Inseminoid is one of the darkest science fiction horror movies (short of the Italian/Spanish co-offering Alien Terror) I have ever seen. While being nowhere near as good as Ridley Scott's Alien it's a far darker and more sombre piece, although cheaper looking, with lesser actors.

On a distant planet a group of archaeologists run into trouble after discovering some unusual crystals. Why some become possessed by a strange force, one of the other archaeologists becomes impregnated by an alien. As the aliens get loose in their habitation area the bodies begin to pile up.

Now I'm not for one minute saying that Inseminoid is a good movie, it's pretty bad in fact filled with z-rate actors (with a couple of exceptions) with poor acting skills, limited plotlines, and poor special effects. Yet there is something that sets Inseminod apart from a number of other science fiction offerings of the time. The actual action is incredibly dark, characters forced to amputate limbs when things go wrong, a rather stark alien rape scene, and a general feeling of unpleasantness hard to find in anything British before and after. I'd go as far as to say that the movie has a distinctive Italian feel, although there is no Italian input anywhere in the movies production. The movie is incredibly violent and exploitive, the way the characters begin to turn on each other being some of the most unpleasant viewing I have seen in years, despite the fact that death is the only rational option for some of the actors.

The alien in the movie is borderline hysterical, with a big cardboard looking head, with the traditional bug eyed effect. The Alien moves slowly but always gets its prey, clumsily bashing away at things but always managing to hit its target. Its transparent inseminating tube releasing sludge, being the most amusing artefact, after all why would a cardboard alien have a glass penis?

I commented on the Z-List actors but there are actually three noteworthy actresses featured: Stephanie Beacham best known now as Phyllida from Bad Girls now despite having over 50 movie credits under her belt. One time wife of comedian Steve Martin, Victoria Tennant offers her most unbelievably bad performance of her career despite getting previous acclaim for her roles in Sherlock Holmes and The Dogs Of War. But of most interest is popular 70's actress and sex siren Judy Geeson, an actress you could not get away from during this point in time; flicking effortlesy from TV show work like Poldark into big box office movies like Brannigan, and The Eagle Has Landed. Geeson is the last billed actress and the victim of the alien impregnation, yet actually gets the most screen-time and delivers the best performance coping as a heavily pregnant woman seemingly deserted by her colleagues.

The movie is a text book case of bad goofs, cheap shots filmed after completion on completely different sets, continuity errors most notably during an explosion. And most amusingly the frequent location change of actors in conversation who flick from the left of the camera to the right in asecond, almost like they have teleported.

Despite all the bad things I can say about Inseminoid, I have a lot of admiration for the movie made for only a small amount of money, less than one hundred thousand pounds, it had a weighty cast (volume of numbers) and a lot of restrictions, while having to develop a massive set. While frequent viewings make its flaws obvious a passing viewing might give a different impression, it has a few moments that might still cause a little bit of a stir with a slightly less developed horror movie viewer. This is one of those movies that if it appears on TV (unlikely) I'd recommend viewing, or if you get bored thinking what to rent and are on some sort of unlimited plan you have nothing to lose. But its not something you should buy, as your likely to be a bit annoyed.