Review: Inseminoid (1981)

Directed by: Norman J. Warren
Starring: Judy Geeson, Robin Clarke, Jennifer Ashley
Written by: Nick Maley, Gloria Maley
Music by: John Scott
Country: United Kingdom
Available on: Blu-ray (Scream Factory)
IMDb

Inseminoid has all the hallmarks of a Roger Corman film: frequent nudity and gore, cheap makeshift sets that are reused ad nauseam, a rocky landscape on a far-off planet, an alien that sexually assaults a human female. However, Corman had nothing to do with it; of all people, the Shaw Brothers financed half of this flick about an extraterrestrial that impregnates a scientist (Judy Geeson) that’s part of a team investigating the ruins of an ancient civilization. The pregnancy makes her viciously hungry for blood before she eventually gives birth. Not a single moment of kung fu, though. Director Norman J. Warren actually has a pretty interesting filmography that includes stuff like Satan’s Slave (1976), Prey (1977), Terror (1978), and Bloody New Year (1987) and he does a commendable job ushering us through something that had high potential for disaster. Although you can tell Inseminoid’s script was written in a matter of days to utilize the funding the filmmakers had secured, it’s actually a pretty decent slice of space-set horror pie that’s done a little dirty by an overly provocative title that probably scared away some folks. It, combined with the promotional artwork and a largely female cast, makes you think you’re in for Humanoids from the Deep but on another planet, with aliens that fucking love putting their babies up in people. But thankfully there’s only one such encounter and it’s more of an unwanted but largely clinical artificial insemination by a large frog humanoid thing that’s only on screen for like 2 minutes than flat-out assault, and the scene is effectively disorienting. Most of the movie is Geeson going absolutely bonkers and shrieking at her castmates before disemboweling them and lapping their blood. Her performance is quite the viewing experience and makes Inseminoid worth watching. It’s not quite Isabelle Adjani in Possession levels of WTF, but it’s fun. Other than what Geeson is bringing — and a good, early synth score by John Scott — this is paint-by-numbers stuff, though done fairly well. It falls in nicely with a lot of other better-than-mediocre time-killers in the Alien ripoff niche, like Forbidden World, Creature, and Galaxy of Terror. It’s really hard to go too wrong with a nutty performance, beautiful women, great music, plentiful bloodsplatter, and a weird alien in space.

Overall rating: 6 out of 10