Monster of the Day #3005

Updated on April 3, 2020 By Ken Begg 23 Comments

Behold the terror! Are you one of the many who feel Monster on the Campus is too…posh, too rarified, too tony? Well, there’s always the, er, much more blue collar The Neandertal Man. Free for viewing on the Cult Cinema Classics channel on YouTube.

Unless, of course, you own the Blu Ray double bill with Beast of Hollow Mountain as I do. If not, well, YouTube is good enough for you lot. Excuse me now, I’m going to go watch Monster on the Campus. Now where did I put my monocle?

Have a great weekend, everyone, and please, be safe.

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  • Beckoning Chasm

    At first, I thought you meant “Beast from Haunted Cave” and I was impressed someone hunted down the elements for that to make a blu-ray version.

  • Gamera977

    ‘Monster on Campus’ was the one with the coelacanth causing people to devolve into ape-men right? Where I was hoping the people would devolve all the way down into coelacanths. Of course that’s pretty much the same plot as the ‘Star Trek: Voyager’ one where Tom Paris devolves into a salamander and then- ah hell it’s awful- if you really want to know look it up.

    If it’d been ‘Deep Space Nine’ Sisco would have devolved into something awesome like a Tyrannosaurs rex. Just because Sisco is badass and Janeway sucked.

    Yeah, I know evolution doesn’t have a direction- you can’t devolve. And a T. rex isn’t part of the human evolutionary tree. But it’s about as scientifically accurate as this episode was. And sorry to any Janeway fans- she just grated on my nerves…

  • Ericb

    I love how the coelacanth in MoC had some magical property that would make animals devolve if they got any of its fluids in their blood like the thing was literally a “living fossil” that living fossilized its “victims.” I mean, it’s just a fish. Sure they they though it went extinct millions of years ago and it was a big deal when a small population of them turned up. But, still, its just a fish.

  • Beckoning Chasm

    Of course, in what’s kind of considered a remake of MoC, William Hurt could devolve just by using his mind in “Altered States.” (He could also go forward, “Sixth Finger” style.)

  • Eric Hinkle

    Is that the same loopy episode where someone gets ‘devolved’ into a giant spider?

  • Marsden

    That was a different loopy episode of Next Generation.

    I think it was Barclay that turned into a spider.

  • Marsden

    Are we not men?

    We are Devo!

  • Marsden

    Ok, now I’m certain because after that I made up this little hum.

    Spider-Barclay, Spider-Barclay, does whatever a Spider-Barclay does. Spins a web, but don’t ask from where, Look out here comes……

  • Oh, The Neanderthal Man. One of the most polite monsters in film history. Whenever he goes out on a rampage he always gently closes the window behind him.

    Thankfully Ken has spared us the true terror of the film: the Sabre-tooth Tiger that stalks the same area as N.M. No one. can be quite prepared for his appearances. I mean, the close ups. The scenes where he’s played by a real Tiger most anyone can deal with.

    (I love how there’s more talk here about Monster on the Campus than the film in question. I think that pretty much sums up the whole Neanderthal Man.)

  • Beckoning Chasm

    Hi Ken, kind of off topic but a while ago you showcased the creatures from “Attack the Block” as a MotD, and made some positive comments about the film they were featured in. Well, I just watched “Attack the Block” and was pleasantly surprised to find it was a very solid film. Well recommended. And really odd, since the leads there (who were both very good) have since been blamed for the decline in the “Star Wars” and “Doctor Who” franchises respectively. Who can figure, yes?

  • Gamera977

    Yeah, Barclay- aka Dwight Schultz- aka ‘Howling Mad Murdock. If the devolution plot works once use it twice! The TNG version at least did have Worf turning into some sort of Klingon ape-man and chasing Picard (who was devolving into a lemur) and Data around the ship. And Troi grew gills and was turning into some sort of mermaid type critter.
    Head nurse Ogawa did devolve into an ape-woman but didn’t really do anything. Not attack anyone or just create mischief like Hurt in ‘Altered States’. Dr. Crusher loaded her up with drugs and she spent the whole time snoozing in sick bay.

    Not that great an episode but it had enough WTH moments to make it memorable.

  • Gamera977

    Actually I really liked Boyega in ‘Pacific Rim II: Uprising.’ He had a cool Will Smith smartarse thing going on. I haven’t seen any of the Disney SW movies but was surprised Finn is regarded as such a bad character.

  • Ericb

    The Neanderthal Michael Jackson?

  • Eric Hinkle

    Holy crap, that wuss Barclay once played ‘Howling Mad’ Murdock? Now I have this weird image of him going on the run with Worf as Mr. T and Riker as Face.

  • Ken_Begg

    No, the coelacanth one is Monster on the Campus. If I remember correctly, the scientist just makes a drug in this one.

  • Ken_Begg

    He also ironically stars as perhaps the only sane character in one of the only good slasher movies, Alone in the Dark.

  • Ken_Begg

    Oh, yeah, that almost subliminal shot is freeze frame heaven.

  • Ken_Begg

    If I remember correctly about his Twitter stuff, Boyega was also fairly vocal about where the Star Wars series went during that regime.

  • Eric Hinkle

    What, he was displeased with it?

  • Gamera977

    He was kinda unhappy about being shoehorned into the comic relief role. And Oscar Issacs kept up a steady stream of jokes about Poe and Finn being in a gay relationship that seemed to really got on Boyega’s nerves after awhile.

  • Eric Hinkle

    Ah. Yeah. That I can understand. If you read this, Mister Boyega, please accept my sympathies.

  • Ken_Begg

    I imagine he also thought he’d been kind of costar in the film, at least like Han Solo to Luke, only to find his character pushed to the side as everything became about Rey.

  • I dunno about Heaven, but it’s sure was worth going back and capturing it. Just so I could convince myself I did see what I thought I saw.