Inseminoid
Encyclopedia
Inseminoid is a British film of science fiction
and horror
released in 1981. Norman J. Warren
's eighth motion picture, the plot of Inseminoid concerns a group of future scientists excavating the ruins of an ancient civilisation on a distant planet. When a monstrous alien creature attacks and inseminates one of the women in the team, chaos ensues as the unbalanced victim, possessing unnatural strength, murders her colleagues one after another in a psychotic bid to protect her unborn twin hybrid offspring.
Filmed between May and June 1980, Inseminoid is based on a script from Nick and Gloria Maley, a couple who had contributed to the special effects of Warren's films since Satan's Slave (1976). A low budget of £1 million, half of which was contributed by the Hong Kong Shaw Brothers, funded location filming in both the Chislehurst Caves
in Kent
and on the island of Gozo
in Malta
. Composer John Scott
perfected the electronic
score of Inseminoid in multiple hours-long studio sessions after the completion of shooting.
Although initial box office
reception proved to be positive both in the United Kingdom and in other countries, Inseminoid has since failed to impress a considerable proportion of critics, who have faulted Warren's film for the perceived poor standard of its acting, special effects and set design. Despite praise for actress Judy Geeson
's depiction of the lead character, Sandy, approval of the film in general has been tarnished due to its central plot concept of an extraterrestrial insemination, which has received a largely negative response in comparisons to the premise of the 1979 film Alien
. However, both Warren and Alien distributors 20th Century Fox
have rejected claims that the ideas forming Inseminoid are derived from the earlier film.
Academic interpretations of Inseminoid have concentrated on its treatment of the female sex and female sexualities
in the context of corruption from an alien source. In addition to its depiction of the abject Sandy, who is rendered a distorted Other
in the aftermath of her unnatural impregnation, the film is seen to incorporate a clash between the patriarchal and the maternal at its climax, as the mother-to-be eliminates her former friends one at a time. With Inseminoid released on VHS
to successful sales, author Larry Miller produced a novelisation after the film's 1981 theatrical run.
, photographer Dean White (Dominic Jephcott
) is engulfed in a sudden rock blast and left incapacitated. Deciphering the alien language
in the caves, xenolinguist Mitch (Trevor Thomas) suggests that the civilisation based itself on dualism
: the planet orbits a binary star
, and a pair of twins appears to have ruled the race that once inhabited it. Medical assistant Sharon (Heather Wright
) announces that an energy field surrounds the crystals and proposes that a "chemical intelligence" ordered life on the planet.
A crazed Ricky Williams (David Baxt) is compelled to re-enter the caves when a sample of crystals starts to pulsate and the chemical intelligence exerts its influence through a mark on his arm. Thrown into a grille in a compromised environmental suit
, a panicked Gail (Rosalind Lloyd
) commits suicide, removing her helmet and freezing to death in the inhospitable atmosphere while attempting to amputate her trapped foot with a chainsaw. Documentation officer Kate Frost (Stephanie Beacham
) shoots Ricky with a harpoon
gun just as he is about to open both the inner and outer airlock
doors and render the air inside the base unbreathable.
After the burial of Ricky and Gail, Mitch and Sandy (Judy Geeson
) return to the caves to gather more crystals. A monstrous creature appears and dismembers Mitch before proceeding to rape Sandy. Found distraught, she receives treatment from Sharon and the chief medical officer, Karl (Barry Houghton), who determines that the assault has initiated an accelerated pregnancy in defiance of the regular intravenous injections of contraceptives provided to the women in the team. When further explosions in the tomb network scupper chances of deeper investigation, the surviving members of the team await the arrival of a Xeno rescue shuttle.
The intelligence assumes control of Sandy through a similar mark on the arm. Unhinged, she demonstrates superhuman strength
while murdering Barbra (Victoria Tennant
). She then proceeds to mutilate Dean and the remains of Mitch, drinking their blood
. The rest of the team seek refuge in the Operations Room as Sandy obliterates important hardware—including the base transmitter
—with explosive charges. When the imbalance in her mind appears to correct itself, Karl, Sharon and Commander Holly McKay (Jennifer Ashley) attempt sedation
to spare her unborn offspring. However, Sandy returns to an aggressive state. Holly and Karl are killed in an accident with heat-sealing apparatus, whereupon Sandy disembowels the corpses.
Senior officer Mark (Robin Clarke) contacts Sandy, who is his romantic interest, from the Operations Room to stall for time as Kate and operations chief Gary (Stephen Grives) leave to commandeer chainsaws. The ruse uncovered, Sandy harpoons Gary outside the airlock, breathing the toxic atmosphere to no ill effect as she mauls his flesh. Preparing for a final confrontation, Mark stumbles across Sandy's newborn mutant twins. He entrusts them to Sharon as their mother blasts through the Operations Room door and smashes all the equipment inside, although she has lost her unnatural strength. Crippled from the blast of an explosive charge, Kate is gored to death. In a last stand, Mark strangles and kills his former lover with a ripped-out cable. He returns to Sharon to find one of the twins biting at her gashed neck, before its sibling launches itself at him.
One month later, Xeno Auxiliary Module 047 lands on the planet to investigate the loss of contact with the team. With the base in ruins, the mission records lost and the complement of scientists either murdered or missing, combat marksmen Corin (Kevin O'Shea) and Roy (Robert Pugh
) abandon the search for survivors and pilot Jeff (John Segal) radios Xeno control for clearance to return. The final shots reveal that Sandy's children have concealed themselves in a storage compartment onboard the shuttle.
had at first been attached to direct a film titled Gargoyles. When this production collapsed at the scripting stage, Warren and his producer, Richard Gordon
, accepted a plot proposal from the husband-and-wife team of Nick and Gloria Maley, who had worked on Satan's Slave as members of the special effects department besides Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
(1977) and Superman (1978). The Maleys drafted their concept as a composite of their favourite science-fiction ideas and a chance to exhibit the best of their effects work, although the suggested title, Doomseeds, had to be changed to avoid confusion with the 1977 film Demon Seed
. The script for the new Inseminoid, which indicates that the film is set two decades in the future in a militaristic universe, required a number of amendments prior to filming, although the premise gained the approval of Warren and Gordon.
Agreeing to fund half of the proposed £1 million budget, the Hong Kong
Shaw Brothers became partners in the film's production. Elder brother Sir Run Run Shaw is credited as the presenter of Inseminoid in the opening titles. With a production staff of 75, principal photography
commenced on 12 May 1980. John Metcalfe, camera operator
for Satan's Slave and Terror, assumed the role of cinematographer
. His former role fell to the less experienced Dick Pope. Three weeks of location filming at the Chislehurst Caves
in Kent
preceded a one-week indoor session at Lee International Studios at Wembley Park
in London. The second unit
completed special effects and linking shots in a fifth week, based at Film House in Wardour Street
. To simulate the desolate landscape of the alien planet in long shot
s, the production team departed for the island of Gozo
off Malta
for a final recording session of two days, capitalising on the strong Mediterranean sun to produce good lighting.
Opting to record using Mitchell
cameras incorporating 35 mm
Eastman Kodak
film and anamorphic lenses, Warren recalls that the produced footage boasted "an incredibly sharp image and what I would term as the 'American' look." He remembers that the setting of the Chislehurst Caves rendered the subterranean complex more realistic than a potential in-studio alternative given the modest budget of Inseminoid. However, the cold, damp, airless conditions, combined with the uneven surface of the cave floors, complicated the filming sessions and necessitated frequent repairs of equipment. Shooting often ran for 12 hours at a time and led to frequent minor injuries among the cast and production staff, while some developed intense feelings of claustrophobia
in the confined space. Gordon suggests that the uncomfortable working conditions made the performances of the cast more realistic, but concedes that although, "I think all this paid off in terms of what we got on the screen for the budget, but the circumstances were very difficult." In the absence of suitable facilities inside the caves, the personnel established administrative, dressing and make-up rooms
in a car park some distance from the recording area. Co-writer Nick Maley reprised his role as a special effects technician to produce the infant twin props that appear in the climax of the film. Shooting on Inseminoid wrapped 48 hours behind schedule.
