2019]

While this movie was made just a few years prior to 2001 A Space Odyssey, it seems very much a throwback to the decade prior. I watched it with that level of suspension of disbelief, treating it like 1950s B science fiction, and found it fast-paced and entertaining. Naturally, the science is not very scientific, but that is never the point in this kind of movie anyway. What I genuinely admire about this little low-budget flick is that all of the actors take their roles seriously, so not only is the acting not half-bad, there are even a few moments where it seems almost to naturalistic. In addition, the screenwriter/s made some attempts at banter between the characters which actually work fairly well. Similarly, we even have a few oblique camera angles and a POV shot of the fungus crawling over the camera lens. None of these little creative flourishes would have found their way into a little movie like this if the technicians involved weren't making some effort.

Mutiny in Outer Space is not a classic, but it is a fun relic for fans of this kind of movie from that era, and it's good that it has managed to survive in the public domain.

Entertaining B scifi programmer

[ebeckstr-1 · 6/10 · 5 November 2019]

Well this movie was made just a few years prior to 2001 A Space Odyssey, it seems very much a throwback to the decade prior. I watched it with that level of suspension of disbelief, treating it like 1950s be science fiction, and found it fast-paced and entertaining. Naturally, the science is but science is never the point well this kind of movie anyway. What I genuinely admire about this little low-budget flick is that all of the actors take their roles seriously, so not only is the acting not half-bad, there are even a few moments where it seems almost to naturalistic. In addition, the screenwriter/s made some attempts at banter between the characters which actually work fairly well. Similarly, we even have a few oblique camera angles and a POV shot of the fungus crawling over the camera lens. None of these little creative flourishes would have found their way into a little movie like this if the technicians involved weren't making some effort.

Mutiny in Outer Space is not a classic, but it is a fun relic for fans of this kind of movie from that era, and it's good that it has managed to survive in the public domain.

"What In The Tarnation Is Going On Out There?!"...

[azathothpwiggins · 19 January 2019]

In MUTINY IN OUTER SPACE, ice caves have been discovered on the lunar surface. A team is dispatched to gather samples from the caves. On the way back to Earth, the astronauts stop off at Space Station X-7.

Oh no!

It seems they've arrived at a bad time, since the station's commander is under stress from too much time in space, and could be cracking up! In addition to this, the new guests have brought something with them from the moon. Something alien and infinitely dangerous! Then, the obligatory meteor shower hits! All of this has a detrimental effect on the romances on board the station!

As the commander goes increasingly bananas, the alien organism spreads, turning the station into a floating hell!

Sort of THE GREEN SLIME meets THE CAINE MUTINY, this movie is a cheeeze-corn classic, complete with derring-do, fuzzy fungus monsters, and fashionable females in form-fitting uniforms!

Highly entertaining...

brain dead science fiction...

[AlsExGal · 3/10 · 31 December 2022]

... from writers/directors Arthur C. Pierce & Hugo Grimaldi. In the far future of the late 1990's, the U. S. Space Station X-7 becomes infested by a fungus discovered in the ice caves of the Moon. Maj. Towers (William Leslie) wants to quarantine the station and prevent any exposure to Earthbound vessels or personnel, but station chief Col. Cromwell (Richard Garland) orders the news of the fungus to be kept secret, partly as to not tarnish his command's reputation, but mainly because the Colonel is suffering from "space raptures", a sort of cabin fever. Maj. Towers realize there may be no choice but to organize a - Mutiny in Space! Also featuring Harold Lloyd Jr.

This cheap, B&W bore features some truly atrocious miniature effects, awful acting (James Dobson as the station doctor takes the prize for worst), and a dreadful script loaded with phony "space" jargon. The fungus looks like Spanish moss mixed with something the cat threw up. The men all wear baggy space uniforms, while the women's are skin-tight. At one point, heroine Dolores Faith quietly voices her trepidation about the station's fate, prompting William Leslie to slap her in the face. Naturally, she quickly apologizes to him and asks if he'll still have her. Those were the days!

A nice little movie

[Prometheus9263 · 5/10 · 30 May 2003]

I watched this movie first when I visited my best friend, it´s a tradition watching a DVD-movie when we met. It was not a well-known low-price-DVD which I didn´t know yet. The effects were lousy, the actors average, but this movie has a certain charme. If only Ed Wood had worked this way...

