Titan Find

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Year:	1985
Country of origin:	USA
Director:	William Malone
Genre:	Atmospheric Alien clone
Starring:	Stan Ivar,  Wendy Schaal, Lyman Ward, Robert Jaffe, Klaus Kinski
Rating:	4/5
IMDB link:	http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088961/
Tagline:	It's Been Sleeping For 2000 Years, Until Now.
Favourite line:	"I saw a movie once, where a group of people were trapped in an ice station by a carrot from another planet."

Known as ‘Creature’ everywhere else in the world, we pretty much know what to expect, here.

The plot:
A team of American astronauts, sent to Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, to explore discover ancient artefacts, with markings of unknown origin.
Discovering the landing craft of a rival German group of astronauts – the US and Germany are at war, apparently. As if that would ever happen? Talk about far-fetched - the US team eventually figure out that the Germans are dead, killed by creature unknown, but a creature that is still very much alive, which starts to pick off those on the moon one by one by one.

Oh yeah, it’s an Alien rip-off alright, but don’t let that put you off.
Fond memories are stirred by this particular title, as it’s one of those I used to stare at longingly in the video store, only to be told I couldn’t watch it as I was too young so, instead, I’d just look at the stills on the back and imagine what might happen.
Scared the piss out of myself, I must confess.
With a plot as derivative as this, the film can only succeed if it is delivered with some style and, though the low budget limits it somewhat, still there is oodles of atmosphere and menace, all achieved by the construction of tight little sets, and the constant flow of dry ice, rendering everything sinister, ghostly, ethereal.
The cast is stuffed full of unknowns, with the exception of Klaus Kinski, a German actor notable for his googly eyes and clipped accent, but all are adequate enough in their roles, and no-one puts in a poor performance. Heh, they’re no Sigourney and John Hurt, but they do the job well enough.
Special effects wise, we get the usual clunky model work for the exterior shots, the aforementioned dry ice for atmosphere, but what sets this apart from most rip-offs of this type is the level of gore. Blood spurting all over the place, faces ripped off, it really is strong stuff, and perfectly in keeping with the tone. It is a sci-fi horror, after all, so nice to see the horror done some justice, too.
Geeks out there may be interested to know there is a character called Beth Sladen. Now, actress Elisabeth Sladen played companion Sarah Jane Smith in the classic Doctor Who story The Ark in Space, which clearly heavily influenced Ridley Scott’s original Alien movie. So now, in a movie clearly influenced by Alien, the actress name crops up as a character…..
Coincidence?
Or me just revealing the true depth of my geekery?
You decide, fuckers!
Anyway, a decent sci-fi-horror romp, with plenty of gristle on show, and more than enough atmosphere to keep things interesting until the end.
Recommended, but only if low budget is not a problem for you.