On his contribution to Inseminoid, Warren stated that Peter Boyle
proved to be "a pleasure to work with, because he had a natural feel for the material and managed to create just the right pace and rhythm throughout the film." During the post-production
process, the editing staff increased the brightness of the original print, concerned that a dim appearance would damage the chances of sales to television broadcasters, and removed the most graphic shots of the birth of the mutant children for the purposes of classification
. The opening title visuals, consisting of vibrant oil frames, are a contribution of Oxford Scientific Films
. Determining that the low budget precluded an orchestra
l soundtrack, Warren and his long-standing composer, John Scott
, agreed that all the music should be electronic
. Produced after hours of studio multi-tracking
and overdubbing
, Warren considers the final score an "amazing achievement" and praises Scott's realisation of a soundtrack incorporating the "experimental" electronic brand of music. The score received an LP
release in 1982.
cast American actors Clarke and Ashley while on business in Hollywood. Prior to Inseminoid, Ashley had starred in minor films of such independent
studios as Crown International Pictures
, while Clarke had just completed filming on the 1980 film The Formula. Warren recalls that although Ashley "was not the greatest actress, she was very enthusiastic and very easy to work with." The professional relationship between Warren and Clarke broke down during the filming of sequences such as Dean's incapacitation inside the caves, when the director and actor disagreed about the extent to which Clarke needed to respond to the script when his character raises his voice to a shout. Warren asserts that Clarke's "high opinion of himself" made the actor "a nightmare to work with", and adds that he "could be extremely difficult, making every scene with him an uphill struggle."
Rapports between the director and other cast members proved to be positive: in particular, Geeson is credited as "an absolute dream to work with" and praised for her acting of the maddened expectant mother, which Warren argues avoids descending into unintentional humour. Gordon also offers a positive assessment, stating that Geeson accepted the demands of her part with enthusiasm and did not complain that it demeaned her as an actress.
Warren retains fond memories of Beacham's "very professional" performance, and remarks that, "with tongue firmly in cheek
, she would often wind me up by asking what her motivation was for a particular action, just as I about to call 'Action!', knowing full well that my answer would be, 'Because it's in the script'." Beacham, a mother of two infant children, agreed to appear in the film to support her family: "I had to choose between a play that I really, really wanted to do, which would have paid me £65 a week, and this script for a film called Inseminoid. Hey! No choice. Two pink babies asleep upstairs! No choice!"
. It later opened at 65 cinemas in the region, and reached London
in October. Overseas, German cinemas had begun to exhibit the film in January under the title Samen des Bösen (English: Seeds of Evil). To the dislike of Warren, distributors Almi released the film under the title Horror Planet in the United States and Canada, but later restored the name to the original Inseminoid.
Original pre-release advertising included a regional "mail drop" of circulars
presenting screenshots of a screaming Geeson and the tagline
"Warning! An Horrific Alien Birth! A Violent Nightmare in Blood! Inseminoid at a Cinema Near You Soon!" Warren, who regrets the decision to publicise the film in such a graphic manner, comments, "The problem with mail-drops is that you have no way of knowing who lives in the house, or who will see it first. It could be a pregnant woman, and old lady, or even worse, a young child. So it was not such a good idea."
Rated "X
" in the United Kingdom, in the United States Inseminoid screened under the "R" certificate for its "profanity, nudity, violence, rape and gore". In 2005, the British Board of Film Classification
revised its certification of Inseminoid, re-rating the film "15" from "18" for its "strong, bloody violence". Inseminoid became one of the first films to be released on VHS
soon after its appearance in cinemas, and reached seventh position in British video sales charts in November 1981. Renewed editions became available in 1992 and 1998.
performance, it reached a high of fifth position in the 1981 British charts. At one point it ranked seventh at the box office in France, while in the United States it proceeded to enter the Los Angeles Times
list of top ten films. American director Roger Corman
congratulated Warren on the film and considered commissioning him for further productions. However, a private screening had failed to impress members of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts
, who dismissed Inseminoid as "'Commercial rubbish! ... Not the sort of thing the Academy should be showing ... And certainly not the kind of film the British film industry should be making!'" In 1982, Inseminoid received a minor accolade at the Italian Fantafestival
(winning the Best Special Effects prize) and a nomination at the Fantasporto
convention in Portugal (for the Best Film award). Recalling how the depiction the female sex in Inseminoid displeased women's circles, Warren states, "It seems it is quite common for pregnant women to have nightmares
about giving birth to some kind of monster. Of course, all their complaints and their letters which were printed in the local papers only helped to increase the queue at the box office
."
Examining the acting in a review published in Starlog
magazine, Alan Jones expressed a preference for the British members of the cast, crediting Geeson as "absolutely first-rate" and criticising "the weak performances from the token
Americans, Robin Clarke and Jennifer Ashley". Praising the production values for cost-effectiveness, he discerned signs of Warren's "particular trademark" in such murder scenes as that of Barbra (through repeated scissor-stabbing) and Holly (through heat-searing). He professed his opinion that Inseminoid "is not faultless by any means", citing a predictable and often "ridiculous" plot as factors detracting from his pleasure in viewing the film. Nevertheless, he asserted that Inseminoid meets audience demands for a B film of its genre, progressing "at such a pace that you nearly almost forget that you've seen it all before", and declared it to be "far less routine and far more enjoyable than I had expected."
Critical response in the United States proved to be less favourable. In a review published in Virginia
in January 1983, Edward Jones of The Free-Lance Star offered praise for the "novel touch" of casting a would-be-mother as the principal villain, commenting, "In what has to be a new low, even for extraterrestrial-horror films, all the men end up punching this pregnant woman in the stomach. What a time to have twins!" Nevertheless, Inseminoid is discarded as "no more than a mix of everything-you've-ever-seen-in-a-horror-movie-and-didn't-particularly-want-to-see-again." In a November 1983 edition of the Floridian
newspaper Boca Raton News
, Skip Sheffield branded the film "horrible" and "cheapo", suggesting that his readers "Imagine Alien without the fantastic sets, convincing special effects and literate dialogue, and you have a picture of Horror Planet." He added his opinion that brutal violence does not guarantee narrative suspense, punning on the name Run Run Shaw
in his downbeat conclusion that "Horror Planet is a film to run, run away from—fast."
In 2004, Douglas Pratt argued that Inseminoid consists of "some gooey gore shots but few other thrills" and denounced the quality of the acting and props used. He still conceded that Inseminoid "goes through the motions properly, however, so fans will probably find it worth passing the time." The film is award one star out of five on the AllMovie website, where reviewer Cavett Binion rules that it is a "fairly standard rip-off" of Alien in spite of the originality of its core premise, with a "rabid, eye-popping performance" from Geeson that is "more than a bit uncomfortable to watch." The rape sequence is seen as a "surreal
and truly disgusting flashback
" and the title of the film itself deemed "sleazy".
Warren rejects the label "video nasty
", which has been applied to Inseminoid on the incorrect assumption that its violent content made it impossible to release uncut on home entertainment formats in the United Kingdom. In response to the idea that the film has attained cult status, he remarks, "if Inseminoid has become some form of cult movie, then I am very pleased and, indeed, very flattered." On his private response to his work, he answers that "I don't think you could ever be one hundred percent satisfied with any film you make", and that, in the scenario of remaking
Inseminoid, he would darken the lighting of certain scenes to heighten the tension and demand a longer filming schedule.
" of the 1979 science-fiction horror film Alien
. Peter Wright, a film historian, interprets both the "atmospheric" scenes set in the underground tomb network, and the mess hall sequence preceding Rick's madness, as potential derivations from Ridley Scott
's film: while the first recalls the setting of the remote planetoid, LV-426, the second resonates with the "Chest Burster" horror scene. Wright asserts that the connection of Inseminoid to Alien could appear to be "exploitative
", while Barry Langford of the University of London
sees Inseminoid as representative of the dependence of British cinema on its American counterpart.
