Someone once said that “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay greatness to.” It’s a great quote with scores of applications, especially in art. Books have their own trend such as the wave of “domestic suspense” thrillers with the word “girl” in the title that was popularized in the wake of the success of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl and its 2014 David Fincher adaptation. The “Souls-like” and “metroidvania” subgenres in video games are popular for a reason, with the former being known for its RPG mechanics, difficulty, and deep worldbuilding as popularized by FromSoftware’s Souls games. The latter meanwhile focuses on action-adventure and nonlinear exploration with an emphasis on backtracking to key areas which was made popular by the Metroid and Castlevania series.
Even films are not immune to imitation. After all, like many mediums, it’s one nigh built on copying predecessors, auteurs, and methods that came before. But certain films are very much made knowing exactly what and why they are. Some of a certain vintage and taste might even call these imitators ‘rip-offs.’ And so, as such, I’m taking a look at William Malone’s 1985 ALIEN rip-off, CREATURE.
Before diving into the film proper it should be made clear that what follows for the next paragraph or so is not a pejorative towards any specific films, the kind of subgenres they encompass, or the individuals that like them. After all, I would never claim to be the arbiter of “good” taste and I wouldn’t be writing about William Malone’s film if I wasn’t a fan. And yet it’s worth noting that while there is a fine line between inspiration and imitation, there is an argument to be made that the two can blur together for both good and bad reasons. Sometimes this process results in a STAR WARS, while most often it results in a KRULL or THE BLACK HOLE.
And then there is the late, great King of Cult himself, Roger Corman, whose name cannot be overlooked when talking about low-budget rip-off films and B-movies. The influence he had (and arguably still does) over the filmmaking industry as well as the vast swath of remarkable talent that spawned from The Corman Film School cannot be overstated. Having made his career directing, producing, and distributing B-movies, Corman wasn’t above a knockoff title either, producing rip-offs of JAWS, STAR WARS, and ALIEN, with PIRANHA, BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS, and GALAXY OF TERROR. The films from Spielberg, Lucas, and Ridley Scott all spawned entire subgenres of exploitation adjacent films. JAWS, in particular, had Jawsploitation (or as it’s known by its more official term, sharksploitation) and came about due to the popularity of the 1975 film and its sequels, while also spawning a wide range of animal attack films under its umbrella. By contrast, Ridley Scott’s 1979 film ALIEN equally has its own inspirational roots in both the Spielberg and Lucas films. And while it has less of an official title dedicated to the slew of knockoffs that followed in its wake, it is no less ripped off.
As such, returning to CREATURE, while the film isn’t made by Corman in any sense of the word, you wouldn’t be mistaken for thinking it was either. After all, it’s got all the hallmarks of the legendary filmmaker’s production: a super low budget, a relative cast of unknowns, a sprinkling of nudity, and goopy gore. But the extra seasoning of the film is it being well-directed with solid set design (the space suits and ship interiors are particular standouts) alongside terrific matte paintings and great gore and make-up effects by Bruce Zahlava. Throw in the unhinged screen presence (both onscreen and off) of Klaus Kinski, and Malone’s film starts to punch above the weight class of the average ALIEN knockoff. All those elements in tandem with its overt inspirations come together for something charming even with its low budget.
Like Scott’s iconic 1979 film, Malone’s film is both indebted to and borrows heavily from Mario Bava’s 1965 film, PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES. Stranded space explorers, the discovery of a dead crew, an infected crew member because of said discovery, a monster rampages about; the works. The same can be said for the Corman-produced GALAXY OF TERROR and FORBIDDEN WORLD, whose own alien menaces are respectively, either psychic manifestations of its victims fears or an insectoid-like threat breaking down its victim’s cellular structure into pure protein for sustenance. So, with Malone’s film coming six years after Scott’s and 3-4 years after the Corman films, it’s a miracle how much the titular creature within the film looks visually just enough unlike an exact copy of the xenomorph to avoid copyright lawyers having a field day. Sure, the monster is jet-black, bipedal, and snarling with slime, but the possession element that Malone adopts from the Bava film alongside the insect adjacent body and elongated saurian-like head with glowing red eyes help it stand out from the usual fare.
All of that to say is that, for my money, the monster ends up being arguably the most important element of these kinds of films. It being an amalgamation between the creatures from both Scott and Bava’s film, thus further makes Malone’s monster stand out both on a visual and threat level. Yes, the film waits until the eleventh hour to show the creature in its entirety, but by allowing it to possess the dead bodies of its victims via parasite, Malone can maintain the constant threat of the monster even without it being seen. As such, the monster of CREATURE ostensibly gets to have its cake and eat it too, all while keeping in the tradition of that Corman production mentality whilst not actually being one of his films. So, if you’re going to steal from the best, why not steal and infuse for maximum potential?
Finally, if there is one other commonality CREATURE shares with Corman’s productions, it’s that the film has an excellent poster. It’s one that perhaps betrays the film in that it looks far cooler and more menacing than the film actually is. Arguably like many of Corman’s films, GALAXY OF TERROR and FORBIDDEN WORLD have pulpy, schlocky marketing that recall the B-movies of the ‘50s but done up with that extra element of ‘80s sleaze that Corman packaged into his productions. By contrast, CREATURE’s poster features the title underneath the monster's snarling head within the black and blue void of space while Saturn, the planet Titan hangs in orbit around looms in the background. Like the title and film it’s aping, it's simple, mysterious, and exciting. And I wish I had it on my wall.
There have been more than few imitators that followed in the wake of Ridley Scott’s iconic horror film. Some have iterated on this formula better than others, with the likes of my beloved EVENT HORIZON or PITCH BLACK coming to mind. But despite the gothic moon of Titan bringing to mind LV-426 and the Derelict, as well as the monster at the center of the film looking like the dollar store knockoff of the xenomorph, CREATURE is also acutely aware of what it is, what it’s trying to do, and recognizing it doesn’t need to iterate. Sometimes upping the gore, nudity and sleaze of it all is enough. And that kind of chutzpah gives me a soft spot for the film. As such, the film feels so much within the lineage of a Corman production that whenever I revisit it, I have to ask: Are we sure Roger Corman didn’t have anything to do with this? I may know the answer, but I like asking it all the same.
