The Deadly Spawn
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Deadly Spawn | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Douglas McKeown |
| Produced by | Ted A. Bohus John Dods Tim Hildebrandt |
| Written by | Douglas McKeown |
| Starring | Charles George HildebrandtTom DeFranco Richard Lee Porter Jean Tafler Karen Tighe James Brewster Elissa Neil Ethel Michelson John Schmerling |
| Music by | Paul Cornell Michael Perilstein Kenneth Walker |
| Cinematography | Harvey M. Birnbaum |
| Editing by | Marc Harwood |
| Release date(s) | April 22, 1983 |
| Running time | 78 min |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Deadly Spawn is a 1983 horror film directed by Douglas McKeown and starring Charles George Hildebrandt.
It follows the story of a crash-landed alien that finds refuge in the basement of a house and grows to monstrous proportions, eating those unlucky enough to venture down. A handful of teenagers try to survive the onslaught of the creature and its vile young.
[edit] Production
The film's title was changed in some places to "Return of the Aliens: The Deadly Spawn" or "The Return of the Alien's Deadly Spawn" as original attempts to cash in on the success of the Ridley Scott film Alien.
It has been suggested that the character of Ellen (Jean Tafler), Pete's girlfriend, was killed off because the actress got another job, but screenwriter McKeown disputes this. He decided early on to shatter the conventional expectations of the audience and maybe the rules of the genre, in order to justify Pete's subsequent breakdown. The horrific effect on the audience of such randomness was to be a bonus. In any case, Ellen's fate is a spectacular shock, and Kathy (Karen Tighe), the "second lead," winds up being the one who survives.
[edit] External links
- Return of the Aliens: The Deadly Spawn at the Internet Movie Database
- http://www.deadlyspawn.net/ Official Site