Alan Jones suggests that "any similarity between Inseminoid and Alien is totally intentional. Except here is the basic idea contained in Alien taken to its sleaziest extreme." He interprets one such parallel in the character of Kate who, it is argued, emulates the appearance of Sigourney Weaver
in the role of Ellen Ripley
. However, he cites Contamination
(1980) and Scared to Death
(1981) as less effective imitations of Scott. Besides Alien, Edward Jones discerns elements of the novel Dracula
(1897), the television series The Bionic Woman
(1976–8), and the films Night of the Living Dead
(1968) and The Thing (1982) in the plot of Inseminoid.
However, Warren denies claims of an imitation, citing the discrepancies between the production schedules: when Inseminoid entered the shooting stage, Alien, which had been filmed in closed studios, had been released in the United Kingdom months before. Although the director accepts the often "uncanny" similarities between the films, Alien distributors 20th Century Fox
discounted the threat of derivation
after watching final cut of Inseminoid: "They agreed it was not an Alien rip-off, and in fact, the head of Fox sent us a very nice letter saying how much he enjoyed the film and wished us luck with the release ... I find it flattering that anyone can compare Alien, which cost in the region of $30 million, with Inseminoid which cost less than £1 million. We must have done something right."
Wright construes the transformation of Sandy from innocent female to a murderous mother-to-be of human-alien crossbred twins as a "direct manifestation of masculine anxiety regarding female reproductive capacity". He notes that the origin of the horror that powers Inseminoid is internalised as the seed of a violent alien life form, which renders Sandy "woman-as-other", or "abject Other
". This opposes transferring "fear of woman onto the alien other" as demonstrated through the extraterrestrial villain of Alien. However, it is reminiscent of the 1977 film Demon Seed
, which casts an advanced computer as the source of a defiling rape that leads to insemination: "in both films, women are framed as "Other" by their sexual congress with more conventional iconic others: the machine and the alien." Pregnancies are depicted as sources of horror, an attitude apparent in the "uterine
and cervical
" opening credits of Inseminoid, which indicate that "the viewer is entering the realm of the monstrous womb ... the titling reveals a microscopic insect resident in the body of a larger organism."
Wright argues that Warren's inspiration of terror through a distorted representation of the uterus strikes a chord with the 1979 film The Brood
, in which a woman produces deformed children through asexual reproduction
. Commenting further, he examines the rape sequence itself, in which Sandy witnesses Karl injecting her with an unknown substance prior to the alien insemination, and forms a connection to dialogue in other scenes which indicates that the female Xeno scientists are administered regular intravenous injections for the purposes of contraception
. The impregnation of Sandy through perverted intercourse, conflicting with the suppression of childbirth that is manifested through Karl's use of a hypodermic and (phallic) needle, reveals "coherent sexism
" insofar as Inseminoid "attacks the very notion of female sexual freedom, whilst suggesting, paradoxically, that contraception is the responsibility of women." That Sandy reproduces at an accelerated pace and regresses into an animalistic state form factors adding to her depiction as an abject Other and an object for "male paranoia".
In the final struggle, pitting the patriarchal social structure of the Xeno team against the maternal element embodied through the pregnant female, it is not until Gary has half-suffocated in the toxic atmosphere that he is murdered. Wright argues that the sequence reassures a male in spite of its graphic content, suggesting that no female, including one with superhuman strength
, can possess the power to deprive a man of life in cold blood. A murderer of colleagues of both sexes, that Sandy dies at the hands of Mark ultimately renders her an aid to the re-empowerment of the male sex, although the twin offspring are quick to avenge their departed mother. Comparing the plot of Inseminoid to Biblical scriptures, Christopher Partridge of Lancaster University
turns his attention to the nature of the twins, referring to them as "essentially space Nephilim
, technological demons with appetites and habits reminiscent of the mythic forebears."
Maternal images endure into the epilogue documenting the arrival of Jeff, Corin and Roy at the Xeno base. In an allusion to the human menstrual cycle
, it is said that 28 days have elapsed since the communications break-down. The destruction of the installation and the deaths of its occupants are attributed to an "internal disturbance of some kind", forming "an ironic phrase which encapsulates the film's vision of pregnancy as an irruption of Otherness
from within." Focusing on Larry Miller's 1981 novelisation of Inseminoid, described as "imaginative and misogynistic", Wright refers to sequences in the narrative, some absent in the original film, that inspire repulsion in the mind of the reader at the distortion of the female form. New transformations that afflict Sandy include oozing sores (which Wright construes as an aberration of natal oil secretion) and pus emanating from the nipples (argued to mirror colostrum
, or pre-milk). Sandy accepts such unnatural metamorphoses, which culminate in the onset of labour
, with fascination.
episode "Helen Keller! The Musical
". It is seen at the end of the character Eric Cartman
's disturbing vision in a scene in which he uses sensory deprivation
to penetrate the mind of Helen Keller
.
A punk rock
band from Long Island
, New York named themselves after the film. Their theme song, "Horror Planet", contained lyrical references to horrific aspects of the plot. The song was not released as a record but was circulated on cassette demonstration tapes prior to the first and only official release by the band. In 1985, Horror Planet released a professionally-produced recording on a seven-inch, six-track, clear-vinyl EP record with hand-painted fabric sleeves. The songs from the Horror Planet record were subsequently re-released in their entirety on the anthology CD compilation, Something in the Water: the Secret History of Long Island Punk, by Winged Disk Records.
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
and horror
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
released in 1981. Norman J. Warren
Norman J. Warren
Norman John Warren, born 25 June 1942 in London, is a British film director best known for such 1970s horror films as Satan’s Slave , Prey and Terror...
's eighth motion picture, the plot of Inseminoid concerns a group of future scientists excavating the ruins of an ancient civilisation on a distant planet. When a monstrous alien creature attacks and inseminates one of the women in the team, chaos ensues as the unbalanced victim, possessing unnatural strength, murders her colleagues one after another in a psychotic bid to protect her unborn twin hybrid offspring.
Filmed between May and June 1980, Inseminoid is based on a script from Nick and Gloria Maley, a couple who had contributed to the special effects of Warren's films since Satan's Slave (1976). A low budget of £1 million, half of which was contributed by the Hong Kong Shaw Brothers, funded location filming in both the Chislehurst Caves
Chislehurst Caves
Chislehurst Caves are a long series of tunnels in Chislehurst, in the south eastern suburbs of Greater London. Although called caves, they are chalk and flint mines and entirely man-made....
in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
and on the island of Gozo
Gozo
Gozo is a small island of the Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. The island is part of the Southern European country of Malta; after the island of Malta itself, it is the second-largest island in the archipelago...
in Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
. Composer John Scott
John Scott (composer)
John Scott , also known as Johnny Scott and Patrick John Scott, is a British composer and conductor. Scott has worked with some of the world's foremost producers and directors including Richard Donner, Norman J...
perfected the electronic
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
score of Inseminoid in multiple hours-long studio sessions after the completion of shooting.
Although initial box office
Box office
A box office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through an unblocked hole through a wall or window, or at a wicket....
reception proved to be positive both in the United Kingdom and in other countries, Inseminoid has since failed to impress a considerable proportion of critics, who have faulted Warren's film for the perceived poor standard of its acting, special effects and set design. Despite praise for actress Judy Geeson
Judy Geeson
Judith Amanda "Judy" Geeson is an English actor.-Early life:Geeson was born in Arundel, Sussex, England on 10 September 1948. She came from a middle class family; her father edited the National Coal Board magazine. Her sister, Sally Geeson, is also an actress and is known for her roles in British...
