Galaxy of Terror (1981) Gives You the Pyramid You Don’t Get from Alien (1979)
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Galaxy of Terror is a 1981 science fiction horror film produced by Roger Corman and directed by Bruce D. Clark. It stars Edward Albert, Erin Moran, Ray Walston and Taaffe O’Connell.
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While known as being a "B movie king", Roger Corman has started the careers of many prominent Hollywood people with his films. Galaxy of Terror was one of the earliest films for director James Cameron, who served as Production Designer and Second Unit Director on the film. It was the second Corman film on which Cameron worked as a crewman, the first being Battle Beyond the Stars (1980).
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Working on a tight budget, Cameron's innovative filmmaking techniques came to the forefront. In one scene, Cameron was able to figure out a way to get maggots to wiggle on cue by developing a metal plate onto which the maggots were placed, then ran an electric current through the plate whenever filming began, causing the maggots to move energetically about. His ability to find low-tech solutions to such problems reportedly made him a favorite of Corman and eventually allowed him to pursue more ambitious projects.
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Cameron would later direct Aliens (1986), the sequel to Ridley Scott's Alien (1979), an important inspiration for Galaxy of Terror. Optical FX Supervisor Tony Randel, who worked with Cameron on Galaxy of Terror, notes on the Shout! Factory DVD release that Aliens, which Cameron helmed, looks a lot like Galaxy of Terror in many ways.
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On a desolate, storm-lashed planet called Morganthus, the last survivor of a crashed spaceship is attacked and killed by an unseen force. On another planet a very long distance away, two figures are seen playing a strange game. One, an old woman named Mitri, is identified as the controller of the game while the other, whose head is obscured by a glowing ball of red light, turns out to be an all-powerful mystic called the Planet Master. The two speak cryptically of things being put into motion, and the Master instructs one of his military commanders to send a ship to Morganthus.
Without delay, the spaceship Quest blasts off to Morganthus. Piloting the ship is Captain Trantor, a survivor from a famous space disaster that has left her psychologically scarred and unstable. As the Quest approaches the planet’s atmosphere, it suddenly veers out of control and plunges toward the surface, crash-landing there. After recovering from the landing, the crew prepare to leave the Quest and search for survivors. The team has a psi-sensitive woman among their number named Alluma (Erin Moran). Both she and the surface team have significant problems with team leader Baelon (Zalman King), who is pushy and arrogant and totally unimpressed by Alluma's inability to detect any lifesigns whatsoever.
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Making their way across the landscape of the planet, they eventually reach the other vessel. Entering, they find evidence of a massacre that took place. The rescue teams split into two and explore the craft. They find further evidence of something catastrophic having happened and, after disposing of the rest, take one victim back for analysis. Cos, the highly-strung youngest member of the team, despite being reassured by his seniors, becomes increasingly terrified by being on the ship and, a short time later, he is killed by a grotesque creature.
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The crew discover that something from the planet pulled them down, and in order to escape, they must investigate. After some exploration, they discover a massive pyramid-shaped structure, which Alluma describes as "empty" and "dead". Their explorations of the pyramid lead to a series of exceedingly violent and deadly encounters in which a malevolent force causes several crew members to be dismembered, burned, consumed, raped or crushed to death by monsters created out of each person's unique set of fears.
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/Spoiler:/
Eventually, only two members of the team, Ranger (Robert Englund) and Cabren (Edward Albert), remain alive. Deep inside the pyramid, Cabren encounters the Master (Ray Walston), who has been masquerading as the cook on board the Quest. The Master explains that the pyramid is actually an ancient toy for the children of a long-extinct race, built in order to test their ability to control fear. Cabren kills the Master for allowing his crew to die, but becomes the new Master in his place.
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Text taken from:
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Galaxy_of_Terror
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@daliens
Indeed it appears the LV-223 Outposts were based off Gigers unused work for Dune, but also the Egg silo concepts for Alien by Giger appeared to replace the Pyramid/Obelisk looking things from Star Beast/Early Alien drafts.
About the closest we got to this or the LV-223 Temples was the Cathedral in the Engineers City, but this was more of a Constructed Ancient Architecture and had more of a Roman/Greek meets Islamic Construction.... pretty much similar to the Hagia Sophia in Turkey
"You know, Ridley Scott said he made the prequels to answer who the SJ was and who made the xenomorph. After 2 films we still don't know those answers, on the contrary we have more mistery and endless debates. "
Indeed and this is something thats Evolved a bit since the concept of the Prequels, a lot to do with Oversights/Scale regarding the Engineers because the Brainstorming that lead to Alien Engineers the HR Giger Aesthetic was more apparent and our Engineers were 12-15ft Tall and not 7-8ft Tall.
There was clues to the Xenomorph, and even though Prometheus toned it down, if we used Alien Engineers as like a Rosetta Stone to help understand Prometheus then that movie had the clues.
But while Prometheus 2 may have moved away from ALIEN, it appears Pressure was added to make the sequel become more closer to ALIEN and a Consequence of that appears the Xenomorph Origins are linked to DAVID.
some things could be changed though.... unless we have to accept a lot of the inconsistencies... between the Xenomorphs, and Derelict and Space Jockey. And that these are just a Oversight.
R.I.P Sox 01/01/2006 - 11/10/2017
