Destination Inner Space

I know many people will think I'm crazy giving this 7 out of 10 but i really enjoyed this movie so much i had to buy the DVD on ebay.its one of those movies i saw as a kid back in jersey on creature features. the monster looks like the creature from the black lagoons poor cousin. awesome b-movie cast the great Scott Brady playing a good guy for once, Gary Merrill(mysterious island)Sheree north(Kramer's mom on Seinfeld) James hong(big trouble in little china)mike road(voice of race banning on johnny quest)and john Howard(the unknown terror)the plot is somewhat like 1989s deepstar six kind of.there's a flying saucer underwater,and a big green scaly monster with flipper feet.the music is from the b-movie gem the angry red planet(60)its an enjoyable little b-movie. 7 out of 10.

Commander Wayne (Scott Brady) travels to a research facility on the ocean floor to study an unidentified object. Wayne spends most of his free time being overly aggressive with the two beautiful, female scientists. He also does a lot of yelling.

The real fun begins once the crew -finally- enter the alien craft. They discover a container resembling a greyish watermelon. Once this container is taken back to the sea lab, it grows and hatches! In no time, a hideous creature is on a murderous rampage! Actually, the monster isn't bad at all. Far from drab, it has psychedelic red fins. The crew must fight for their lives, accompanied by the soundtrack from ANGRY RED PLANET.

DESTINATION INNER SPACE is quirky, 1960's sci-fi at its best...

Watching "Destination Innerspace" again after so many years, one instantly notices how low this film's budget must have been. Also upon re-inspection, a few new qualities emerge. Namely, the unintentional laughs. Previous reviews have already noted the outrageously tiny-looking miniatures, and how some of the music cues (borrowed from the B-classic "Angry Red Planet") are not exactly subtle. Oh, and the sight of Gary Merrill trying to subdue a big, walking large-mouthed bass is certainly hard not to find amusing now. Such sad but funny indicators of low budget film-making aside though, what does still seem to work about this little movie is the premise: a monster preying on humans trapped in a confined space, which is basically how "Alien" works. Only here, we have an underwater facility "subbing" for the space tug Nostromo and being stuck on the ocean floor is not a bad setting if you're making a claustrophobic thriller.

One sequence to admire is the alien ship's arrival on the scene. Watching as it soars directly over the sea lab, with the addition of sound effects giving voice to it's engines the space craft actually becomes kind of impressive. It's rather neat the way it "buzzes" the installation with it's nervous crew watching from inside. Clearly, they had the right idea here, and with a little more money this could have been a first rate sci-fi thriller.

One can also definitely defend the sequence where the crew attempt to lure the alien creature into a booby trap of spear guns. It's rather suspenseful as the hero, Commander Wayne, using himself as bait, bangs on a metal door and waits forcing the viewer to sit and wait there with him for the monster's inevitable appearance.

Speaking of Commander Wayne, this guy emerges as quite an enjoyable hero, and playing him like John Wayne underwater, Scott Brady is so well cast in the role that he really elevates the occasionally soggy proceedings to a level it never would have achieved without his capable presence. His smart alec, tough guy lines are funny, too like when he tells a cynical female marine biologist, "You listen to me, beautiful. I grew up with a couple of sisters, and let me tell you something: a brother doesn't always tell a sister "everything". Shove that under your microscope and study it awhile."

In fact, Commander Wayne has a snappy answer for just about everyone on board:

Dopey scientist: "do you realize the importance of this, Commander?"

Wayne: "I realize the danger we're in."

Dopey scientist again: "We've been cut-off from topside. Something must have happened to their communication equipment."

Wayne: "More likely something happened to them.

It's not a great script, nor is it brilliantly directed, and there are sure lapses in the pace here and there. All quite true. Still, this ancient sci-fi flick does achieve a modest measure of suspense. With the addition of an appealing star, some very funny lines and some unintentionally funny fx's, well, you could do worse than introduce your child to this enjoyable little monster movie.

This isn't a B-flick. It's worse, it's a C-flick. Sea-flick? See?

Now that my really bad joke is out of the way, I can say this movie is one really bad joke on the audience. To say that the science is flawed is an understatement. (The specimens in the biology lab will die without air?!? They're a sealab; their purpose is to study water-breathing life!) The bombast-filled score is nothing more than stale leftovers from the 1950s, straining at almost every moment to add suspense where none exists. The sets are among the least convincing I've ever seen and the special effects are laughable. The "giant" spaceship and the sealab look like the 12-inch miniatures they probably were. The rubber-suited monster is not scary at all even when poor bluescreen matting makes it look several times larger that life. Worst of all, it commits the cardinal sin that distinguishes truly bad movies from the classics like "Plan 9 from Outer Space," it's no fun. It makes Irwin Allen's "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" series look like "Star Wars." Even the eminently forgettable "DeepStar Six" and "Leviathan" were an order of magnitude better than this. It's almost enough to make me rent "Sphere" and finally see the second half. Almost, but nothing's quite that bad.

A group of scientists working in an undersea station discover an alien spacecraft. They, quite naturally, investigate. They discover a cylinder shaped object and bring it to their station for further testing. Before you can say "guy in a rubber suit", the thing hatches an amphibious type creature who immediately goes on a rampage. The good guys must try to stay alive and destroy the alien craft before any more of these things show up.

Admittedly, there are a lot of problems with Destination Inner Space. It's goofy, features from ridiculous acting, and has obvious budgetary limitations. But despite all that, there is a good deal of fun to be had. Fans of monster romps should find something to enjoy. I found the monster suit surprisingly effective. It's a unique design quite a bit different form what I've seen before. I especially enjoyed the use of color. Makes it look a bit like the sunfish I used to catch as a child when I went fishing with my grandfather. A decent amount of action, some scientific mumbo-jumbo, and some cheap, but fun miniatures are other highlights. Overall, a decent amount of entertainment despite the weaknesses.

Two other things worth mentioning:

1. I got a real unintended laugh out of star Scott Brady. First, he's a complete fish out of water. He has no business being in this movie. Second, just watching him try to buckle his diving vest over his pooch is a hoot.

2. I'm not sure I've ever actually seen Mike Road in a movie, but I knew that voice as soon as I heard it - Race Bannon. Too cool!