's depiction of the lead character, Sandy, approval of the film in general has been tarnished due to its central plot concept of an extraterrestrial insemination, which has received a largely negative response in comparisons to the premise of the 1979 film Alien
Alien (film)
Alien is a 1979 science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm and Yaphet Kotto. The film's title refers to its primary antagonist: a highly aggressive extraterrestrial creature which...
. However, both Warren and Alien distributors 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
have rejected claims that the ideas forming Inseminoid are derived from the earlier film.
Academic interpretations of Inseminoid have concentrated on its treatment of the female sex and female sexualities
Human female sexuality
Human female sexuality encompasses a broad range of behaviors and processes, including female sexual identity and sexual behavior, the physiological, psychological, social, cultural, political, and spiritual or religious aspects of sex...
in the context of corruption from an alien source. In addition to its depiction of the abject Sandy, who is rendered a distorted Other
Other
The Other or Constitutive Other is a key concept in continental philosophy; it opposes the Same. The Other refers, or attempts to refer, to that which is Other than the initial concept being considered...
in the aftermath of her unnatural impregnation, the film is seen to incorporate a clash between the patriarchal and the maternal at its climax, as the mother-to-be eliminates her former friends one at a time. With Inseminoid released on VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
to successful sales, author Larry Miller produced a novelisation after the film's 1981 theatrical run.
Plot
On a desolate planet, a team of 12 Xeno project scientists are conducting an archaeological excavation to locate remnants of an ancient civilisation. Soon after an underground tomb network is found to contain crystals and wall inscriptionsCave painting
Cave paintings are paintings on cave walls and ceilings, and the term is used especially for those dating to prehistoric times. The earliest European cave paintings date to the Aurignacian, some 32,000 years ago. The purpose of the paleolithic cave paintings is not known...
, photographer Dean White (Dominic Jephcott
Dominic Jephcott
Dominic Jephcott is a RADA-trained British actor.He has played in several roles, including Sir Andrew Ffoulkes in The Scarlet Pimpernel, Mount in Good and Bad at Games, Reggie in The Jewel in the Crown, Det. Sgt. Hobson BA in The Beiderbecke Affair Dominic Jephcott (born 28 July 1957) is a...
) is engulfed in a sudden rock blast and left incapacitated. Deciphering the alien language
Alien language
Alien language is a generic term used to describe a possible language originating from a hypothetical alien species. The study of such a hypothetical language has been termed xenolinguistics, although alternative terminology such as exolinguistics has found its way into use through the medium of...
in the caves, xenolinguist Mitch (Trevor Thomas) suggests that the civilisation based itself on dualism
Dualism
Dualism denotes a state of two parts. The term 'dualism' was originally coined to denote co-eternal binary opposition, a meaning that is preserved in metaphysical and philosophical duality discourse but has been diluted in general or common usages. Dualism can refer to moral dualism, Dualism (from...
: the planet orbits a binary star
Binary star
A binary star is a star system consisting of two stars orbiting around their common center of mass. The brighter star is called the primary and the other is its companion star, comes, or secondary...
, and a pair of twins appears to have ruled the race that once inhabited it. Medical assistant Sharon (Heather Wright
Heather Wright
Heather Wright is an English actress, noted for her performances in film and television. Her film credits include: Psychomania, The Belstone Fox, Shout at the Devil and Inseminoid. On television, she has been seen in the following series: Arthur of the Britons, Survivors, Return of the Saint,...
) announces that an energy field surrounds the crystals and proposes that a "chemical intelligence" ordered life on the planet.
A crazed Ricky Williams (David Baxt) is compelled to re-enter the caves when a sample of crystals starts to pulsate and the chemical intelligence exerts its influence through a mark on his arm. Thrown into a grille in a compromised environmental suit
Environmental suit
An environmental suit is a suit designed specifically for a particular environment, usually one otherwise hostile to humans. An environment suit is typically a one-piece garment, and many types also feature a helmet or other covering for the head...
, a panicked Gail (Rosalind Lloyd
Rosalind Lloyd
Rosalind Lloyd is a British film and television actress.The daughter of film producer Euan Lloyd and actress Jane Hylton, her film credits include:* The Wild Geese* Inseminoid* Who Dares Wins....
) commits suicide, removing her helmet and freezing to death in the inhospitable atmosphere while attempting to amputate her trapped foot with a chainsaw. Documentation officer Kate Frost (Stephanie Beacham
Stephanie Beacham
Stephanie Beacham is a British television, film and theatre actress. Making her film debut in 1971's The Nightcomers opposite Marlon Brando and becoming more well-known on British television in the BBC series Tenko and the ITV series Connie , her worldwide breakthrough came as a result of playing...
) shoots Ricky with a harpoon
Harpoon
A harpoon is a long spear-like instrument used in fishing to catch fish or large marine mammals such as whales. It accomplishes this task by impaling the target animal, allowing the fishermen to use a rope or chain attached to the butt of the projectile to catch the animal...
gun just as he is about to open both the inner and outer airlock
Airlock
An airlock is a device which permits the passage of people and objects between a pressure vessel and its surroundings while minimizing the change of pressure in the vessel and loss of air from it...
doors and render the air inside the base unbreathable.
After the burial of Ricky and Gail, Mitch and Sandy (Judy Geeson
Judy Geeson
Judith Amanda "Judy" Geeson is an English actor.-Early life:Geeson was born in Arundel, Sussex, England on 10 September 1948. She came from a middle class family; her father edited the National Coal Board magazine. Her sister, Sally Geeson, is also an actress and is known for her roles in British...
) return to the caves to gather more crystals. A monstrous creature appears and dismembers Mitch before proceeding to rape Sandy. Found distraught, she receives treatment from Sharon and the chief medical officer, Karl (Barry Houghton), who determines that the assault has initiated an accelerated pregnancy in defiance of the regular intravenous injections of contraceptives provided to the women in the team. When further explosions in the tomb network scupper chances of deeper investigation, the surviving members of the team await the arrival of a Xeno rescue shuttle.
The intelligence assumes control of Sandy through a similar mark on the arm. Unhinged, she demonstrates superhuman strength
Superhuman strength
Superhuman strength, also called superstrength, super-strength, or super strength, is an ability commonly employed in fiction. It is the ability for a character to be stronger than humanly possible...
while murdering Barbra (Victoria Tennant
Victoria Tennant
Victoria Tennant is an English film and television actress.-Early life:Tennant was born in London, England. Her mother, Irina Baronova, was a Russian prima ballerina who appeared with the Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo, and her father, Cecil Tennant, was an English producer and talent agent who ran...
). She then proceeds to mutilate Dean and the remains of Mitch, drinking their blood
Blood as food
Some cultures consume blood as food, often in combination with meat. The blood may be in the form of blood sausage, as a thickener for sauces, a cured salted form for times of food scarcity, or in a blood soup. This is a product from domesticated animals, obtained at a place and time where the...
. The rest of the team seek refuge in the Operations Room as Sandy obliterates important hardware—including the base transmitter
Transmitter
In electronics and telecommunications a transmitter or radio transmitter is an electronic device which, with the aid of an antenna, produces radio waves. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the antenna. When excited by this alternating...
—with explosive charges. When the imbalance in her mind appears to correct itself, Karl, Sharon and Commander Holly McKay (Jennifer Ashley) attempt sedation
Sedation
Sedation is the reduction of irritability or agitation by administration of sedative drugs, generally to facilitate a medical procedure or diagnostic procedure...
to spare her unborn offspring. However, Sandy returns to an aggressive state. Holly and Karl are killed in an accident with heat-sealing apparatus, whereupon Sandy disembowels the corpses.
Senior officer Mark (Robin Clarke) contacts Sandy, who is his romantic interest, from the Operations Room to stall for time as Kate and operations chief Gary (Stephen Grives) leave to commandeer chainsaws. The ruse uncovered, Sandy harpoons Gary outside the airlock, breathing the toxic atmosphere to no ill effect as she mauls his flesh. Preparing for a final confrontation, Mark stumbles across Sandy's newborn mutant twins. He entrusts them to Sharon as their mother blasts through the Operations Room door and smashes all the equipment inside, although she has lost her unnatural strength. Crippled from the blast of an explosive charge, Kate is gored to death. In a last stand, Mark strangles and kills his former lover with a ripped-out cable. He returns to Sharon to find one of the twins biting at her gashed neck, before its sibling launches itself at him.
