DVD: The Green Slime
Release Date: October 26, 2010
The Warner Archive collection has been releasing a number of classic TV shows and movies that haven’t seen previous comprehensive DVD releases. I’ve posted about their recent Thundarr and Addams Family releases, as well as about the silly superhero release Legends of the Super Heroes, but the one that arrived to us last week is something even I couldn’t anticipate. Here’s a look at their newest sci-fi release, The Green Slime!
Originally released in 1968, The Green Slime is a production from MGM that was shot entirely in Japan by director Kinji Fukasaku but stars a non-Japanese cast. The writing team includes B-movie writer Ivan Reiner and Batman TV writer Charles Sinclair, as well as Bill Finger, who previously co-created the Batman character with Bob Kane. All that multinational talent combines into the perfect storm of horrible movie making.
You might ask, “How bad is The Green Slime?” It’s so bad that an award for the worst science fiction of the year now is called the Green Slime award. It’s so bad that the movie’s original American release was shifted from a sci-fi promotion to a G-rated kids matinee feature. It’s so bad that I honestly am stunned not to find an official release for it on Rifftrax.com.
The movie itself is about a bunch of people on a space station who go to visit an asteroid. Upon their return, one of the unlucky astronauts comes aboard with green ooze on his uniform (Where are the decontamination protocols for this space station?). Once the slime makes its way into the station, all bets are off. The slime somehow mutates into tentacled, one-eyed creatures, who spawn more tentacled creatures by bleeding more ooze out. It’s not long until the slime beasts are everywhere, and it’s up to our intrepid cast of spacefarers to fight off a full-blown invasion.
Quentin Tarantino is a fan of Kinji Fukasaku’s work, but I’m suspecting QT is more into Fukasaku’s later movies like Battle Royale, as opposed to this crazy compilation of bad sci-fi. The Green Slime hits all the talking points for terrible science fiction, and it does so with admirable aplomb. Everything is present, from hilariously ridiculous monster costumes with human legs sticking out the bottom to stilted dialogue and a pointless romantic triangle. Many special effects shots are done with obvious scale models shots, and the overall production is ripe for mockery.
As bad as it all is, The Green Slime manages to leap out of the arena unwatchable garbage and into the category of “must watch” films for anyone who enjoys movies of the MST3K fodder variety. In no way is this a high quality production, but it’s a perfect movie to watch with a group of friends. It hasn’t been officially available on domestic DVD until now, but Warner Archive has remastered the movie for this new release. It’s exclusively available at WBshop.com and is an essential edition to any B-movie collection.
