THE STORY:  This movie is a milestone. I've reviewed several movies this past week and there's been a common thread in some of them...or I should say, a common actress that has shown up in three of them, including this one...but I'll save the identity for later. See if you can guess who it is. (since the movies the Inferno reviews aren't posted in any thing like order, it'll be hard.)

Captain Nick Saxon  works for some tip top secret agency called Omega. He's assigned to look for and capture or destroy six astronauts that have returned to earth from a secret space station. One of the astronauts is Debbie, his ex-wife; another is Joe Shay, his best friend. Nick has his two closest allies, Lt. Burgess and Sgt. Fox with him.

But as per usual, Nick's boss, Mr. Cutter, is a backstabbing son of a bitch. The astronauts were infected by alien parasites. The aliens took control of their bodies and made them return to earth, bringing along a canister of evil-alien-eggs. The canister crashed in a warehouse somewhere, but the astronaut-aliens are searching for it. Nick knows something about the aliens. A few years prior he commanded a mission on the space station where the aliens killed his crew. Cutter sent more astronauts to the station, with an agenda that the aliens infest them so (and this shouldn't suprise anyone) the government can use them as super-duper weapons.

What is it with b-movies and the government trying to use omni-dangerous aliens and genetic freaks for weapons? Especially when its always that if one alien gets free it could destroy humanity? Don't we have enough deadly [unwrite] already?

Anyhow, Nick and his team discover that things ain't kosher. Cutter has been lying to them. When Cutter finds out the team is deemed an unnecessary risk and put on every most wanted list in the world. Lt. burgess buys it first, but Nick teams up with Dr. Marianne Klein, Sgt. Fox and his ex-wife, Debbie. The alien that has been in control of Debbie is actually a good alien, sent to stop the bad alien, called the Dark Breed.

Nick and company finally discover where the alien egg canister is, but so do the aliens and Cutter. This is the normal recipe for b-movie shootouts. Many people get smoked, but in the end the good alien leaves Debbie's body and sacrifices itself to kill Cutter. Nick manages to destroy the head alien that was controlling Shay. (Shay was a dead man anyway) He also blows up the canister. No one lives through this but Nick and Debbie, but I knew Klein wouldn't survive. The hero can only have one love interest and seeing how Debbie was a lot better looking than Klein I figured the good doctor was toast. I don't know if there's a sequel to this, but they left it open. A bum that is seen several times in the movie walks away from the warehouse, infected with an alien. Who knows? (GASP!)

Okay....if you don't know who the actress I was talking about is, I'll spill the beans. It was Robin Curtis. This is a coincidence for me, because I never meant to spotlight her in anyway....yet she showed up Blood fist Six: Ground Zero, Scorpio One and this movie. She was Marianne Klein. Nick was actor Jack Scalia.  Lance LeGault was Cutter. I think he may be doomed to always be the government agent d***head since he was a corrupt senator in Scorpio One. Another typecast guy is Buck Flower, as the homeless bum. I can't name any particular movie, but I know I've seen him as a bum in other flicks. It must be a good living!

Best Lines: "It doesn't matter! None of your pathetic little lives matter anymore!"- Joe, one of the alien infested astronauts to Captain Saxon, when Saxon says "I'm your best friend".

"Oh give me some credit, Nick. I know when I'm being fed bull[unwrite] and right now, I'm stuffed."- Lt. Burgess is upset that she's not being told all of what's going on.

"Okay, Lieutenant, you take me out one night and get me drunk...I'll tell you about all of buddies killed in combat."- Nick gets snappy with Burgess when she asks about his past experiences. In a classier type movie this line would serve as a reminder that war is not fun and games.

"I did not sign up for this!"- Dr. Marianne Klein when she encounters an alien parasite.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?:

1.) I'm going to make a comment here that I believe is wholly correct, but not being an astrophysicist, or a scientist of any kind, feel free to email me and correct me if I'm wrong. at the beginning of the movie two young lovers are getting it on in a car when a space shuttle crashes into the water nearby. Now, I'm overlooking the fact that they didn't hear the loud noise as it descended...I mean, hey, they're getting it on...but wouldn't an object that large crashing out of orbit make a big splash when it hit? Hey, I could be wrong, but after movies like Armageddon, Deep Impact and Asteroid I've had it pummeled into my head that large objects falling out of space are a bad thing...bad like, big explosion, displacement, etc.