One month later, Xeno Auxiliary Module 047 lands on the planet to investigate the loss of contact with the team. With the base in ruins, the mission records lost and the complement of scientists either murdered or missing, combat marksmen Corin (Kevin O'Shea) and Roy (Robert Pugh
Robert Pugh
Robert Pugh is a Welsh film and television actor.Pugh was born in Cilfynydd and graduated from Rose Bruford College in 1976. In 2007, he co-starred alongside Genevieve O'Reilly and Geraldine James in ITV1 drama The Time of Your Life, where he played a parent whose 36-year-old daughter was...
) abandon the search for survivors and pilot Jeff (John Segal) radios Xeno control for clearance to return. The final shots reveal that Sandy's children have concealed themselves in a storage compartment onboard the shuttle.
Production
After the releases of Satan's Slave (1976), Prey (1978) and Terror (1979), Norman J. WarrenNorman J. Warren
Norman John Warren, born 25 June 1942 in London, is a British film director best known for such 1970s horror films as Satan’s Slave , Prey and Terror...
had at first been attached to direct a film titled Gargoyles. When this production collapsed at the scripting stage, Warren and his producer, Richard Gordon
Richard Gordon (film producer)
Richard Gordon was a British-born producer and financier of horror films.-Career:As a youth, Gordon displayed a love of films from an early age. While he was in school, he wrote articles on the subject, edited fan club magazines, and organized a film society...
, accepted a plot proposal from the husband-and-wife team of Nick and Gloria Maley, who had worked on Satan's Slave as members of the special effects department besides Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, originally released as Star Wars, is a 1977 American epic space opera film, written and directed by George Lucas. It is the first of six films released in the Star Wars saga: two subsequent films complete the original trilogy, while a prequel trilogy completes the...
(1977) and Superman (1978). The Maleys drafted their concept as a composite of their favourite science-fiction ideas and a chance to exhibit the best of their effects work, although the suggested title, Doomseeds, had to be changed to avoid confusion with the 1977 film Demon Seed
Demon Seed
Demon Seed is a 1977 American science fiction–horror film starring Julie Christie and directed by Donald Cammell. The film was based on the novel of the same name by Dean Koontz, and concerns the imprisonment and forced impregnation of a woman by an artificially-intelligent...
. The script for the new Inseminoid, which indicates that the film is set two decades in the future in a militaristic universe, required a number of amendments prior to filming, although the premise gained the approval of Warren and Gordon.
Agreeing to fund half of the proposed £1 million budget, the Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
Shaw Brothers became partners in the film's production. Elder brother Sir Run Run Shaw is credited as the presenter of Inseminoid in the opening titles. With a production staff of 75, principal photography
Principal photography
thumb|300px|Film production on location in [[Newark, New Jersey]].Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production....
commenced on 12 May 1980. John Metcalfe, camera operator
Camera operator
A camera operator or cameraman is a professional operator of a film or video camera. In filmmaking, the leading cameraman is usually called a cinematographer, while a cameraman in a video production may be known as a television camera operator, video camera operator, or videographer, depending on...
for Satan's Slave and Terror, assumed the role of cinematographer
Cinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
. His former role fell to the less experienced Dick Pope. Three weeks of location filming at the Chislehurst Caves
Chislehurst Caves
Chislehurst Caves are a long series of tunnels in Chislehurst, in the south eastern suburbs of Greater London. Although called caves, they are chalk and flint mines and entirely man-made....
in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
preceded a one-week indoor session at Lee International Studios at Wembley Park
Wembley Park
Wembley Park is an area of northwest London, UK. It is part of Wembley, and located in the London Borough of Brent. It includes Wembley Stadium, England's primary football stadium and a major sports and entertainment venue, and Wembley Arena, a concert venue...
in London. The second unit
Second unit
In film, the second unit is a team that shoots subsidiary footage for a motion picture. Its work is distinct from that of the first unit, which shoots all scenes involving principal actors...
completed special effects and linking shots in a fifth week, based at Film House in Wardour Street
Wardour Street
Wardour Street is a street in Soho, London. It is a one-way street south to north from Leicester Square, up through Chinatown, across Shaftesbury Avenue to Oxford Street.-History:...
. To simulate the desolate landscape of the alien planet in long shot
Long shot
In photography, filmmaking and video production, a long shot typically shows the entire object or human figure and is usually intended to place it in some relation to its surroundings...
s, the production team departed for the island of Gozo
Gozo
Gozo is a small island of the Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. The island is part of the Southern European country of Malta; after the island of Malta itself, it is the second-largest island in the archipelago...
off Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
for a final recording session of two days, capitalising on the strong Mediterranean sun to produce good lighting.
Opting to record using Mitchell
Mitchell Camera
Mitchell Camera Corporation was founded in 1919 by Henry Boger and George Alfred Mitchell. Their first camera was designed and patented by John E. Leonard in 1917, from 1920 on known as the Mitchell Standard...
cameras incorporating 35 mm
35 mm film
35 mm film is the film gauge most commonly used for chemical still photography and motion pictures. The name of the gauge refers to the width of the photographic film, which consists of strips 35 millimeters in width...
Eastman Kodak
Eastman Kodak
Eastman Kodak Company is a multinational imaging and photographic equipment, materials and services company headquarted in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded by George Eastman in 1892....
film and anamorphic lenses, Warren recalls that the produced footage boasted "an incredibly sharp image and what I would term as the 'American' look." He remembers that the setting of the Chislehurst Caves rendered the subterranean complex more realistic than a potential in-studio alternative given the modest budget of Inseminoid. However, the cold, damp, airless conditions, combined with the uneven surface of the cave floors, complicated the filming sessions and necessitated frequent repairs of equipment. Shooting often ran for 12 hours at a time and led to frequent minor injuries among the cast and production staff, while some developed intense feelings of claustrophobia
Claustrophobia
Claustrophobia is the fear of having no escape and being closed in small spaces or rooms...
in the confined space. Gordon suggests that the uncomfortable working conditions made the performances of the cast more realistic, but concedes that although, "I think all this paid off in terms of what we got on the screen for the budget, but the circumstances were very difficult." In the absence of suitable facilities inside the caves, the personnel established administrative, dressing and make-up rooms
Cosmetics
Cosmetics are substances used to enhance the appearance or odor of the human body. Cosmetics include skin-care creams, lotions, powders, perfumes, lipsticks, fingernail and toe nail polish, eye and facial makeup, towelettes, permanent waves, colored contact lenses, hair colors, hair sprays and...
in a car park some distance from the recording area. Co-writer Nick Maley reprised his role as a special effects technician to produce the infant twin props that appear in the climax of the film. Shooting on Inseminoid wrapped 48 hours behind schedule.
On his contribution to Inseminoid, Warren stated that Peter Boyle
Peter Boyle (film editor)
Peter Boyle is an English film editor. His work on the film The Hours was nominated for the Academy Award, the BAFTA Award, and the ACE Eddie.Boyle has been elected as a member of the American Cinema Editors....
proved to be "a pleasure to work with, because he had a natural feel for the material and managed to create just the right pace and rhythm throughout the film." During the post-production
Post-production
Post-production is part of filmmaking and the video production process. It occurs in the making of motion pictures, television programs, radio programs, advertising, audio recordings, photography, and digital art...
process, the editing staff increased the brightness of the original print, concerned that a dim appearance would damage the chances of sales to television broadcasters, and removed the most graphic shots of the birth of the mutant children for the purposes of classification
History of British film certificates
-Overview:The UK's film ratings are decided by the British Board of Film Classification and have been since 1912. Previously, there were no agreed rating standards, and local councils imposed their own - often differing - conditions or restrictions...
