THE GREEN SLIME is an unwieldy space opera-cum-monster flick, a Japanese-American-Italian co-production filmed in Japan with a mainly American cast. The director is none other than Kinji Fukasaku, better known to today's audiences as the man behind BATTLE ROYALE, and this must be one of his worst films. The problem with it is that it's incredibly dated, full of shoddy special effects, '60s dancing, fashions, and hairdos, and with an uneven pacing even this fan of B-movies found it hard to watch. The storyline is nothing new, and throws in all of the usual ingredients including a love triangle between the heroes, a mad scientist who can only think of the greater good, ray guns, tentacle-waving one-eyed aliens and much, much more.
Robert Horton is the stiff hero battling the creatures, although I preferred Richard Jaeckel as the tough commander who screws up time and time again. Lending some glamour is '60s Italian babe Luciana Paluzzi, whose turn in THUNDERBALL catapulted her to world stardom. There are a ton of special effects in this film which are all Japanese-made, so the emphasis is on quantity over quality. The rubber-suited aliens take some beating, but shoddy scenery, ray gun effects, and awful-looking space miniatures are also thrown into the brew. This is undoubtedly one of the cheesiest films I've ever watched, which may be a recommendation for some bad film lovers. It's a lot of fun if you can get over all of the factors stacked against it.
Robert Horton is the stiff hero battling the creatures, although I preferred Richard Jaeckel as the tough commander who screws up time and time again. Lending some glamour is '60s Italian babe Luciana Paluzzi, whose turn in THUNDERBALL catapulted her to world stardom. There are a ton of special effects in this film which are all Japanese-made, so the emphasis is on quantity over quality. The rubber-suited aliens take some beating, but shoddy scenery, ray gun effects, and awful-looking space miniatures are also thrown into the brew. This is undoubtedly one of the cheesiest films I've ever watched, which may be a recommendation for some bad film lovers. It's a lot of fun if you can get over all of the factors stacked against it.