Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

Helloturia I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Yash Wade Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Oslo Jargo (Bartok Kinski) *** This review may contain spoilers *** *Plot and ending analyzed*A mix of the films, The Dark (1979), The Hidden (1987), I Come in Peace (1990), and Predator 2 (1990), it really does do much with the topic involved.First of all, the problem with Something Is Out There" (1988) is the sheer time itself. On TV, this clocked in at 5 hours, and what a waste of time. I kept waiting for it to get better, but it didn't.I like the corny intro and sappy 80' music, but not much else is worthy in this lazy production. Even the creature itself is hampered by fuzzy and dark camera work that obscures it. Rick Baker did the work on it.Well, the plot is layered with so many layers of filler, mostly the dumb cop arguing with everyone else. Family matters, his smoking addiction, and his relationship with the police commissioner's daughter played by a dull Kim Delaney, fills the run time.Robert Webber (12 Angry Men (1957), The Dirty Dozen (1967), and Midway (1976)) is the police commissioner. He's wasted in this sluggish production.A space prison ship that has some "evil" alien that takes over the mind's of the other prisoners destroys the power of the prison ship. A medical officer is the only one who survives, and well, she's hunting the alien on earth. She meets up an extremely unlikeable cop. His pal is George Dzundza. That's about it. They find the alien with relative ease. Throw in some stupid moments where everyone gets infected with the alien and then it ends.A lot of time is wasted on nothing at all, as I said, all they do is talk. What action there is doesn't have any dramatic effect at all. It all is a very tedious experience.

astaffor First the plot: A policeman investigates a mysterious set of serial killings in which the bodies are attacked, moved a considerable distance and systematically dissected in less than a minute. His attention is caught by an attractive blonde (Maryam d'Abo) who turns up at various murder scenes. Things get weird when he attempts to question her, for she runs, and when he pursues her, she is remarkably athletic, and, she shoots at him with a ray gun.It turns out that the killer is a shape shifting alien criminal with psychic powers, and that she (the blonde) is sole survivor (the medical officer) of the prison ship from which it has escaped, and which is now crippled and in orbit around the Earth. She has come hunting it because it will wipe out the human race.This has every cliché ever to appear in any science fiction movie: glimpses of a scaly monster lurking in the dark, ray guns, space ships, zombies and gob-smacked humans standing comically in front of alien shuttles going "I don't believe it". Furthermore, it is guilty of that old filmmakers' favourite, the vacuum of space which transmits sound and in which fires burn freely. This is really B grade stuff. But I think it is a good movie. So why do I like it so much?I like it principally because of Ta'ra (d'Abo's character). This is partly because Maryam d'Abo is absolutely gorgeous, complete with her catsuit and beautiful voice, but more to the point because of the depth of the role she is given and the skill with which she pulls it off. She is alone, until she befriends the policeman, and cut off, and woefully ill-equipped to deal with her foe. Yet she approaches it with good humour, pulling the leg of the incredulous detective (once she has proved her bona-fides) about her alien abilities. Initially, she seems like a normal Earth person, describing the inhabitants of Earth as "a human race". However, gradually, differences emerge. It is these things, and the way they are treated, which give the characters depth.For example, at one point he discovers she has one particularly extraordinary ability. When she realizes he doesn't share this gift, her response is "And you say I'M not normal!" It hadn't occurred to her that he couldn't do it. These differences cause occasional surprise, humour and, sometimes, exasperation. But she learns to use them to advantage, and when she couples them with her feminine wiles, with a wink and a nod, she can be quite effective.She doesn't go through the movie as the standard smart-mouthed, sassy, kick-but uber space trooper, blowing everything away and taking no lip, which is what could have ruined this movie. Instead she uses her brains (including her knowledge of bio-science), good humour and charm, and barely resorts to firepower and then only as a last resort. (Her policeman friend does most of the blowing away.) The dialogue works well, and is often original (refer to Ta'ra's opinions on space ship self-destruct systems).These qualities give the characters depth and, thus, add to the realism and tension.And the special effects are reasonably good, with the exception of the usual nonsense about what happens in vacuums.So I give the movie an 8 out of 10.The subsequent television series wasn't as good. It becomes something of a standard cop programme, with ray guns. And Ta'ra's character hasn't the depth. For example, suddenly she develops an ability to develop super-weapons. Where did that come from in our ship's medical officer? If you were stranded on another planet, how many advanced weapons do you think you could build? I don't think so!

cool_cool_1 Something is out there (1988) is all about detectives Jack Breslin (Joe Cortese) and Frank Dileo (George Dzundza) who are investigating a serial-killer, who slaughters his victims and removes their internal organs. While in the crime scene, Jack notices the constant presence of a beautiful young woman, Ta'Ra (Maryam d'Abo). He finds her and is convinced that she is a doctor from a prison in the outer space. She explains that the murderer is a powerful alien, who is able to change his appearance, that escaped from prison, and she is chasing him. They forces trying to eliminate the menace to planet Earth."Something Is Out There" is a very good sci-fi/horror B-movie, using a similar storyline of "The Hidden" (1987). The story mixes crime, horror, sci-fi and action, and it stars the lovely British Maryam d'Abo.The movie is fast paced and lots of fun and the effects are very good too.I give this very entertaining horror 8/10, it's pretty rare movie to find though!

tgreene_msp I seeing this mini-series and some of the series episodes that followed. What I most about this series overall is that it was the the way most Americans got to see the latest Bond girl (Living Daylights) in a non-Bond role. The downside to that fact was that Maryam was still playing the smart attractive sidekick to a dark-haired rough-edged leading man. Not exactly much of a stretch. I think this is why NBC followed the Nielsen/Arbitron crowd and abandoned its for the series (not the last time the network would take that course, of course). Considering that both the Sci-Fi Channel and the Movieplex channels have aired this movie/series more than once tells me that there is something that sets this apart from a similar themed show on NBC in the past (...Matthew Starr). Now that even short lived TV shows/TV movies of the recent past are showing up on DVD, maybe this one will show up soon as well.