Skip to the 1:30 mark is you are so horny you can’t make it through the foreplay (cue Boston song.)
This was posted on IO9 a while back, but they weren’t able to put it into the greater context of filmic depictions of rape. Although not immediately apparent, this scene has a lot in common with the controversial rape scene in Sam Peckinpah’s Straw Dogs. As in Peckinpah’s violent opus, the rape scene in Galaxy of Terror can be viewed as ambiguous. At first, the character of Dameia resists the advances of the mutant space worm, the way a woman would resist the “charms” of (IE: attempted rape by) Sean Connery in an early Bond film. But as she is covered in lubricating sex acid and her clothing disintegrates, a funny thing happens- she begins to enjoy it. She catches the rhythm and grinds along with the thrusts of the worm, accepting her erotic fate. In space, no one can hear you scream as you are worm-sexed to death.
As with Straw Dogs, the rape scene in Galaxy of Terror had to be trimmed to appease the MPAA. A grind here, a thrust there- anything to lessen the complicit nature of the act. Ironically, with Dogs, that only served to support the impression that the victim enjoyed the assault. With Terror, all it did was deprive the audience of a few extra seconds of worm rape. Sweet, sweet worm rape.
This is all documented with appropriate humor on the recent DVD release of the landmark B film. Unfortunately for you space-pervs out there, the offending material is long gone, so there won’t be any unrated director’s cut any time ever.
And if you think you can write a piece about Galaxy of Terror without using the term “worm rape” as many times as I did, you’re more than welcome to try.
Previously: Galaxy of Terror encapsulated review.