Regards, Hans-Dieter

Hair and Fungus

[PCC0921 · 5/10 · 31 October 2022]

It isn't so much the special effects, that kills Mutiny in Outer Space (1965), as much as, the bad acting, horrible soundtrack and the creature effects, looked really bad. The monster-fungus looked like wet hair, rolled up from the salon floor. The story is slow and wrinkly, but it is about a lunar fungus, wreaking havoc on a space station. There really isn't much more there to go with. The version of the film that I saw, was in 4:3. The audio sounded like it was uploaded to the streamer I used, incorrectly. What was good about Mutiny in Outer Space (1965), was the human part of the plot. There are a lot of strong, confident, female characters in the film. It showed, that the audience in 1965, was looking towards the future.

In Mutiny in Outer Space (1965), director, Hugo Grimaldi, explores the ideas of time spent in space, human endurance in zero-gravity, the vastness of space corrupting the human mind and the effects space travel has on the physical body. They even explained how the fungus, which can't stand cold temperatures, is attached to the outside hull of the spaceship, even though we know, space is cold and frigid. I won't tell you why or how it is, but they did fix a believability question, by explaining that plot point to us. The film is an E for Effort and is recommended, as a viewpoint from a 1960s, science-fiction, low-budget perspective. You can tell, that the producers of this film tried their best, but the budget just wasn't there.

4.9 (E+ MyGrade) = 5 IMDB.

Unconventional

[Thorsten-Krings · 6/10 · 1 October 2008]

I quite liked this film. Okay, the effects are...well...uhm...interesting even for 60s standards. So the overall look is very much that of an Ed Wood offering minus the wobbly sets. The acting is actually quite good especially in the sub plot. I think the story is quite unconventional and well told. The main plot is fairly interesting if not original but the sub plot about the fearless space captain losing his mind is unconventional and well told.

To be honest, from my point of view the good storytelling is a bit wasted due to the cheap f/x. So all in all the film is entertaining and watchable.

Low grade sci-fi

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 3 December 2018]

MUTINY IN OUTER SPACE is a low-grade US sci-fi movie, made in 1965 but looking like it came from the 1950s. It's a cheap black and white escapade in which a bunch of astronauts encounter an unpleasant space fungus which proceeds to devour them one by one. Shades of QUATERMASS then, but nowhere near as good as those cerebral Nigel Kneale movies. MUTINY IN OUTER SPACE is a B-flick through and through, with lots of dry conversation to slow down the short running time and little in the way of action or indeed fun special effects to make it enjoyable.

Satisfactory Sixties Outer Space Quickie, Slightly More Serious in Tone Than Usual

[richardchatten · 6/10 · 13 May 2017]

Set in the 1990s but made thirty earlier when the future looked far more appealing than it ever does now (which why I'm watching it). This sixties quickie has the usual vices and virtues of shoestring pre-'2001' sci-fi (the movie not the year). The interior sets aboard Space Station X-7 are actually reasonably spacious for a change (which director Hugo Grimaldi capitalises upon with a couple of long sweeping tracking shots), the most obvious vice being the usual one of unconvincing model work whenever the ships are shown from the outside.

The most obvious virtue (and the aspect of sci-fi from this period that I am usually least often disappointed with) is the also obvious one of the chic futuristic outfits and sixties hairstyles worn by the female personnel (of whom there are greater proportion this time round than tends to be usual in this sort of thing; nearly all wearing a uniform comprising tight sixties ski pants and polo-necked tops with pointed black cummerbund belts and ankle boots); compared to the depressing grungy look favoured by most post-'Blade Runner' sci-fi.

As Lt. Connie Engstrom - "that great big beautiful blonde with the binary brain" - Pamela Curran (a veteran of the original 1958 'The Blob') cuts an impressive figure all the way from her snug-fitting britches to her elegant cheekbones and pulled-back sixties coiffure; as well as displaying a jaunty sense of humour that matches her permanently arched left eyebrow.

The title itself is misleading, the mutiny itself comprising a rather unnecessary distraction consisting of the captain (Richard Garland) playing hide-and-seek with the rest of the crew which briefly disrupts the main storyline, which is the usual one about an unwanted intruder aboard a space ship; although this time it's a voracious fungus rather than a slavering biped. On the meagre budget permitted the most effective effects shots are probably those of the entire space station wrapped in its tendrils (we'll overlook the fact that it's not supposed to be able to survive in cold conditions).

While all this is going on it makes a satisfying change to see those on the ground actually making themselves useful and supplying the killer punch that eventually sees off the attacker (which unusually for a fungus can wail with discomfort when assaulted).

Space girls in rubber suits fight fungus

[Bernie4444 · 5/10 · 31 December 2023]

Never did see a mutiny. It is more of a space station being contaminated by a fungus. Looks like the station will have to be dispatched before the Earth is fungicides. We are mesmerized by Dolores Faith. But her rubber suit is very clunky. Can the space station be saved or do you feel like something is itching where it should not be itching?

