Dark Universe (1993)

Directed by Steve Latshaw [Other horror films: Vampire Trailer Park (1991), Biohazard: The Alien Force (1994), Jack-O (1995), Death Mask (1998), Return of the Killer Shrews (2012)]

While rather low budget in it’s approach, Dark Universe does have some mild charm to it. It’s not what I’d call a good movie, but for what it is, I don’t think it’s at all awful.

With what looks like a makeshift Xenomorph running around Florida swamps, Dark Universe can be a little fun. Having an alien causing havoc on Earth isn’t uncommon – look at films such as The Incredible Melting Man, The Borrower, Lifeforce, Night of the Blood Beast, and Without Warning – but it’s still unique enough for a lower budget film to try and craft that at least a little respect should be thrown it’s way.

Honestly, while some of the special effects are quite terrible (such as the spacecraft pilot at the beginning morphing into the Xenomorph-lite), some aren’t too shabby. As much as I make fun of the alien design here, it’s okay. There’s also the scenes where the alien sucks the fluids out of some unfortunate souls, leaving their bodies emaciated. It’s not great, but we’re talking about an early 1990’s straight-to-video movie here, so again, I have to give the film some kudos.

It’s not a good movie, though, which may not come as a surprise. It’s sort of fun at times, but there’s not a lot to the film – just people trekking through the swamps, occasionally getting attacked by the alien, and almost always during the day. It’s not generally that interesting, even if it does look okay for the budget they had.

Personally, I thought Blake Pickett (HauntedWeen) made for a somewhat irritating character. She started out fine, but the more she did, the less I cared for her. It’s the opposite with John Maynard (in one of his earliest roles), who I rather liked until the end. Bently Tittle (also from HauntedWeen) was generic, yet fine, Joe Estevez (The Lights and Axe Giant: The Wrath of Paul Bunyan among his most well-known works) popped up for some reason, and we got a small scene with William Grefé (not generally an actor, but the director of suck works as Whiskey Mountain, Death Curse of Tartu, Stanley, and Mako: The Jaws of Death), which was sort of fun.

Dark Universe isn’t a good movie, but I don’t think it’s terrible. It can be quite dull at times, and the finale isn’t what I’d exactly call nail-biting, but for some cheap alien action, and for a retro time, it might be worth checking out at least once.

5.5/10