Space Babes Meet the Monsters (2003)

Three unemployed astronauts become test pilots for a time machine. Traveling what is presumed to be 1,000 years into the future, they meet monsters, mutants and space babes.

"Space Babes Meet the Monsters" is a short film that was made as a spoof of kids' adventure films from the 1940s and 1950s. The packaging and marketing that went into the DVD release of this 45-minute short film is another excellent job on the part of Alpha Video. It's too bad the marketing efforts were wasted on such a poor movie... although, given that they got my attention, Isuppose they weren't really wasted!

I don't mind low budget, but "Space Babes" is TOO low budget, both in the writing, the acting, the costuming... just about anything you care to mention about this film is painfully cheap. So painfully cheap that I think even Edward D. Wood, Jr. (whose name must have been evoked multiple times while this film was being worked on) would probably have cringed if this had been his movie.

(Yes, I know this is a homage/spoof of films like the one Wood used to make, so my comment may not be entirely fair.)

The only things that weren't weak about this film was the mutant make-up--the make-up artists actually did a better job than I would have expected given everything else in this film--and the appearance of Patrick Macnee. Macnee manages to add a little bit of class to this film, even if the outtakes on DVD make me think that he showed up in the studio not knowing the details about what he was there for or even his lines; the outtake with Macnee sounds like a cold reading of material that he was seeing on a teleprompter for the first time, complete with the odd inflections and pauses that implies.

And then there's the tie-in song penned and peformed by Frank Black and Joey Santiago from The Pixies, "My Name is Gary". This song is fitting for the film, as it has a feel of having been written on the back of a cocktail napkin.

As little as I like the main attraction on the DVD, I will grant that Alpha Video has put together a nice package... especially when one considers that it costs less than [URL=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001AOW6MU?ie=UTF8&tag=stevemillesdo-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B001AOW6MU]$8 if ordered from Amazon.com[/URL]

. Aside from "Sapce Babes Meet the Monsters" the Alpha Video disc contains a couple of avant-garde films--a weird little sci-fi/horror flick titled "The Walking Ink" about a mechanic who developes strange powers from eating a hybridized chili pepper; and "The Story of Time", which is probably one of most interesting ads-masquerading-as-film that I've ever seen, where a Timex-sponsored animation tells the history of time-keeping where the Timex wristwatch ends up as the ultimate acheivement in that arena.

While "Space Babes Meet the Monsters" isn't anything spectacular, the material included with it on the DVD is definately worth a look. And, since the price is right, I recommend checking it out if you have an interest in experimental short films. Just save the headlining film for last.


Space Babes Meet the Monsters (aka "The Low Budget Time Machine")
Starring: Patrick Macnee, Peter Gardner, John Norris, Daniel Roebuck, James Keane, Jean Black, Sammy Zax, William Sanderson and Dani K.
Director: Kathe Duba-Barnett