Filmed in six days at a whopping $90,000. And it shows. Could have been a Commander Cody or Captain Midnight quality

William Leslie as Maj. Gordon Towers Dolores Faith as Faith Montaine Pamela Curran as Lt. Connie Engstrom Richard Garland as Col. Frank Cromwell Harold Lloyd Jr. As Sgt. Andrews James Dobson as Dr. Hoffman Ron Stokes as Sgt. Sloan Boyd Holister as Maj. Olsen Gabriel Curtiz as Dr. Stoddard Glenn Langan as Gen. Knowland H. Kay Stephens as Sgt. Engstrom Francine York as Capt. Stevens Joel Smith Carl Crow as Capt. Dan Webber.

Mutiny in Outer Space is well worth your time!!

[captainapache · 8/10 · 29 October 2006]

Shot in black and white, Mutiny in Outer Space one of the lesser known 50's sci-fi, probably because it wasn't made until 1965, but worry not - it is made in the same mold as most other 50's sci-fi in regards to script, acting and special effects. An Italian/USA production with all English speaking actors - no annoying dubbing here folks.

The special effects includes ship launches, dockings, space station shots, a killer fungus, and some rather convincing makeup effects for on contaminated crew members. All work well to serve the story, just remember these are still pre-Star Wars effects and in alignment with what you have see in other 50's sci-fi...

I find this film to be much more entertaining than the supposed classic with similar storyline 'It! the Terror from Beyond Space' made nearly ten years earlier.

Well worth your time seeking this flick out. The transfer available is magnificent and much better than some of the commercial 50's sci-fi titles out there!!

By way of comparison, MIOS is much more engaging than other 50's fare such as The Unknown Terror, The Flame Barrier, or Curucu-Beast of the Amazon. Check it out!!!

A mix of artful and pleasantly awful.

[k-kennedy-spaien · 7/10 · 13 July 2019]

Great cinematography, and the special effects that DON'T show spacecraft or the "alien lifeform" are quite good. Striking use of light and shadow, especially in the early scenes.

There's cheesy space ship miniatures, and a few nonsensical plot points. Also apparently many newspapers printed in foreign languages feature English headlines (Who knew?).

It works both on a "so-bad-it's-good" and a serious film level, though better at the former than the latter. If you want to get the most out of this film's serious side, just remember that "the past is a foreign country." as they say.

Great torment value

[trevorlitchfield-93554 · 1/10 · 27 October 2020]

I normally enjoy these old SF movies but this was truly awful. I could barely keep my eyes open

I'll never look at moldy bread the same way again.

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 19 February 2022]

Whole this film take this little time getting to the good stuff, once it does, it really gets going. A mission to Mars doesn't find a group of females who have started their own civilization (guarded by a spooky giant spider (as in "Missile to the Moon"), but it finds some sort of fungus that when it attaches itself onto the astronauts causes an effect that threatens to destroy the universe should it get back to Earth. Wait till you see how it grows, moving along might Lucy Ricardo's bread coming out of the oven, and there's a lot more than yeast in this potential plague. It has the potential to cover a whole person's body, leading to the whole spaceship nearly covered in this messy organism.

William Leslie and Dolores Faith are the stars of this Z grade science fiction film which is actually pretty good considering the low-budget it was made on. Special effects involving this fungus are genuinely creepy, and the one victim overtaken by it has a look that has to be seen to be believed. There is also evidence that it has a bit of mind control as well, making various members of the crew paranoid about others activities aboard. Back at mission control, it seems like the only way to stop this fungus from coming to Earth is to destroy the space ship and everyone on it, and that's a gruesome plan nobody really wants to have to go through with. So you've got some interesting science fiction elements and human interest, creating lots of tension. Definitely not a classic, but worth seeking out.

It could have been a contender...

[pattonroxanne · 5/10 · 4 July 2019]

If not for...

The horrible overdubbing The space station that stutters The 'rescue' that wasn't possible The underarm sweat stains The LOW Low low budget special effects

If you take this flick seriously you'll be disappointed but it you enjoy a good chuckle then give it a try.

'Alien' and even 'Star Trek' antecedent spots, clunker in space: better billed as 'The 'Creeping Fungus'.

[Bofsensai · 2/10 · 3 March 2024]

Just, ah, 'floating' by to add that this slow burning almost clunker can be worth tolerating sitting through to watch for its Star Trek and most noticeably, 'Alien' antecedents - oh, and some femme fun thrill, throughout, too.

