4 out of 5

Director: Stuart Gordon

Once upon a time there was a director named Stuart Gordon, who directed one of the best horror movies of all time – Re-Animator. After that, for a while, he made some things which came close but never quite gelled in the same way… and then he made some disappointing messes. But in 1997 he helmed Space Truckers, a low budget looking sci-fi thing that touted its so bad its good card pretty proudly, making something that should be enjoyable for most open-eyed viewers. Space Truckers is camp without self-consciously rubbing it in your face. It comes across pretty eagerly and innocently, which recognizable names bringing credibility to a cheeky story about… well… a Space Trucker (Dennis Hopper), who transport square pigs through space. Yup – square pigs. Hopper runs afoul of boss George Wendt, causing him to team up and take off with trucking rival Stephen Dorff and would-be girlfriend Debi Mazar. Cue discovering a sinister plot that might ruin the world and getting involved with a horny cyborg space pirate… What makes this movie sing is its smart application of budget and the mood it entails. Instead of plugging dollars into impressive space scenes, the crew keeps these short, instead giving the viewers fun sets (the diner is very cool) and a sort of believable (in the context of the movie) outline of what space travel would look like for the middle/lower class. Also, Gordon finally strikes his Re-Animator high again, successfully striking a middleground between comedy and whatever hes blending with… in this case action. It never tips too far in either direction, and things are kept moving by a similar blend of acting from all the primaries. This is great camp, and a sweet example of DTV cinema before CGI made imagination almost too easy.