Last Exit to Earth Reviews

From executive producer Roger Corman comes this bland low-budget effort that features nothing original in the way of plot or characterization. It aired originally on cable prior to a video release. In the year 2500 AD, women rule the earth. Female scientists have removed the male genes for aggression, and men have been left placid sexual servants. Unfortunately, they're also sterile. Fearing extinction, scientist Eve (Kimberly Greist) illegally time travels with three cohorts back to the 22nd century to retrieve the sperm of a virile man. They collide with a spacecraft flown by Jaid Adams (Costas Mandylor), whose crew has just been massacred by the sadistic Bendix (David Groh) and his men. Bendix is plotting a world-takeover plan with the use of a deadly virus. However, the women gain control and take the male space-travelers back with them to 2500. For her illegal act, Eve is given 24 hours to create a virility serum before she is banished from the colony. Bendix escapes and threatens to kill everyone with the virus. After sex, Jaid and Eve attempt to stop Bendix, but Jaid is mortally wounded. Bendix releases the virus, affecting the colony. After he is healed, Jaid exposes Bendix to the virus and recovers its antidote from the ship. With Eve, he distributes the antidote and saves most of the women while Bendix dies. Eve and Jaid accept their banishment; several of the women join them to form their own colony. Later, Eve gives birth to Jaid's child, beginning a new race of virile men. Directed by actress-turned-director Katt Shea (POISON IVY), LAST EXIT TO EARTH is typical of the very derivative schlock that Corman's New Horizons Home Video has released in the 1990s. Shea (who showed promise as a filmmaker with the underrated DANCE OF THE DAMNED) keeps the action moving, but subpar effects, performances, and a by-the-numbers script continually hamper the effort. The sex-related premise would have worked better had the film been conceived of as an erotic fantasy rather than a straight sci-fi opus; the few sex scenes that are included are pointless and unerotic. The acting is weak, but David Groh (of "Rhoda" fame) makes the most of his part, hamming it up as the evil Bendix. Leads Greist and Mandylor remain wooden throughout, showing no fire despite their supposed passion for each other. One humorous plus is a brief scene involving one of Bendix's 22nd-century henchmen, Hardester (Michael Cudlitz), and a 26th-century babe as he inquires about the future of toilet paper. Shea, who appeared as an actress in the films BARBARIAN QUEEN (1985) and HOLLYWOOD HOT TUBS (1984), and later directed features under the married name of Katt Shea Ruben, appears in a cameo as a surgeon named Athena. Cinematography and other technical aspects are adequate with the exception of some poorly-dubbed sound effects. (Profanity, violence, sexual situations.)