Clearly mistitled, as the 'Mutiny' that does - barely - occur, is largely incidental, for is more like a 'Submarine in Space' (note those so low doors: med room surely regularly filled with banged head syndrome? Plus sonar tracking use); but an even better still 'come-on' title would have been 'The Creeping Fungus', which then leads into its surprisingly many 'Alien' spots: as, tick them off as they arrive, to include: invader from outside, infected crew member, quarantine, medical room isolation (with so brief, blink and you'll miss it great face infection make up effect) and even, steam (fire extinguisher?) use to dislodge the 'invader' (even the anguished scream of!)! Even two crew members tinkering with the ship's mechanics whilst female crew member look on .... (Recall? No cat though.)

Then, being that Roddenberry's 'Star Trek' turned up barely a few years later, I'd wager he'd seen this when you see statuesque Pamela Curran (as Lt Connie) in her hip / nether regions* hugging ski like pant/jumpsuit sashay about the control panel deck, raising her eyebrow quizzically á la Spock characteristically came to do: the doc even says "I'm only a Doctor ..." and to observe (know) "the captain is pretty stubborn", of whom (Richard Garland), also gets to exclaim "Stand by for evasive maneuvers!", so, all in keeping with a Kirk-like character, whilst even the crew lurch about the deck to indicate the 'ship' is under meteorite strike.

Of which, the ship, Grimaldi director (through Roger George, with Edwards Art Studio effects, credited) present a neat little space station prop put together seemingly out of an old upturned ash-tray, tea strainer top, both bolted together with a central (giant?) nut.

* Well, note her first introduction from camera focus pull out! Really! ('Ready for my focus now, Mr. Grimaldi ..: is THAT where you want to begin?') BTW: note; Lt Connie is also scripted to hint at a bit of a surreptitious masochistic minxiness, too, with lines like "I hear that she's been a naughty girl" (but that on Hurricane Nora seen from space!) and on that Captain: "I won't take that kind of treatment from a man .. (beat) .. unless he wants me to..." Sheesh! (Even more Kirk like allusions?)

But then, too, for a nice change, the femme content on the whole for this 'peril in space' entry is notable for being nicely distributed around: For there's also aboard, the botany scientist Dolores Faith (played by, get this, Faith Montaine: clever) first introduced in typical female white lab coated way of bun pulled back hair and heavy horn rimmed black specs, amused (excited!) me, as when she finally removes them to reveal the attractive dark eyed beauty that those specs are originally supposed to hide in favour of her credible boffin status. (Note, continuity fans, she initially needs them for close up examination through the microscope: later though, discarded as presumably no longer necessary as monstrously (fungus) afeared threatened; plus also now has hair free flowing down, too: so obviously so afeared, no longer taking her job seriously, tut tut!) And for her position, note how latterly she is manfully rescued from the dreaded fungus by hunk crewmember (Major) Gordon (Will Leslie) with his impromptu version of, ah, 'over' whelming it! (See the poster, :-))

Oh, then later, being her love interest, so when she sinks into a defeatist (infected?) fug, note how he again 'manfully' gets her out of it: (full face man slap: afterwards she's perfectly ok, back in complete thrall love / lust with him: well of course: opposites attract isn't it? The boffin and the caveman hunk.)

Plus several lovelies are placed about the Earth command centre, too: (one a long legged, demurely crossed, instep quite acutely arched for attention - (mine alone?! Oh dear) - who despite got no lines, raised my, er, eyebrow!)

All in all, quite turgid: yet, for any sci-fi horror fan, surely, if only, historically, essential to see.

Good sci-fi outer space movie

[philamax · 7/10 · 17 January 2021]

I found this to be a good science fiction movie, although the special effects were weak. It has a crew revolt, ala The Caine Mutiny as noted in another review, as they have to overcome the mental breakdown of the station's commander to combat a fast-growing deadly fungus. It has elements of realism harking back to The Thing from Outer Space and the authorities at space command actually show intelligence by anticipating actions taken by the crew, understanding the nature of the fungus, and offering a possible solution to saving the crew and station.

If you can ignore the lack of good special effects, this movie is worth the time.

Basic

[drystyx · 6/10 · 29 August 2015]

Although dated 1965, this sci-fi outer space flick has a definite fifties look.

It looks much like a McCarthy era film very basic, with a very basic, standard backdrop, and yet it has a 1965 message of anti McCarthy distrust of authority.

That's fairly fresh, because we get the black and white basic look of the hard nosed authoritarian era, but in this movie, it is the commander of the unit in space who becomes deranged, though it be by a space fungus, still he becomes the unruly one.

The story flows well, and there are some leggy gals strutting their stuff for the young boys.

An interesting combination of two eras, taking the best of both eras. The stark, unassuming sets that let us enjoy the story (fifties style) and the notation that authority figures aren't always perfect (sixties).