2.) Bear with me....Once again, I feel compelled to note uniform discrepancies in military personnel portrayed in cheesey flicks. If you've read other reviews where I've done this, you might feel that this schtick is getting old. I do it for two reasons....the first is that a lot of them could be fixed easily! They are mistakes made by directors, writers, what have you that don't do any research. Rank insignia, the wear of the uniform, what's allowed on it and what's not...its all in manuals that are available! Not to mention, they could just ask the military! The second is that a military uniform shows certain pride. I don't think its to much to ask to try and get them right just for the sake of the people that wear them and die in them.  That said:

Lt. Burgess has her hair over the collar in a class A uniform. That's a no-no. Yeah, it looks glamorous, but females with long hair have to keep their hair up and not touching the collar in uniform.

SGT Fox may or may not have the wrong rank on his class A's. The Air force changed their rank structure a few years back. So I only mention this for FYI purposes.   A buck sergeant in the Air force nowadays has four stripes, not three.

SGT North has officer US insignia on his lapels....consequently, Lt. Burgess has Enlisted US insignia on hers.

(I'm also well aware that I've used Army rank abbreviations for Air Force personnel, just for any military folks who noticed.)

3.) Stupid, stupid, stupid....one of the infected astronauts has been captured and is under sedation in a government facility. Marianne Klein, in charge, comes in and says "Keep me posted". Two seconds later he wakes up and no one notices! Marianne couldn't have left the room that quickly. When the guy does come to, he starts mutating and breaks free. The little machines that go "ping" and the like make noises but none of the lab techs happen to look over and see what's going on until the dude breaks free of his restraints! He knocks one tech out and the other one, in a dumb move runs over and tries to grapple with him. By now they know these infested Astronauts have super-strength! The guy has all kinds of alien scaly stuff on him! Why doesn't this idiot tech guy open the door and yell for help? I sure as hell wouldn't go near this mutated, misanthropic madman! Even crazier things happen when the alien guy rampages through the complex. Security shoots the guy a bunch of times but he's barely wounded. Marianne arrives and says "Don't shoot! I want him alive." Yeah, right. I'd be yelling "F*** you, lady, then you catch him!"

4.) Imagine if you were a doctor and you were performing an autopsy...when you cut the body open and see pulsating organs and weird stuff inside of the patient...a patient that should be dead and you know is under some kind of Alien control...would you just stand there? If you have an IQ 0f 20 or over I'm guessing the answer is no.

5.) Sci-fi movie CGI effects or not...I could have gone a lifetime and not seen Joe's bare ass...and been a saner man for it.

NUDITY AND SEX:  No nudity. The young lovers are groping and sweatin' but thats about it.

HUH?:  Look closely when Marianne performs an on the spot autopsy of one of the astronauts...she uses a freakin' X-acto knife! An X-acto knife! Give me a break! I have a f***in' X-acto knife! Its not a medical tool! Its a Graphic design tool! Is the government trying to cut expenses by getting surgical tools from the local art and design supply stores?

When a movie shows things through the eyes of an alien why is it always all murky and weird looking? Moles have better eyesight than your average movie alien. Ray Charles has better sight than they do!  How can these aliens destroy mankind when they have less visual acuity than Mr. Magoo? (No offense to the vision impaired)

THE TALLY: Don't rent this if you expect a real sci-fi thriller. Its predictable, but entertaining for fans of science fiction, but other will only find it frustrating and maybe boring. There's enough action to keep your attention, but there's not enough of anything else to make this a must-see movie. Its made well enough to not look too cheap, but you can't polish a turd that well. Not to compare this movie with a shined turd, but its not exactly a shining beacon of cinema either. Rent it only if you're hard core about your sci-fi!