At risk of returning to 1989 too often, here's a space boxing movie...
This week on Weirdhouse Cinema, it's another Empire International Pictures release about futuristic combat sports from 1989 -- but it's totally worth it because Arena is a creature-packed film with multiple connections to Star Trek.
Area has some great people in it, but the costumes and effects really take the cake in this one -- and the synethic flesh of Screaming Mad George oozes on the screen in multiple amazing alien creature designs. The plot itself is just your standard boxing/crime movie with sci-fi flourishes, but when the flourishes are this good, it's hard to look away.
But it still really works as a boxing movie and -- just like the VHS box art to the right there --- it has a real big-fight feel to it.
Stand our performances include Star Trek: Deep Space Nine cast members Marc Alaimo and Armin Shimerman as the villains Rogor and Weezil.
You can find Weirdhouse Cinema in the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast feed, which should be available anywhere you get podcasts. You an also stream the episode right here:
UPDATE: The film for next episode will be out first slice of Hong Kong cinema: the 1976 Shaw Brothers monster flick The Oily Maniac.
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