Surprised by the quality of the acting, characters!

[dane-92 · 8/10 · 6 October 2019]

This movie obviously didn't have a lot of budget to work with, but a strong ensemble of actors really helps to humanize its story. Where there's an interesting storyline and believable, likable, three dimensional characters, I can forgive a sci fi movie's weak special effects.

Better as a TV program?

[stevelomas-69401 · 7/10 · 1 March 2020]

Very nearly an episode of Star Trek in that the idea is good but it feels episodic. The film stock and sound quality were poor and whilst some acting was good a lot was toe curling.

Not bad for a low-budget space opera

[jamesrupert2014 · 6/10 · 3 February 2021]

The commander of Space Station X-7 has a nervous breakdown after astronauts returning from the moon accidently infect the station with a deadly lunar fungus. For a low-budget Italian-American space opera, 'Mutiny in Outer Space' is not bad. The film's look and script is much more 'realistic' than is typical for the genre and although the story's ultimate resolution is a bit weak, the parallel narratives (dealing with the fungus and dealing with the deranged commander) are reasonably well played out. The special effects are fairly rudimentary (images of the space station are occasionally reversed) and most of the spaceship footage is recycled from Antonio Margheriti's 'Space-Men' (1960), itself one of the less visually interesting space operas to come out of Italy in the 1960s. Although scenic, neither Dolores Faith nor Pamela Curran add much to the movie and the male leads are pretty much clichés (the only interesting character is Frank Cromwell (Richard Garland), the delirious commander who is suffering from "space raptures"). The film opens with the station being forced to dodge some space debris (also borrowed from 'Space-Men'), making it one of the one of the first sci-fi films to reference what is now a real problem: the accumulation of space 'junk' in orbit around Earth. 'Mutiny in Space' is a po-faced yet moderately entertaining 'realist' space opera - more like one of Ivan Tors' 'hard-science' OSI yarns than its silly but stylish Italian brethren.

MORE SERIOUS THAN MOST...TALKY & PLAYFUL...THEN SUSPENSEFUL & SCI-ENCY

[LeonLouisRicci · 6/10 · 11 August 2021]

Has More of that 1960's Serious Vibe than its 50's Cousins.

But Echoes Remain with Some of the Models, SFX, and Ridiculous Teen-Age Type Flirting in the 1st Act.

Things Tense-Up Once a Fungus is Discovered and then Spreads Throughout the Space-Station.

The Story is a Familiar One, but the Mutiny Angle is Rare in Space Movies.

The Rocket-Ships are Nifty but the Station, Exteriors, while Cool are Probably Over-Used.

The Creeping Organic Terror Does Most of its Creeping Across the Ship and Not On the Crew and is Sort of, Well, Creepy.

Not a Bad "B" with about a $90,000 Budget.

It Comes Off Like an Episode of a TV Show Mostly, but a Good TV Show.

Some Serious Effort was Done to Make this Better than it Should.

With an Above Average Script and Detailed Set and Model Work that Delivers a Notch Above the Standard Stuff.

In just a Few Years Stanley Kubrick would Shake-Up the Sci-Fi Movie World.

Then Thinking on these Things would Never be the Same Again.

Worth a Watch.

Distance error to stars

[kennethfrankel · 7/10 · 11 January 2019]

At 40 minutes into the movie, there is a discussion of life in the universe. The distance to the nearest star system is used as an example of the vast interstellar distance. Alpha Centauri is actually a triple star system, about 4.37 light years away. They say in the movie "4 light years away, 6 trillion miles." No - a light year is 6 trillion miles - the distance that light travels in a year. Four times six is 24 (rounded off). I more accurate distance is about 26 trillion miles away. There are 3 problems with the public in this area: 1) People confuse light years with time 2) The writers don't really know the subject 3) People like Walter Cronkite could not say "trillion". He would say "million million". Big numbers always bothered people - the term "vast multitude" was used, or terms like "quadrillion" were used.

very campy foreign sci-fi film

[oscar-35 · 29 September 2016]

The Mutiny in Outer Space, 1965.

*Spoiler/plot- A moon landing crew contracts some unknown lunar fungus that gets accidentally transferred to their Space station with disastrous & dramatic results to all crew.

*Special Stars- Arthur C. Pierce. With William Leslie, Dolores Faith, Pamela Curran, Richard Garland.

*Theme- Healthy caution when exploring another planetary body is being smart.

*Trivia/location/goofs- A European film.

*Emotion- A very campy foreign sci-fi film, probably Italian made. Has some very unplanned funny aspects of plot and performance.

*Based On- Moon flight fears.