My Ratings:
Story 0.75: Direction 0.75: Pace 0.5: Acting 1.25: Entertainment 0.75:
Total 4 out of 10.00
After seeing the reviews and the rating on IMDb I was putting off watching this film. However, upon reflection, this was a bad idea. For me, this isn't that bad of a movie. It's not too great and isn't worth a second viewing, but I'm not upset I watched it... and at no time did I think, I've got to turn this crap off.
Firstly, George Schenck (who wrote and directed this picture) had a great story concept. A scientist who has grown dispirited with mankind and their aptitude for violence takes himself into the desolate South America jungle. Here, he's taken it upon himself to find a cure for humanities brutality. Thanks to the help from the local police authorities, he uses violent criminals for his experiments. Unfortunately, his experimentations have drastic side effects, and he has to call in a hunter to rid himself of these errors.
Now, that is a good concept.
Regretfully, Schenck isn't a great, or even good, writer and the story suffers from bad construction and characterisations. There's not enough in this story to keep you engrossed.
And, he doesn't add any visuals to the film to keep your interest piqued, either. I have to admit there were times I found myself dozing. Strange, because the opening escape sequence is well filmed and thought out. But, as soon we get into the jungle, the attention to detail drops.
So much could have been done with this section. Particularly with the hunt scenes. There's one scene where the hunter, Stewart Victor, rushes into Dr Flemings room raving about his latest conquest. It would have been great to see this hunt. Feel the excitement, the fear, the exhilaration. Having said that, when we get to the final climactic hunt I can understand why Schenck chose not to shoot such a scene. Stewart Victor doesn't come across as a great white hunter. He's more of a sweaty, gasping, old git, who's trying not to have a heart attack. This end hunt needed to hold all of the elements mentioned, and then some... but it comes nowhere near, and this is a shame.
And because there's no real atmosphere to the film, it's hard to call it a horror even though it has monsters. I would consider it to be more of a Sci-Fi Adventure movie... without much adventure.
As for the acting, Antoinette Bower as the lead Doctor Alix Pardee is decent in her portrayal. For the first half of the film, she comes across strong and unwavering. I wanted to see how she would develop. But when we get to the jungle, as with the story, her characterisation gets weaker. This is down to the story writing and the direction, and not her acting. She does well with what she's given.
As does, Harry Lauter with his portrayal of the hunter, Stewart Victor. Until he goes out on the hunt, I would think twice about messing with this guy.
In fact, most of the acting is above par, until we get to Craig Littler as Doctor Bill Fleming. Littler doesn't appear until the jungle segments, and though he starts well enough, it soon looks as though he's bored of the whole thing. Unlike his fellow cast members, Littler's acting does drop and adds to the dullness of the story.
I do have to say though, I loved the effects of the beasts. I'm not too sure how they accomplished the effect, but for some of the scenes, it appears the "beast-men"'s face is swollen. I'm not sure if somebody injected them with something, but it looks realistically painful. Then when they add the latex and rubber, they do it in such a way that it's reasonable. In some cases, like with the native "Beast-men", especially the escapee at the start, it looks almost lifelike... almost. I doff my cap to you.
Should you need something to watch to waste a smidgen of your lockdown time, you could do worse than this. And should you be curled up in bed, it may drift you away into dreamland. There are a lot of worse movies than this one. But, don't rush to buy it, or to watch it. If you miss it, you're not missing too much.
Swing on your vines and come see where this Superbeast landed in my The Final Frontier list.
Take Care & Stay Well.
