Monster of the Day #3542

Updated on July 4, 2024 By Ken Begg 9 Comments

Happy Independence Day, everyone!

Serious question: Do kids today–I mean, say, people under 20–even know it’s Independence Day, or is it just July 4th to them? Do they understand why it’s a holiday? I wonder.

Written by Larry Cohen and directed by William “Maniac Cop” Lustig. That’s a pretty solid pedigree.

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  • The Rev.

    I recall it not really living up to that pedigree (including some of the cast), sadly. Admittedly, it's been decades. Maybe I'll revisit it this weekend, see if my opinion has changed.

  • Mileage on this film varies. El Santo gave it the rare 0 stars. The peepz at the Slaughter Film Podcast liked it a lot more–at least 2.5 or 3 out of 5.

  • 🐻 bgbear_rnh

    To the young people it is when we shed ourselves of our oppressors so we could become oppressors ourselves.

  • Eric Hinkle

    Given the horrid array of books I've seen being sold at the local B&N in their social studies and history sections, this sounds entirely too plausible. OTOH it makes me want to read their Penguin Classics more and more when I'm visiting.

  • Beckoning Chasm

    Tonight's blue-ray feature is "Creature" from 1985, William Malone, and Vinegar Syndrome. Starring Klaus Kinski (as Peter Lorre), and Simone (from Pee Wee's Big Adventure).

    I'm sure you've all seen this film, but you've never seen it look this good. (Actually, if you've seen Alien, Aliens, and Planet of the Vampires, you've seen this film. And in many cases, heard this film.)

    As mentioned, this film looks terrific. When I've seen it in the past, it's dark, murky and details are impossible to see. Here, there's still some detail-hiding, necessary because of the effects, but otherwise this film looks the way it should be watched.

    And for a rip-off, it's pretty enjoyable. It's a lot smarter than it needs to be, the acting is pretty good throughout, and now that you can see them, the effects are decent (the creature) to excellent (the model work). The score really wants to be Alien and Aliens, and it does that, but it manages to be pretty original as well.

    There's worse ways to spend an hour and a half.

  • kgb_san_diego

    I need to rewatch that. I saw it in the theater during the first run, but that was quite a while ago

  • NathanShumate

    I'm with El Santo on this one. It's a mean, vituperative screed against anything even vaguely military.

  • Ken_Begg

    That's sad. Cohen is generally more nuanced than that.

  • 7armedman

    Lustig is one of the greats. Fun, not afraid of being nasty and not afraid to offend.