''There's Nothing Out There'' is a 1991

comedy horror Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary genre, literary, television genre, television, and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as able to be categorized under three ty ...

film directed by

Rolfe Kanefsky Rolfe Kanefsky (born 1969) is an American film writer/director who specializes in horror films. Early life Kanefsky grew up in the suburbs of New York and attended Hampshire College where he studied Film. He began writing stories at a young age a ...

and starring Craig Peck, Wendy Bednarz, and Mark Collver. In the film, an

extraterrestrial Extraterrestrial refers to any object or being beyond ( extra-) the planet Earth ( terrestrial). It is derived from the Latin words ''extra'' ("outside", "outwards") and ''terrestris'' ("earthly", "of or relating to the Earth"). It may be abbrevia ...

resembling a frog attempts to mate with unwilling teenage girls. A boy attempts to save the damsels-in-distress.

Plot

A frog-like alien attacks a group of teenagers who are camping, to mate with the girls. A boy's previous

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 ...

viewing helps them fight against the monster.

Production

Kanefsky directed this film when he was 20 years old. The film satirizes horror films, five years before '' Scream'' would be released. A review for ''DVD Verdict'' said that the difference between ''There's Nothing Out There'' and ''Scream'' is that the first film is a comedy, while the other film can stand alone as a horror film. Various horror films are referenced, including ''

Psycho Psycho may refer to: Mind * Psychopath * Sociopath * Someone with a personality disorder * Someone with a psychological disorder People with the nickname * Karl Amoussou or Psycho, mixed martial artist * Peter Ebdon or Psycho, English snook ...

''. ''There's Nothing Out There'' was filmed with

16 mm film 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, educ ...

, with the editing done on a Steenbeck. The film was finished in 1990 and was first released in 1991. After the film's success at the Independent Film Project film festival, they attempted to have a film studio release it. The director said of the film studios, "We had some important screenings, but the studios didn't understand the film. It was a horror film and a comedy that talked about horror films". He also compared his film to ''Scream''. The audience at every showing, including critics, enjoyed the film. It had a showing in New York City and Los Angeles, but no profit was made. The film rights were sold to Image Entertainment in 1992, and the company released the film on VHS and laser disc. The film aired on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

and Cinemax in 1993.

Reception

Reviewing the film in '' The New York Times'', Janet Maslin wrote that Kanefsky's "intentions are good and his effects sometimes funny, but the whole film plays like exactly what it is, namely the work of a 20-year-old college student". She concluded that "Aside from Mr. Peck's comic timing and the cleverness of a few gags...not much about the film rises above amateurishness, but Mr. Kanefsky does show energy and promise." Tom Becker, of ''DVD Verdict'', concluded his review with, "A cool, if slightly loquacious, release from Troma, ''There's Nothing Out There'' is a fun little film that's worth checking out". A review in ''VideoHound's Cult Flicks & Trash Pics'' said, "In general, this no-budget parody of screen schlock is barely better than the dreck it imitates".

Home media

Image Entertainment released the film on VHS and laser disc in 1992. It was released on DVD in 2011 by Troma Entertainment.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0103077, There's Nothing Out There 1991 comedy horror films American comedy horror films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films Films about alien visitations Films about frogs Films about camping Films set in country houses