Monster of the Day #116

I loved the mad scientist’s reasons for turning Michael Landon into a werewolf. It was almost Frankenstein Islandesque in it incomprehensibility.

Indeed it is, BC.

It’s a decent little flick, and it’s interesting to see Michael Landon in a role completely against the type he’d play in his later career. Still, I rather enjoyed the MSTing of it they did during the SFC years.

He sure was drooly, wasn’t he?

‘This film is actually quite a lot better than most people remember it being.’

Didn’t stop MST3K from ripping it a new one.

Great movie. Even if it is largely a remake of the previous year’s The Werewolf. Love that Paul Dunlap music! Though largely a retread of Teenage Werewolf, Blood of Dracula isn’t bad either.

The weird thing about MST is that some of their funniest episodes are the ones built around good movies (like when the motion picture was built around This Island Earth, it was hysterical -on the other hand, drive-in schlock like Giant Spider Invasion also made perfect fodder). How one defines ‘bad’ movies is about as anchored as a pool of water on a flat surface. MST has lampooned several flicks that weren’t bad, a few were really good by my standards.

In fact, some movies I’m quite fond of have fallen to Ken’s rifle scope. Pictures I never would’ve considered ‘bad’ have been reviewed here. On the one hand, I’ve learned to think about movies more broadly -I found the site because I love old monster movies- so I’ve benifited from seeing an opposing point of view. On the other hand, I’m not letting that crush my genuine affection for those movies. That pure, uncynical, unironic, monster kid love of monster and exploitation movies. I though The Brain From Planet Arous was a pretty good flick, for example. For me a bad movie might be, oh, The Sex Killer. How a movie running under an hour can be some frightfully dull is beyond me.

Anyway, let’s have another round of applause for Whit Bissell!

I think more stuff happens in Beast of Yucca Flats. For one thing, the narration is so weird as to be both distracting and humorous. Although troubled, there is a plot that moves people and events from one scene to the next. If nothing else, the desert makes a picturesque backdrop you can focus on. The Sex Killer didn’t have a script so much as ambient noise, and there was one single music cue repeated endlessly throughout the film. Badly made as it was, there were a few kernels of fun to be picked out of Beast of Yucca Flats. All Sex Killer offers is some flashes of nudity, a cute blonde in one scene, and a pair of spyglasses that constantly change perspective in the same shot! That last element I admit was pretty funny, but Yucca Flats was far more entertaining. I’ve enjoyed the uncut version of “Manos” more than once. Believe me, The Sex Killer is awful!

The Starfighters. Actually, I liked it. One of those episodes where I wished I’d gotten ahold of the movie itself and didn’t have to put up with snarky robots. Maybe I’m too easy to please, or maybe I find those dart-like rocket planes dramatic enough to hold a feature even if they’re just sitting on the tarmac. It was no A Gathering of Eagles or Statiegic Air Command, but I really enjoyed the film. Not the best subject for MST, however, I don’t think anyone would argue that.

You can never have too much airial refueling action. Does anyone know the history of the film? It seems like a cemmercial for Starfighter aircraft. Was it originally intended as a promotional vehicle?

One sheets for The Starfighters are obviously aimed at the general movie-going public. I can see where such a film would’ve been of more interest when it was made, pretty cutting edge stuff aimed at a society facinated by the future and technological advancement brought about by the Atomic Age, and proud of America’s military might. I’d be interested in seeing the box office numbers.

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