''The Terror Within II'' is a 1991 American

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

and a sequel to the 1989 film ''

The Terror Within ''The Terror Within'' is a 1989 American science fiction horror film directed by Thierry Notz and starring George Kennedy, Andrew Stevens, Starr Andreeff and Terri Treas. It was followed by a sequel in 1991, ''The Terror Within II'', with Stev ...

''. It is written and directed by star

Andrew Stevens Herman Andrew Stevens (born June 10, 1955) is an American executive, film producer, director and actor. Early life Stevens was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the only child of actress Stella Stevens and her former husband Noble Herman Stephens. Ca ...

(reprising his role from the first film), and also stars R. Lee Ermey,

Chick Vennera Francis Vincent Vennera (March 27, 1947 – July 7, 2021) was an American actor, known for his role as Joe Mondragon, in Robert Redford's ''The Milagro Beanfield War'', among other movies. He also often served as a voice double for Joe Pesci. A ...

Barbara Alyn Woods Barbara Alyn Woods (born ) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in television series ''One Tree Hill'' and ''Honey, I Shrunk the Kids''. She is the mother of actresses Natalie Alyn Lind, Emily Alyn Lind, and Alyvia Alyn Lind. Car ...

, Gordon Currie, and

Stella Stevens Stella Stevens (born Estelle Eggleston; October 1, 1938) is a American former actress. She began her acting career in 1959 and starred in such popular films as '' Girls! Girls! Girls!'' (1962), '' The Nutty Professor'' (1963), ''The Courtship of ...

. It was executive produced by

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...

, and is one of the early films of future

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

-winning

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...

Janusz Kamiński Janusz Zygmunt Kamiński (; born June 27, 1959) is a Polish cinematographer and director of film and television. He has established a partnership with Steven Spielberg, working as a cinematographer on his films since 1993. He won the Academy Awa ...

. In the film, most of humanity has already died due to a plague

pandemic A pandemic () is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. A widespread endemic (epidemiology), endemic disease wi ...

. The last surviving humans have fortified themselves in the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

, but hostile

mutant In biology, and especially in genetics, a mutant is an organism or a new genetic character arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is generally an alteration of the DNA sequence of the genome or chromosome of an organism. It ...

s invade their stronghold.

Premise

A plague has wiped out most of humanity. The last human colony struggles to survive in a bunker under the

, while the surface has become a land of nightmarish mutants who seek to destroy the colony. A vaccine has been developed for a disease , but gathering the components to make it requires returning to the surface. Scientist Pennington ( Stevens) is dispatched to the surface to obtain the needed materials. Pennington meets a pregnant woman on the surface. While trying to get her and the needed materials back to the colony, they are attacked. The mutants break inside humanity's final stronghold, the battle for survival pits the human colonists against their deadly invaders miles below the Earth's surface.

Cast

as David *

as Kyle * R. Lee Ermey as Von Demming *

as Kara *

Burton Gilliam Burton Gilliam (born August 9, 1938) is an American actor. He is best known for memorable roles in several popular 1970s movies, such as '' Blazing Saddles'' and '' Paper Moon'', as well as comedic cameos in '' Back to the Future, Part III'' and ...

as Dewitt * Clare Hoak as Ariel *

as Sharon * Gordon Currie as Aaron *

Renée Jones Renée Jones (born October 15, 1958) is a former American dramatic actress. Jones is best known for playing Lexie Carver on NBC's long-running soap opera ''Days of Our Lives'', a role she began in 1993. She has been nominated five times for th ...

as Robin *

Pete Koch Peter Alan Koch (born January 23, 1962) is an American actor and a former American football player. Early life, family and education Peter Koch was born and raised in New Hyde Park, New York on Long Island. He attended New Hyde Park Memorial Hi ...

as the Mutant

Release

Home media

The film was released for the first time on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

by Code Red on October 10, 2017.

Reception

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

'' awarded the film two out of four stars, calling the film "dull" and criticized the film's characters and special effects. Film critic

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fil ...

gave the film one and a half out of four stars, writing, "Debuting director (and star) Stephens, looking like

Rambo Rambo is a surname with Norwegian (Vestfold) and Swedish origins. It possibly originated with '' ramn'' + '' bo'', meaning "raven's nest". It has variants in French (''Rambeau'', ''Rambaut'', and ''Rimbaud'') and German (''Rambow''). It is now best ...

, fogs the cheap sets and shows a few good ideas, but his own absurd story sinks it all." Creature Feature gave the film two out of five stars, finding the actor/ director Stevens performs well in the role. It stated that fans of the genre will find it worth the time.Stanley, J. (2000) Creature Feature: 3rd Edition

References

External links

* * * 1991 films 1991 horror films 1990s science fiction horror films American science fiction horror films American sequel films American independent films American pregnancy films 1990s monster movies American monster movies 1990s pregnancy films Films scored by Terry Plumeri Films about viral outbreaks Films about mutants Films about invasions 1990s English-language films Films directed by Andrew Stevens 1990s American films {{sf-horror-film-stub