‘Invaders from beyond the stars!’
The Green Slime is a 1968 science-fiction horror feature film produced by MGM and shot in Japan at the Toei Company studios by director Kinji Fukasaku (Message from Space). The screenplay was by Charles Sinclair, William Finger (co-creator of Batman) and Tom Rowe. The movie stars Robert Horton, Luciana Paluzzi and Richard Jaeckel. The Japanese title is ガンマー第3号 宇宙大作戦 aka Ganmā Daisan Gō: Uchū Daisakusen
Plot:
A group of astronauts set out to stop a giant asteroid on a collision course with the planet Earth. They land on the asteroid, plant explosive charges and destroy it. Afterwards they return to the staging area, a space station called Gamma 3 in orbit around the Earth.
Unfortunately, a scientist from the mission has unwittingly carried a luminous-green substance on the leg of his spacesuit which quickly mutates into one-eyed, tentacled monsters with the ability to discharge lethal bolts of electricity.
The Gamma 3 crew fend off the alien creatures with their laser-based weaponry, only to discover the creatures feed off the energy which, in turn, allows them to multiply rapidly, sprouting the new creatures from their blood. As the creatures overrun the station the crew continues to fight back against overwhelming odds…
Reviews:
” … the charmingly wooden dialogue, low budget special effects, and silly plot make The Green Slime a campy experience for any age. It’s a quaint little movie that’ll have modern viewers chuckling at the 60s’ perception of the future, where the destruction of asteroids and the evacuation of space stations would be on par with mowing your lawn.” Oh, the Horror!
“The plot is fairly thin and the love triangle aspect of the picture hurts the pacing here and there even if former Bond Girl Paluzzi looks hotter than hell in the film, but there’s so much going on here that, pacing problems or not, it’s hard not to have a good time.” Rock! Shock! Pop!
“Sure, a bigger budget and a special effects master like Eiji Tsuburaya would have made the action more spectacular. Sure, some of the sets are boring. Sure, some sexuality would have been welcome. Don’t let it bother you, Dear Reader. Cut The Green Slime some slack, and enjoy.” David Elroy Goldweber, Claws & Saucers
“Green Slime has it all: wooden acting, inane dialogue, laughable effects and production design so haphazard and chintzy that it’s already a self-parody. The creatures aren’t the least bit intimidating, because they’re so obviously heavy rubber suits worn by actors who can barely stand up in them. One good push from an insulated adversary, and they’d be helpless.” Blu-ray.com
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“Not a very convincing entry in the vegetable monster movie sub-genre… Paluzzi looks uncomfortable and is unconvincing as a space scientist while Jaeckel plays the role as he does sergeants in war movies.” The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Science Fiction
“Some bad movies are so amusingly bad, they’re still memorable thirty-five years on even if you were bombed out of your butt when you first saw them. Green Slime, with its ridiculous dubbing, ludicrous creatures, and curvaceous female lead Luciana Paluzzi, is one of those films.” John Wilson, The Official Razzie Movie Guide
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“Originally an adult-only ‘X’ certificate in the UK, there’s little here that would scare the average Doctor Who fan, but its generous with bloody make-up jobs and close-up electrocutions. It’s the super-serious acting when faced with rubber monsters and furious pacing helps make this so enjoyable.” Black Hole
“The most laughingly unconvincing monsters of any Japanese production in years.” Michael Weldon, The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film
“What can it be; what’s the reason?
Is this the end to all the seasons?
Is this something in your head?
Would you believe it when you’re dead?
You’ll believe it when you find
something screaming across your mind … green slime!”
