The Deadly Spawn

The Deadly Spawn
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Douglas McKeown
Produced by	Ted A. Bohus John Dods Tim Hildebrandt
Written by	Douglas McKeown
Starring	Charles George Hildebrandt Tom DeFranco Richard Lee Porter Jean Tafler Karen Tighe James Brewster Elissa Neil Ethel Michelson John Schmerling
Music by	Paul Cornell Michael Perilstein Kenneth Walker
Cinematography	Harvey M. Birnbaum
Edited by	Marc Harwood
Distributed by	21st Century Film Corporation
Release date	April 22, 1983
Running time	78 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$25,000

The Deadly Spawn is a 1983 American science-fiction horror film directed by Douglas McKeown and starring Charles George Hildebrandt. In some territories, the film's title was changed to Return of the Aliens: The Deadly Spawn or The Return of the Alien's Deadly Spawn in an attempt to cash in on the worldwide success of Ridley Scott's 1979 film Alien.

It follows the story of a crash-landed alien that finds refuge in the basement of a house and grows to monstrous proportions, eating those unlucky enough to venture down. A handful of teenagers try to survive the onslaught of the creature and its young.

Two campers are nearby when a meteor falls to Earth. When they go to investigate, they are attacked and eaten by a bizarre life form that emerges from the crashed rock.

Near the crash site is a large house. The house is the home of Sam (James Brewster) and Barb (Elissa Neil), and their two children, college student Pete (Tom DeFranco) and his younger brother Charles (Charles George Hildebrandt). Visiting are Aunt Millie (Ethel Michelson) and Uncle Herb (John Schmerling). Sam and Barb rise early to go into town, which Barb hopes can be put off because of the incessant rainstorm. Sam insists, and he goes downstairs to check the basement for flooding. Down there, he is eaten by the bizarre monstrosity. Barb suffers the same fate when she goes looking for him.

Aunt Millie is awakened by their screaming, but she attributes it to the horror movie that Charles is watching on television in his room. Charles, a monster movie fan, tries to scare his aunt with a monster costume and some flash powder. Pete, a budding scientist, sets up a study date with classmates Ellen (Jean Tafler), Frankie (Richard Lee Porter), and Kathy (Karen Tighe). Uncle Herb, a psychologist, wants to investigate Charles's interest in the macabre, and he holds a brief interview with the boy then falls asleep in the living room.

Aunt Millie heads over to her mother Bunny's (Judith Mayes) house for a luncheon with her retired friends. When an electrician arrives to investigate a circuit breaker malfunction in the basement, Charles dons a costume and goes down to scare him. There, he discovers the basement is swarming with slug-like creatures. Charles follows them until he finds them feasting on the electrician's body. Around are some larger versions of the creatures: a huge one, presumably the original, has developed three different heads. The smaller ones seem to be spawn given off by the adult monster. Realizing that the eyeless creatures react to sound, he stands silently while the large creature disgorges his mother's head for the spawn to feast on.