With a winning tagline like,” You ooze…You Lose” I really couldn’t see a way that I wouldn’t enjoy this film. Looking at this case one could assume this a classic sixties film with state of the art (for the time) special effects and a plotline that is admittedly a bit lacking. The Green Slime really is not to blame if you do not like it. It offers you everything it promises with its title. A film that is straightforward in its premise with no apologies for its missing pieces. The cast seems relatively unknown to me, making me believe that not many of them went on to do much of note afterward. The one notable and noticeable name within the film is Luciana Paluzzi, who before this film was Fiona Volpe in Thunderball. The film is campy and corny at times but overall it exudes the charm of the sixties creature feature.

The Film

Our story follows Commander Jack Rankin who is brought in to help save earth from an asteroid hurtling toward it. The mission to stop it is a resounding success and they return to the space station. Unknowingly they bring back an unknown substance with them, green slime. This substance soon turns into several tentacle monsters that feed on electricity and after a while, the station is overrun with them. Rankin must find a way to work with the crew to come up with a plan to get off alive.

The story is simple and straightforward and I rather like that aspect of it really. There are some odd moments, like the big reveal to show the creatures. Or the fact that there are creatures considering the film is entitled The Green Slime and the slime is rather secondary overall as far as importance. The creatures are anything but terrifying and we don’t seem to have any plausible reason to fear them. I hate to say it but I actually laughed out loud when I first saw it. The other big disturbing issue is the weird love triangle that takes place throughout between Rankin (Robert Horton), Elliot (Richard Jaeckel) and Dr. Benson (Luciana Paluzzi). There is never a clear indication of what happened or is happening but it becomes a central plot focus and doesn’t make a lick of sense. I’d be surprised if this wasn’t a MST3K feature by now.

The Film 2.5/5

Picture Quality

This film falls into an odd category, being a Japanese-made film with an almost entirely Anglo cast. The reasoning for this, in a time where this was completely out of the norm, was to save money on dubbing, of course. In this Director’s chair for this unique feature? Kinji Fukasaku known of course for his work on Battle Royale, and the Japanese sequences of Tora! Tora! Tora!. The quality of picture for this film is outstanding considering the length of time since its initial release. Some elements may be a bit more noticeable and thus take away from the overall impact of the dramatic reveal of the film. However, it is hard to say whether or not the wires or costumes were as obvious as it is now upon initial release. I found the detail quite fun and entertaining to watch on the home screen. I cannot say that this film achieved much in the way progress for film, or even effects however it is definitely part of film history and may have influenced some films after its release.

Picture Quality 2/5

Audio Quality

Not much to write home about in this category for The Green Slime. In the way of the score and special sound effects, it doesn’t have much to offer. One thing I will say about the film is as far a home presentation it does just fine. No issues on this side of the experience to complain about. I half expected there to be at least some issues in the way of sound editing seeing the age of the film and the circumstances under which it was made, it doesn’t bode well for extreme quality. So when it comes time to sit there, mouth agape from fear of the tentacle monster fear not, you will not have to clutch your remote.

Audio Quality 5/5

The Packaging

Hands down my favorite artwork to date from Warner Bros. It looks exactly like an old sixties poster on the front with the scantily clad women being attacked by the monster and everything. Doesn’t even matter if that happens in the film or if a woman who looks her appears in the film, it does well to clue you in for what to expect, unlike the title. What I don’t like is the way the insert is curling, giving an appearance that it may have once been wet and then dried and just looks off and unappealing. Of course, that is not what anyone wants a to see when they open a release for the first time and it is truly disappointing. On the inside we get a disc that features the very same artwork we have on the front, again Warner Bros comes through in delivering artwork on the disc which I truly enjoy.

The Packaging 3/5

Special Features

Unfortunately, this time around we do not get any extras included, beyond the trailer. It’s hard to expect much from a film of this nature. On top of that what could be possibly be included? I am racking my brain and cannot think of much that I would want to include in this release that would enhance the experience. either way always a let down to see no added extras.

Special Features 1/5

Overall

The Green Slime is not a good movie, and anyone who enjoys the film does not enjoy it for its redeeming qualities. That being said it is enjoyable in the aspect that it is campy and easy to make fun of at times, in fact, it will be one of the most memorable films I ever see for a multitude of reasons. Not the least of which is the monsters who are essentially guys in suits, so corny they remind me of that episode of Doug where he finally sees the creature and can see the zipper. There may not be a visible zipper but the fact remains they are not scary in the slightest. In fact, nothing about this film comes off scary, or dramatic in a good way. This is a fun collector’s item that I would continually bring up to my friends from time to time as a joke and conversation piece. You can purchase this edition HERE.

Overall 2.5/5