Everybody has that friend. He’s the pal that’s probably seen one horror film too many. She can rattle off the great Italian gore directors in one breath before describing her favorite video nasty VHS box art cover art in the next. They can give a twenty-minute dissertation on Joe Dante’s contribution to the genre without even needing to glance at IMDB once.
These horror fiends are great at pub trivia night, but horrible when you’re taking that spring break trip to your parents’ cabin in the woods or breaking into the last house on the left end of the street so you can have a make-out session. Instead of setting the mood with their own date, they’re describing all the horror movie clichés that are just waiting to happen — rattling off a list of obscure slasher flicks that any given situation is eerily reminiscent of.
It seems everybody has one of these friends — except if you are a horror movie character. By their very nature, characters in horror films lead lives completely devoid of scary movies. If they were to spend more time watching horror movies and less time picking on geeks that eventually will grow up to be masked murderers, maybe horror movie characters wouldn’t find themselves in so many situations that invariably lead to heads being chopped off or faces sewn to butts.
Most people will point to Scream, Wes Craven’s popular 1996 horror film, as one of the first movies to feature self-referential horror jokes. Kevin Williamson’s screenplay featured characters that had grown up on the horror films of the ‘80s and knew a thing or two about how to survive when they found themselves living the plot of one. There’s another movie, though, that came before Scream and featured the exact same concept.
There’s Nothing Out There! is a 1989 horror comedy from writer/director Rolfe Kanefsky that not only wears its pedigree on its sleeve like a badge, it has it tattooed on its forehead.
Released in the heyday of VHS and video rental stores where a cheesy horror film was just a stone’s throw away on any given Saturday night, There’s Nothing Out There! stars Craig Peck as Mike, a horror movie obsessed geek who cries blood-thirsty alien — and is right.
The fifth wheel on a couples’ trip to a cabin in the woods during Spring Break, Mike immediately begins to cry foul before he and his friends (three distinct couples) even make it to their destination. Between his warnings of masked killers, ferocious bears and demonic ghouls that could be lurking out in the woods, he suggests the possibility that the gang could run into aliens — a suggestion that turns out to be right.
Lurking through the forest is a carnivorous extraterritorial that looks like a slimy green manta ray with tentacles and enjoys alternating his time between melting the faces of young men and trying to impregnate young women. Mike’s borderline annoying doomsaying is almost universally ignored by the group until friends begin disappearing or dissolving into bloody messes.
The film is filled with the usual cast of mid-‘80s horror movie clichés — the jerk, the jock, the bimbo and the foreign exchange student. Most are little more than cannon fodder — their deaths material for Mike to prophesize for the audience’s amusement.
There’s Nothing Out There! finely balances its comedy and its cheesy scares. A low budget and poor production values only enhance the film’s tongue-in-cheek fun. It isn’t a highbrow horror film designed to leave you deathly pale and clutching your bed sheets in terror; it’s a film that targets overall, grin-inducing entertainment over terror. It’s a film that’s not afraid to break the fourth wall for a joke or poke fun at the movie’s own leaps in logic. It’s a film that will gleefully beat a joke into the ground — and you’ll laugh each and every time the joke is overused.
Despite the film’s amateur production value, there’s nothing amateur about Kanefsky’s script — a hysterical treat for horror fiends. Mike, who is in many ways a prototype for every movie geek character that would later find themselves the star of a horror movie (and there have been quite a bit in recent years), is the voice of the horror movie buff audience There’s Nothing Out There! is aiming for.
Peck’s character is highly reminiscent of early Kevin Smith character like Jeff Anderson’s Randall from Clerks or Jason Lee’s Brody from Mallrats. Highly talkative, sometimes meatheaded and always worth a laugh, Mike will quickly shoot up to the tops of many horror movie fan’s list of favorite characters.
There’s Nothing Out There! may be somewhat overlooked by modern horror film audiences but it is a movie that deserves to be rediscovered in its twentieth anniversary.
There’s Nothing Out There! is presented in a 1.78.1 ratio, formatted for widescreen TVs. The image looks as clear as the film is liable to ever be. Due to the low production values, there’s plenty of noise and dirt in the image — but really, when you’re watching a movie like There’s Nothing Out There!, that’s to be expected.
