THERE'S NOTHING OUT THERE

It all begins with a pretty blonde clerk in a video store meeting a nasty fate at the hands of a masked assailant. Or does it?

It's just a dream, and said pretty blonde is very much alive. Until, that is, a hideous alien falls from the sky and smashes its way into her car ...

Following the stylised opening credits sequence that follows, we meet our protagonists: they're a group of horny teenaged students at a college where their English tutor looks younger than they are.

As school finishes, the group - three attractive couples and single horror geek Mike (Craig Peck) - decide to take a weekend break to an isolated country house. On the way, they witness the local police surveying the aftermath of an ambulance that's been ransacked by a 'madman' who's loose in the area. Mike, having seen this scenario countless times before in cheap gore flicks, suggests the group abandon their excursion and go home. But, no, all this bunch of idiots wants to do is party.

And, upon their arrival at the country house, that's precisely what they do. For a while. But, as Mike points out to anyone who'll listen (no-one, then), "have you ever heard of the word 'foreshadowing'?".

Indeed, the fun is short-lived and pretty soon the body count starts rising by way of steamy shower scenes, competently shot woodland chase sequences and an alien aggressor that needs to be seen to be disbelieved.

THERE'S NOTHING OUT THERE originates from 1992 and bills itself as a "horror film of comic proportions". Thus, Joe Bob Briggs notes on this new DVD's back cover that it predates SCREAM in the self-referential horror game.

It's probably got more in common with the subsequent SCREAM piss-take SCARY MOVIE (named after SCREAM's original shooting title, ironically). And the title, along with the film's sci-fi/horror content and the whistling of the theme tune, depends heavily upon "The X Files".

Fast-paced, smart in script and surprisingly well-edited, it's a very cheaply produced but stylish parody which falls short of credible acting while impressing with consistently good compositions.

More pertinently, it's fun.

Rolfe Kanefsky directs with energy and imagination, compensating for the lack of finesse with a happy mix of snappy dialogue, occasional nudity and schlocky exploitation scenes. And each character fits into their respective stereotypes in an agreeable manner.

It's not art and it's not remotely clever, but it's deceptively well-made despite its monetary limitations and I found it to be a lot of fun.

This two-disc set from Troma is surely as definitive a package as this film is ever likely to receive.

Disc one contains the uncut film in an anamorphic 1.78:1 presentation. Happily, Troma have upped their game in the DVD stakes of late and the transfer is a good one. Don't go in expecting a perfect picture because the zero budget origins of this film dictate that you won't find one, but this is probably the best it could ever look. Colours are somewhat muted but images are fairly sharp and there's little in the way of digital noise or compression.

The original English soundtrack is reproduced in its natural 2.0 stereo mix and is highly efficient from beginning to end.

An animated main menu page leads to a static scene-selection menu allowing access to the film via 14 chapters.

Film-related extras on the first disc are limited to a new commentary track from Kanefsky which finds him in fine fettle, the original release's commentary track which pits the director with a few of the cast, and a video interview with the director that runs for 36 minutes. He seems the sincere type.

You also get the option of introductions to the film from Kanefsky or Troma boss Lloyd Kaufman.

The disc is rounded off with the traditional Troma bum fluff: a mock public service announcement, that horrendous "Radiation March" thing that's being doing the rounds on their DVDs for years, "Troma T&A" - two minutes of a female Troma TV presenter showing us her tits, and trailers for MOTHER'S DAY, DARK NATURE, TROMEO AND JULIET, POULTRYGEIST, PEP SQUAD and A NOCTURNE.

Disc two opens with the same stirring montage of outrageous clips which opens disc one, celebrating 35 years of Troma madness to the strains of Motorhead's 'Sacrifice'. Nice.

Then we're into more extra features.

These begin with a music video for the track "There's Nothing Out There". It's an excruciating and cheap 5 minute affair, also featuring a brief introduction from the obliviously happy Kanefsky.

Next up are two short films from the director. JUST LISTEN and MOOD BOOBS retain the no-budget aesthetics and comedic leanings of the main feature, and clock in at a combined running time of around 34 minutes (including intros from Kanefsky). These are both presented uncut in their original 4:3 aspect ratios.

A Making Of featurette relating to MOOD BOOBS is, at 16 minutes in length, almost as long as the film it's documenting. It offers an involving insight into skid-row filmmaking nevertheless.

Then there is a succession of featurettes offering more background material on the making of THERE'S NOTHING OUT THERE. These include audition footage, storyboards, bloopers, deleted scenes and a stills gallery. What's especially appreciated about this further 37 minutes worth of contextual information is that each featurette comes with an optional commentary track from the ever-graceful and endlessly generous Kanefsky.

As Troma's blurb quite rightly states on the DVD's back cover, "this is what a 20th Anniversary DVD should be". Yep, they've done this little and little-seen horror parody proud.

Whether it actually deserves such royal treatment is debatable, but it's an enjoyable enough film.

Review by Stuart Willis