It’s almost an understatement to say that The Green Slime is a movie suited for a drive-in. Where to begin?
Firstly, the movie, chronicling a futuristic group of astronauts battling green, electrically-charged creatures that generated from green slime on a meteorite, was filmed in Tokyo, a city already popular to B-movie sci-fi fans due to Godzilla. The green creatures have the same hokey-but-creepy look Godzilla itself had, and for the purpose of the film, work.
I could critique a lot about this movie, but that’d actually be quite unfair, seeing as how the movie is all-in-all a B-movie. One thing that says everything you need to know is that Planet of the Apes was made during the same year, and while I’m sure they didn’t have the exact same budget, both movies were made on shoestring budgets. Which one looks more expensive to you?
However, the movie is a bit fun, although in some (read: most) cases, it’s for the wrong reasons–that’s what comes with watching it after 20-30 years of movie technological advancements, so prepare yourself for a myriad of funny “special effects”, like using obvious models for establishing shots, people implanted in “space” through early chroma key (green screen) technology, and, of course, the hokey monsters. Overall, if you’re a big fan of B sci-fi movies, then this movie should be right up your alley; it has every hallmark of the drive-in sci-fi film.
Get The Green Slime from the Warner Archive.