. The opening title visuals, consisting of vibrant oil frames, are a contribution of Oxford Scientific Films
Oxford Scientific Films
Oxford Scientific Films is a British company that produces natural history and documentary programmes. Founded on 8 July 1968 by noted documentary filmmaker Gerald Thompson, the independent film company broke new ground in the world of documentaries, using new filming techniques and capturing...
. Determining that the low budget precluded an orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
l soundtrack, Warren and his long-standing composer, John Scott
John Scott (composer)
John Scott , also known as Johnny Scott and Patrick John Scott, is a British composer and conductor. Scott has worked with some of the world's foremost producers and directors including Richard Donner, Norman J...
, agreed that all the music should be electronic
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
. Produced after hours of studio multi-tracking
Multitrack recording
Multitrack recording is a method of sound recording that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources to create a cohesive whole...
and overdubbing
Overdubbing
Overdubbing is a technique used by recording studios to add a supplementary recorded sound to a previously recorded performance....
, Warren considers the final score an "amazing achievement" and praises Scott's realisation of a soundtrack incorporating the "experimental" electronic brand of music. The score received an LP
LP record
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
release in 1982.
Casting
Producer Richard GordonRichard Gordon (film producer)
Richard Gordon was a British-born producer and financier of horror films.-Career:As a youth, Gordon displayed a love of films from an early age. While he was in school, he wrote articles on the subject, edited fan club magazines, and organized a film society...
cast American actors Clarke and Ashley while on business in Hollywood. Prior to Inseminoid, Ashley had starred in minor films of such independent
Independent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
studios as Crown International Pictures
Crown International Pictures
Crown International Pictures is an independent film studio formed in 1959 by Newton P. Jacobs Jacobs was a former branch head of RKO Pictures until 1947 when he formed his own company "Favorite Films"; a film releasing organisation. Jacobs became one of the first franchises for showing American...
, while Clarke had just completed filming on the 1980 film The Formula. Warren recalls that although Ashley "was not the greatest actress, she was very enthusiastic and very easy to work with." The professional relationship between Warren and Clarke broke down during the filming of sequences such as Dean's incapacitation inside the caves, when the director and actor disagreed about the extent to which Clarke needed to respond to the script when his character raises his voice to a shout. Warren asserts that Clarke's "high opinion of himself" made the actor "a nightmare to work with", and adds that he "could be extremely difficult, making every scene with him an uphill struggle."
Rapports between the director and other cast members proved to be positive: in particular, Geeson is credited as "an absolute dream to work with" and praised for her acting of the maddened expectant mother, which Warren argues avoids descending into unintentional humour. Gordon also offers a positive assessment, stating that Geeson accepted the demands of her part with enthusiasm and did not complain that it demeaned her as an actress.
Warren retains fond memories of Beacham's "very professional" performance, and remarks that, "with tongue firmly in cheek
Tongue-in-cheek
Tongue-in-cheek is a phrase used as a figure of speech to imply that a statement or other production is humorously intended and it should not be taken at face value. The facial expression typically indicates that one is joking or making a mental effort. In the past, it may also have indicated...
, she would often wind me up by asking what her motivation was for a particular action, just as I about to call 'Action!', knowing full well that my answer would be, 'Because it's in the script'." Beacham, a mother of two infant children, agreed to appear in the film to support her family: "I had to choose between a play that I really, really wanted to do, which would have paid me £65 a week, and this script for a film called Inseminoid. Hey! No choice. Two pink babies asleep upstairs! No choice!"
Distribution
In the United Kingdom, Inseminoid premiered on 22 March 1981 in the MidlandsEnglish Midlands
The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...
. It later opened at 65 cinemas in the region, and reached London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in October. Overseas, German cinemas had begun to exhibit the film in January under the title Samen des Bösen (English: Seeds of Evil). To the dislike of Warren, distributors Almi released the film under the title Horror Planet in the United States and Canada, but later restored the name to the original Inseminoid.
Original pre-release advertising included a regional "mail drop" of circulars
Flyer (pamphlet)
__notoc__A flyer or flier, also called a circular, handbill or leaflet, is a form of paper advertisement intended for wide distribution and typically posted or distributed in public place....
presenting screenshots of a screaming Geeson and the tagline
Tagline
A tagline is a variant of a branding slogan typically used in marketing materials and advertising. The idea behind the concept is to create a memorable phrase that will sum up the tone and premise of a brand or product , or to reinforce the audience's memory of a product...
"Warning! An Horrific Alien Birth! A Violent Nightmare in Blood! Inseminoid at a Cinema Near You Soon!" Warren, who regrets the decision to publicise the film in such a graphic manner, comments, "The problem with mail-drops is that you have no way of knowing who lives in the house, or who will see it first. It could be a pregnant woman, and old lady, or even worse, a young child. So it was not such a good idea."
Rated "X
History of British film certificates
-Overview:The UK's film ratings are decided by the British Board of Film Classification and have been since 1912. Previously, there were no agreed rating standards, and local councils imposed their own - often differing - conditions or restrictions...
" in the United Kingdom, in the United States Inseminoid screened under the "R" certificate for its "profanity, nudity, violence, rape and gore". In 2005, the British Board of Film Classification
British Board of Film Classification
The British Board of Film Classification , originally British Board of Film Censors, is a non-governmental organisation, funded by the film industry and responsible for the national classification of films within the United Kingdom...
revised its certification of Inseminoid, re-rating the film "15" from "18" for its "strong, bloody violence". Inseminoid became one of the first films to be released on VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
soon after its appearance in cinemas, and reached seventh position in British video sales charts in November 1981. Renewed editions became available in 1992 and 1998.
Reception
Inseminoid attracted positive critical reception on its original release. In terms of box officeBox office
A box office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through an unblocked hole through a wall or window, or at a wicket....
performance, it reached a high of fifth position in the 1981 British charts. At one point it ranked seventh at the box office in France, while in the United States it proceeded to enter the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
list of top ten films. American director Roger Corman
Roger Corman
Roger William Corman is an American film producer, director and actor. He has mostly worked on low-budget B movies. Some of Corman's work has an established critical reputation, such as his cycle of films adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, and in 2009 he won an Honorary Academy Award for...
congratulated Warren on the film and considered commissioning him for further productions. However, a private screening had failed to impress members of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
, who dismissed Inseminoid as "'Commercial rubbish! ... Not the sort of thing the Academy should be showing ... And certainly not the kind of film the British film industry should be making!'" In 1982, Inseminoid received a minor accolade at the Italian Fantafestival
Fantafestival
Fantafestival is a film festival devoted to fantasy film that is held annually in Italy from 1981....
(winning the Best Special Effects prize) and a nomination at the Fantasporto
Fantasporto
Fantasporto, also known as Fantas, is an international film festival, annually organized since 1981 in Porto, Portugal. Giving screen space to commercial feature films, auteur films and experimental projects from all over the world, Fantasporto has created enthusiastic audiences, ranging from...
convention in Portugal (for the Best Film award). Recalling how the depiction the female sex in Inseminoid displeased women's circles, Warren states, "It seems it is quite common for pregnant women to have nightmares
Pre- and perinatal psychology
Prenatal and perinatal psychology is an interdisciplinary study of the foundations of health in body, mind, emotions and in enduring response patterns to life...
about giving birth to some kind of monster. Of course, all their complaints and their letters which were printed in the local papers only helped to increase the queue at the box office
Box office
A box office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through an unblocked hole through a wall or window, or at a wicket....
."
Examining the acting in a review published in Starlog
Starlog
Starlog was a monthly science-fiction film magazine published by Starlog Group Inc. The magazine was created by publishers Kerry O'Quinn and Norman Jacobs. O'Quinn was the magazine's editor while Jacobs ran the business side of things, dealing with typesetters, engravers and printers. They got...
magazine, Alan Jones expressed a preference for the British members of the cast, crediting Geeson as "absolutely first-rate" and criticising "the weak performances from the token
Tokenism
In the arts, employment, and politics, tokenism is a policy or practice of limited inclusion or artistic and/or political representation of members of a traditionally marginalized group, usually creating a false appearance of inclusive practices rather than discrimination, intentional or not...