The film’s soundtrack is presented in Dolby Digital Stereo. While the mixing is not perfect and some scenes feature dialogue that’s a little garbled up, there is really little to complain about on a large scale. The film looks and sounds quite good all things considering. Don’t expect something that will make the hairs on your genitals stand up and take notice but in its 20th anniversary, There’s Nothing Out There! could be looking and sounding a hell of a whole lot worse.
Released in a new two-disc twentieth anniversary edition from Troma Entertainment, There’s Nothing Out There! features a wealth of material — both new and old.
Disc 1
Introductions — Two different introductions are included for the feature film, one from Troma Entertainment President Lloyd Kaufman that encapsulates all the fun sleaziness of a Troma film and one from Rolfe Kanefsky that’s a lot shorter and more bare bones.
Audio Commentaries — There are two audio commentaries from director Rolfe Kanefsky. The first is a carry over from the film’s first DVD release nearly ten years ago. The second is a new commentary recorded for the film’s 20th anniversary.
There’s Nothing Out There! Trailer — The film’s original trailer with optional commentary from Rolfe Kanefsky
New Interview with Rolfe Kanefsky — In what looks like a home video shot by the film’s director, Kanefsky spends about 35 minutes discussing There’s Nothing Out There! Everything from the film’s creature to its legacy is discussed. Kanefsky’s frank discussion of the film and the lack of success that it initially found is appreciated. This pusedo-interview (it’s really more of a video blog) covers a lot of subjects and is a fascinating watch.
Tromatic Extras — A collection of Troma promotional goodies including trailers for other Troma films, a bit of fun with a Troma girl, a short film and a PSA from Lemmy of Motorhead featuring Matt Stone and Trey Parker.
Disc 2
There’s Nothing Out There! Music Video — A nearly five minute montage of scenes from the film set to an unused cheesy late ’80s song that was written for the movie but never used.
Just Listen — A nearly 12 minute short horror film that was made by a young Kanefsky and was used during an early scene during There’s Nothing Out There!
Mood Boobs — A nearly 18 minute short film starring Tiffany Shepis that was made by Kanefsky in the years since There’s Nothing Out There! that was created to meet a fan’s particular fetish for breast growth.
Mood Boobs Featurette — A 16 minute making of featurette for Mood Boobs featuring behind the scenes footage that shows off some of the film’s breast growth special effects.
Screen Tests and Original Cast Auditions — 12 minutes of vintage footage featuring the cast’s auditions — including that sleazy part of horror film making that few like to talk about where potential actresses are asked to strip down to their underwear and give the filmmaker a peek at what he’ll be working with. The feature comes with optional commentary from Kanefsky.
Pre-Production Footage and Storyboards — Seven minutes of behind the scenes video showing off location scouting and video storyboarding that Kanefsky did to prepare for his movie. An optional commentary is included.
Rehearsal Footage and Bloopers — 11 minutes of outtakes from the film. This is really a hodgepodge of extra footage and comes with optional commentary.
Animation Test Footage and Deleted Shots — There’s Nothing Out There! features an opening titles sequence that features some nifty late ’80s tech animation. An early version of this sequence is packaged with alternate versions of scenes from the film. As per usual, optional commentary is included.
Production Stills Gallery — A four minute montage of everything from promotional materials to behind the scenes photographs to publicity shots. Commentary is optional.
You can tell There’s Nothing Out There! means a lot to writer/director Rolfe Kanefsky just from the sheer amount of work he seems to have personally done putting together special features for the film’s 20th anniversary DVD. He has a lot to be proud of, too. The film is a cult classic that’s just brewing under the surface — waiting to break into near-mainstream in a big, bad way in much the same way Troll 2 has in recent years. Kanefsky sharp script and loving tribute to the world of VHS horror helps make the film highly enjoyable and very rewatchable. Whether you’re a longtime fan of Kanefsky’s film or you’ve yet to be introduced to the green slimy manta ray with a penchant for human flesh, There’s Nothing Out There! is a worthy addition to any horror fan’s DVD collection.
Troma Entertainment presents There’s Nothing Out There!. Directed by: Rolfe Kanefsky. Starring: Craig Peck, Wendy Bednarz, Mark Collver. Written by: Rolfe Kanefsky. Running time: 91 minutes. Rating: NR. Released on DVD: January 11, 2011.
