Post by drystyx on Nov 1, 2020 6:28:05 GMT
Cult classic, no one denies that, and few will deny it's a horror science fiction classic.
There are a lot of things going for it. And incredibly, one can tell it is extremely low budget. When one thinks about it, one notices there aren't many different locations in comparison with most movies.
First of all, this is an "anti sci-fi formula" film. Most sci fi will show the "nobody characters" in brief spurts and concentrate on the "authority characters" as the basis of the movie.
Here, we have the exact opposite. The opening is one poacher who escapes the giant leeches and goes to the swamp hangout of "nobody characters". Here, we are introduced to the seven characters who would be dismissed in most Hollywood films, and indeed, six of those seven will be dead by the end of the film. The one survivor is depicted as probably the most level headed and moderate of the group.
We get spurts of the four authority characters, but only in slices that are usually reserved for the throw away characters. There is conflict amid the four, and it is well written conflict. Three are problem solvers, while the sheriff is a farily well developed and credible "red neck". The "red neck" characters are incredibly well written by Leo Gordon.
We never think of Leo Gordon as the type of guy who could write with such depth insomuch as characters go, but he does. He gives us a dose of everything, the depth, the dimension, and the show as well, with the grandstand still photo of all time, as heroic muscle bound Ken Clark has a revolver in one hand and a scantily clad shapely woman in the other.
Speaking of the shapely woman, Yvette Vickers, this is her film. She is not top billed, but there is no doubt she is the star. She is the catalyst. The dark filming is perfect to enhance her beauty. A remake was made not too long ago, and it was a good film, but one huge mistake was that the director filmed the femme fatale blonde in bright light, which washed her out and made her pale and lifeless, hardly a sex symbol. The dark lighting in this original classic not only enhanced the danger of the swamp, but also enhanced the beauty of Yvette, who probably also would have paled in bright light.
Yvette plays the ultimate femme fatale, a totally depraved and arrogant anti heroine, a spoiled brat, but a brat with a perfect body. She is the lone woman of the seven characters we see in the red neck abode at the beginning, and she captures the screen when she enters.
There is also a good girl, who dresses modestly and wears her hair short. In bright light, she would be the stunning beauty, no doubt. The lighting was essential for the vehicle to be Yvette's.
Back to Leo Gordon, the big, gruff tough guy of Westerns, usually a villain who thinks he is smarter than he is. Here, Leo shows his real character in some clever writing. Who would have thought it?
Of course, the director has the last say, and so Bernard Kowalski, normally a TV director, shows his genius.
The low budget monsters are incredibly scary on small screen TVs. I've never seen it on a big screen, but on small screen, these are the scariest monsters I ever saw in a film. They don't look like "leeches', but actually resemble giant walking octopus creatures more than anything, and that is a scary sight. The score is perfect, too. The background music enhances the danger perfectly.
This is a classic. 10/10
There are a lot of things going for it. And incredibly, one can tell it is extremely low budget. When one thinks about it, one notices there aren't many different locations in comparison with most movies.
First of all, this is an "anti sci-fi formula" film. Most sci fi will show the "nobody characters" in brief spurts and concentrate on the "authority characters" as the basis of the movie.
Here, we have the exact opposite. The opening is one poacher who escapes the giant leeches and goes to the swamp hangout of "nobody characters". Here, we are introduced to the seven characters who would be dismissed in most Hollywood films, and indeed, six of those seven will be dead by the end of the film. The one survivor is depicted as probably the most level headed and moderate of the group.
We get spurts of the four authority characters, but only in slices that are usually reserved for the throw away characters. There is conflict amid the four, and it is well written conflict. Three are problem solvers, while the sheriff is a farily well developed and credible "red neck". The "red neck" characters are incredibly well written by Leo Gordon.
We never think of Leo Gordon as the type of guy who could write with such depth insomuch as characters go, but he does. He gives us a dose of everything, the depth, the dimension, and the show as well, with the grandstand still photo of all time, as heroic muscle bound Ken Clark has a revolver in one hand and a scantily clad shapely woman in the other.
Speaking of the shapely woman, Yvette Vickers, this is her film. She is not top billed, but there is no doubt she is the star. She is the catalyst. The dark filming is perfect to enhance her beauty. A remake was made not too long ago, and it was a good film, but one huge mistake was that the director filmed the femme fatale blonde in bright light, which washed her out and made her pale and lifeless, hardly a sex symbol. The dark lighting in this original classic not only enhanced the danger of the swamp, but also enhanced the beauty of Yvette, who probably also would have paled in bright light.
Yvette plays the ultimate femme fatale, a totally depraved and arrogant anti heroine, a spoiled brat, but a brat with a perfect body. She is the lone woman of the seven characters we see in the red neck abode at the beginning, and she captures the screen when she enters.
There is also a good girl, who dresses modestly and wears her hair short. In bright light, she would be the stunning beauty, no doubt. The lighting was essential for the vehicle to be Yvette's.
Back to Leo Gordon, the big, gruff tough guy of Westerns, usually a villain who thinks he is smarter than he is. Here, Leo shows his real character in some clever writing. Who would have thought it?
Of course, the director has the last say, and so Bernard Kowalski, normally a TV director, shows his genius.
The low budget monsters are incredibly scary on small screen TVs. I've never seen it on a big screen, but on small screen, these are the scariest monsters I ever saw in a film. They don't look like "leeches', but actually resemble giant walking octopus creatures more than anything, and that is a scary sight. The score is perfect, too. The background music enhances the danger perfectly.
This is a classic. 10/10