Americans, Robin Clarke and Jennifer Ashley". Praising the production values for cost-effectiveness, he discerned signs of Warren's "particular trademark" in such murder scenes as that of Barbra (through repeated scissor-stabbing) and Holly (through heat-searing). He professed his opinion that Inseminoid "is not faultless by any means", citing a predictable and often "ridiculous" plot as factors detracting from his pleasure in viewing the film. Nevertheless, he asserted that Inseminoid meets audience demands for a B film of its genre, progressing "at such a pace that you nearly almost forget that you've seen it all before", and declared it to be "far less routine and far more enjoyable than I had expected."
Critical response in the United States proved to be less favourable. In a review published in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
in January 1983, Edward Jones of The Free-Lance Star offered praise for the "novel touch" of casting a would-be-mother as the principal villain, commenting, "In what has to be a new low, even for extraterrestrial-horror films, all the men end up punching this pregnant woman in the stomach. What a time to have twins!" Nevertheless, Inseminoid is discarded as "no more than a mix of everything-you've-ever-seen-in-a-horror-movie-and-didn't-particularly-want-to-see-again." In a November 1983 edition of the Floridian
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
newspaper Boca Raton News
Boca Raton News
The Boca Raton News, owned by the South Florida Media Company, was the local community newspaper of Boca Raton, Florida. The paper began publication December 2, 1955, with a startup circulation of 1200, published by Robert and Lora Britt, and edited by Margert Olsson...
, Skip Sheffield branded the film "horrible" and "cheapo", suggesting that his readers "Imagine Alien without the fantastic sets, convincing special effects and literate dialogue, and you have a picture of Horror Planet." He added his opinion that brutal violence does not guarantee narrative suspense, punning on the name Run Run Shaw
Run Run Shaw
Sir Run Run Shaw CBE, GBM is a Hong Kong media mogul.-Overview:Sir Run Run Shaw was born in Ningbo, Zhejiang, China in 1907. There has been no official or formal announcement on the exact day and month of his birth. According to A&C Black published Who's Who 2007, Shaw Run Run was born on 14...
in his downbeat conclusion that "Horror Planet is a film to run, run away from—fast."
In 2004, Douglas Pratt argued that Inseminoid consists of "some gooey gore shots but few other thrills" and denounced the quality of the acting and props used. He still conceded that Inseminoid "goes through the motions properly, however, so fans will probably find it worth passing the time." The film is award one star out of five on the AllMovie website, where reviewer Cavett Binion rules that it is a "fairly standard rip-off" of Alien in spite of the originality of its core premise, with a "rabid, eye-popping performance" from Geeson that is "more than a bit uncomfortable to watch." The rape sequence is seen as a "surreal
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
and truly disgusting flashback
Flashback (narrative)
Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...
" and the title of the film itself deemed "sleazy".
Warren rejects the label "video nasty
Video nasty
"Video nasty" was a colloquial term coined in the United Kingdom by 1982 which originally applied to a number of films distributed on video cassette that were criticized for their violent content by the press, commentators such as Mary Whitehouse and various religious organizations.While violence...
", which has been applied to Inseminoid on the incorrect assumption that its violent content made it impossible to release uncut on home entertainment formats in the United Kingdom. In response to the idea that the film has attained cult status, he remarks, "if Inseminoid has become some form of cult movie, then I am very pleased and, indeed, very flattered." On his private response to his work, he answers that "I don't think you could ever be one hundred percent satisfied with any film you make", and that, in the scenario of remaking
Remake
A remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...
Inseminoid, he would darken the lighting of certain scenes to heighten the tension and demand a longer filming schedule.
Interpretation
Inseminoid has been criticised as a perceived imitation, "knock-off" or "rip-offRip-Off
Rip-Off is a top-down vector shoot 'em up arcade game released by Cinematronics in 1980. It is the first shoot 'em up arcade game to feature cooperative gameplay and to exhibit flocking behavior.-Gameplay:...
" of the 1979 science-fiction horror film Alien
Alien (film)
Alien is a 1979 science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm and Yaphet Kotto. The film's title refers to its primary antagonist: a highly aggressive extraterrestrial creature which...
. Peter Wright, a film historian, interprets both the "atmospheric" scenes set in the underground tomb network, and the mess hall sequence preceding Rick's madness, as potential derivations from Ridley Scott
Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott is an English film director and producer. His most famous films include The Duellists , Alien , Blade Runner , Legend , Thelma & Louise , G. I...
's film: while the first recalls the setting of the remote planetoid, LV-426, the second resonates with the "Chest Burster" horror scene. Wright asserts that the connection of Inseminoid to Alien could appear to be "exploitative
Exploitation film
Exploitation film is a type of film that is promoted by "exploiting" often lurid subject matter. The term "exploitation" is common in film marketing, used for all types of films to mean promotion or advertising. These films then need something to exploit, such as a big star, special effects, sex,...
", while Barry Langford of the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
sees Inseminoid as representative of the dependence of British cinema on its American counterpart.
Alan Jones suggests that "any similarity between Inseminoid and Alien is totally intentional. Except here is the basic idea contained in Alien taken to its sleaziest extreme." He interprets one such parallel in the character of Kate who, it is argued, emulates the appearance of Sigourney Weaver
Sigourney Weaver
Sigourney Weaver is an American actress. She is best known for her critically acclaimed role of Ellen Ripley in the four Alien films: Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection, for which she has received worldwide recognition .Other notable roles include Dana...
in the role of Ellen Ripley
Ellen Ripley
Ellen Ripley is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the Alien film series played by American actress Sigourney Weaver. The character was heralded as a seminal role for challenging gender roles, particularly in the science fiction genre, and remains Weaver's most famous role to...
. However, he cites Contamination
Contamination (film)
Contamination is a 1980 science fiction horror film directed by Luigi Cozzi and starring Ian McCulloch.-Plot:...
(1980) and Scared to Death
Scared to Death (1981 film)
Scared to Death, also known as The Aberdeen Experiment and Scared to Death: Syngenor, is a 1981 B horror/science fiction film directed by William Malone.-Synopsis:...
(1981) as less effective imitations of Scott. Besides Alien, Edward Jones discerns elements of the novel Dracula
Dracula
Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor...
(1897), the television series The Bionic Woman
The Bionic Woman
The Bionic Woman is an American television series starring Lindsay Wagner that aired for three seasons between 1976 and 1978 as a spin off from The Six Million Dollar Man. Wagner stars as tennis pro Jaime Sommers who is nearly killed in a skydiving accident. Sommers' life is saved by Oscar Goldman ...
(1976–8), and the films Night of the Living Dead
Night of the Living Dead
Night of the Living Dead is a 1968 American independent black-and-white zombie film and cult film directed by George A. Romero, starring Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea and Karl Hardman. It premiered on October 1, 1968, and was completed on a USD$114,000 budget. After decades of cinematic re-releases, it...
(1968) and The Thing (1982) in the plot of Inseminoid.
However, Warren denies claims of an imitation, citing the discrepancies between the production schedules: when Inseminoid entered the shooting stage, Alien, which had been filmed in closed studios, had been released in the United Kingdom months before. Although the director accepts the often "uncanny" similarities between the films, Alien distributors 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
discounted the threat of derivation
Derivative work
In United States copyright law, a derivative work is an expressive creation that includes major, copyright-protected elements of an original, previously created first work .-Definition:...
after watching final cut of Inseminoid: "They agreed it was not an Alien rip-off, and in fact, the head of Fox sent us a very nice letter saying how much he enjoyed the film and wished us luck with the release ... I find it flattering that anyone can compare Alien, which cost in the region of $30 million, with Inseminoid which cost less than £1 million. We must have done something right."
