The Deadly Spawn (1983)

 

For those who love to satiate their hunger for low budget schlock that is actually far better than it should have been, there's this little cult gem. It's not exactly a cult classic as too few people know this one exists, but cult it is and forever will be. Made on a shoestring budget of about (reportedly) 25,000 dollars, this manages to bring some cool special effects and convincing gore and memorable scenes.

Or: the things you can do when you have to make every penny count. 

A meteorite crashes to Earth and apparently it had some hitchhikers on it. The creatures nest in the cellar of a nearby house and multiply and grow. They quickly devour some parents and when the young boy discovers these beasties, they have started to swarm across town. But the biggest creepy crawly is still in the house and now the boy and some teenagers have to try and stay alive and stop this alien menace. 

That is everything this film relies on. Simple, basic, yet why try and do too much? 

Sure, the acting isn't anything special and ranges from passable to a bit iffy, but in this type of film, acting chops isn't what the audience is looking for. It's cool monsters and blood and guts. The monster is pretty bizarre, as it genuinely first looks like tadpoles with nasty teeth and then evolves into something akin to a triple-headed penis with an overdose of teeth. This thing really is all teeth. You can say a lot of things about this, but the fact remains that it is memorable. What's even more memorable, is the gore: ripping and tearing of flesh, decapitations, throwing up a severed head... It's bloody impressive and most of these effects look rather good, all things considered. Yes, the aliens have limited mobility and the tadpole-things are probably the least impressive effect as the rubber seems are fairly obvious, but still. Clever lighting and not trying to show them off too much in close-up are handy ways around the limitations. 

Is this a very niche film? Absolutely. Most people will not enjoy this one, yet if you have a penchant for the weird and off-kilter, then this is totally up your alley!