Wright construes the transformation of Sandy from innocent female to a murderous mother-to-be of human-alien crossbred twins as a "direct manifestation of masculine anxiety regarding female reproductive capacity". He notes that the origin of the horror that powers Inseminoid is internalised as the seed of a violent alien life form, which renders Sandy "woman-as-other", or "abject Other
Other
The Other or Constitutive Other is a key concept in continental philosophy; it opposes the Same. The Other refers, or attempts to refer, to that which is Other than the initial concept being considered...
". This opposes transferring "fear of woman onto the alien other" as demonstrated through the extraterrestrial villain of Alien. However, it is reminiscent of the 1977 film Demon Seed
Demon Seed
Demon Seed is a 1977 American science fiction–horror film starring Julie Christie and directed by Donald Cammell. The film was based on the novel of the same name by Dean Koontz, and concerns the imprisonment and forced impregnation of a woman by an artificially-intelligent...
, which casts an advanced computer as the source of a defiling rape that leads to insemination: "in both films, women are framed as "Other" by their sexual congress with more conventional iconic others: the machine and the alien." Pregnancies are depicted as sources of horror, an attitude apparent in the "uterine
Uterus
The uterus or womb is a major female hormone-responsive reproductive sex organ of most mammals including humans. One end, the cervix, opens into the vagina, while the other is connected to one or both fallopian tubes, depending on the species...
and cervical
Cervix
The cervix is the lower, narrow portion of the uterus where it joins with the top end of the vagina. It is cylindrical or conical in shape and protrudes through the upper anterior vaginal wall...
" opening credits of Inseminoid, which indicate that "the viewer is entering the realm of the monstrous womb ... the titling reveals a microscopic insect resident in the body of a larger organism."
Wright argues that Warren's inspiration of terror through a distorted representation of the uterus strikes a chord with the 1979 film The Brood
The Brood
The Brood is a 1979 Canadian horror film written and directed by David Cronenberg, starring Oliver Reed, Samantha Eggar and Art Hindle.The film depicts a series of murders committed by what seems at first to be a group of children...
, in which a woman produces deformed children through asexual reproduction
Asexual reproduction
Asexual reproduction is a mode of reproduction by which offspring arise from a single parent, and inherit the genes of that parent only, it is reproduction which does not involve meiosis, ploidy reduction, or fertilization. A more stringent definition is agamogenesis which is reproduction without...
. Commenting further, he examines the rape sequence itself, in which Sandy witnesses Karl injecting her with an unknown substance prior to the alien insemination, and forms a connection to dialogue in other scenes which indicates that the female Xeno scientists are administered regular intravenous injections for the purposes of contraception
Contraception
Contraception is the prevention of the fusion of gametes during or after sexual activity. The term contraception is a contraction of contra, which means against, and the word conception, meaning fertilization...
. The impregnation of Sandy through perverted intercourse, conflicting with the suppression of childbirth that is manifested through Karl's use of a hypodermic and (phallic) needle, reveals "coherent sexism
Sexism
Sexism, also known as gender discrimination or sex discrimination, is the application of the belief or attitude that there are characteristics implicit to one's gender that indirectly affect one's abilities in unrelated areas...
" insofar as Inseminoid "attacks the very notion of female sexual freedom, whilst suggesting, paradoxically, that contraception is the responsibility of women." That Sandy reproduces at an accelerated pace and regresses into an animalistic state form factors adding to her depiction as an abject Other and an object for "male paranoia".
In the final struggle, pitting the patriarchal social structure of the Xeno team against the maternal element embodied through the pregnant female, it is not until Gary has half-suffocated in the toxic atmosphere that he is murdered. Wright argues that the sequence reassures a male in spite of its graphic content, suggesting that no female, including one with superhuman strength
Superhuman strength
Superhuman strength, also called superstrength, super-strength, or super strength, is an ability commonly employed in fiction. It is the ability for a character to be stronger than humanly possible...
, can possess the power to deprive a man of life in cold blood. A murderer of colleagues of both sexes, that Sandy dies at the hands of Mark ultimately renders her an aid to the re-empowerment of the male sex, although the twin offspring are quick to avenge their departed mother. Comparing the plot of Inseminoid to Biblical scriptures, Christopher Partridge of Lancaster University
Lancaster University
Lancaster University, officially The University of Lancaster, is a leading research-intensive British university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established by Royal Charter in 1964 and initially based in St Leonard's Gate until moving to a purpose-built 300 acre campus at...
turns his attention to the nature of the twins, referring to them as "essentially space Nephilim
Nephilim
The Nephilim are the offspring of the "sons of God" and the "daughters of men" in Genesis 6:4, or giants who inhabit Canaan in Numbers 13:33. A similar word with different vowel-sounds is used in Ezekiel 32:27 to refer to dead Philistine warriors....
, technological demons with appetites and habits reminiscent of the mythic forebears."
Maternal images endure into the epilogue documenting the arrival of Jeff, Corin and Roy at the Xeno base. In an allusion to the human menstrual cycle
Menstrual cycle
The menstrual cycle is the scientific term for the physiological changes that can occur in fertile women for the purpose of sexual reproduction. This article focuses on the human menstrual cycle....
, it is said that 28 days have elapsed since the communications break-down. The destruction of the installation and the deaths of its occupants are attributed to an "internal disturbance of some kind", forming "an ironic phrase which encapsulates the film's vision of pregnancy as an irruption of Otherness
Alterity
Alterity is a philosophical term meaning "otherness", strictly being in the sense of the other of two . In the phenomenological tradition it is usually understood as the entity in contrast to which an identity is constructed, and it implies the ability to distinguish between self and not-self, and...
from within." Focusing on Larry Miller's 1981 novelisation of Inseminoid, described as "imaginative and misogynistic", Wright refers to sequences in the narrative, some absent in the original film, that inspire repulsion in the mind of the reader at the distortion of the female form. New transformations that afflict Sandy include oozing sores (which Wright construes as an aberration of natal oil secretion) and pus emanating from the nipples (argued to mirror colostrum
Colostrum
Colostrum is a form of milk produced by the mammary glands of mammals in late pregnancy. Most species will generate colostrum just prior to giving birth...
, or pre-milk). Sandy accepts such unnatural metamorphoses, which culminate in the onset of labour
Childbirth
Childbirth is the culmination of a human pregnancy or gestation period with the birth of one or more newborn infants from a woman's uterus...
, with fascination.
Cultural references
A brief clip of Inseminoid is featured in the South ParkSouth Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
episode "Helen Keller! The Musical
Helen Keller! The Musical
"Helen Keller! The Musical" is the thirteenth episode of the fourth season of the animated television series South Park and the 61st episode of the series overall...
". It is seen at the end of the character Eric Cartman
Eric Cartman
Eric Theodore Cartman is a fictional character in the American animated television series South Park. One of four main characters, along with Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Kenny McCormick, he is generally referred to within the series by his last name...
's disturbing vision in a scene in which he uses sensory deprivation
Sensory deprivation
Sensory deprivation or perceptual isolation is the deliberate reduction or removal of stimuli from one or more of the senses. Simple devices such as blindfolds or hoods and earmuffs can cut off sight and hearing respectively, while more complex devices can also cut off the sense of smell, touch,...
to penetrate the mind of Helen Keller
Helen Keller
Helen Adams Keller was an American author, political activist, and lecturer. She was the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree....
.
A punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band from Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, New York named themselves after the film. Their theme song, "Horror Planet", contained lyrical references to horrific aspects of the plot. The song was not released as a record but was circulated on cassette demonstration tapes prior to the first and only official release by the band. In 1985, Horror Planet released a professionally-produced recording on a seven-inch, six-track, clear-vinyl EP record with hand-painted fabric sleeves. The songs from the Horror Planet record were subsequently re-released in their entirety on the anthology CD compilation, Something in the Water: the Secret History of Long Island Punk, by Winged Disk Records.