Director: Jackie Kong
Year: 1981
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Creature Feature
Plot:
After a series of strange accidents, a group of residents in a small Midwest town find that the series of disappearances and claims that a deformed monster rhyming around are linked to a toxic chemical spill turning a resident into a savage creature and must find a way to stop him.
Review:
Overall, this was a fairly fun and cheesy creature feature. Among the main features to like here is the solid way this sets about the introduction of the deformity running around causing havoc. The idea of the company trying to play itself off as the kind of well-regarded public service with the explicit knowledge their new chemical is dangerous to consumers yet going about not letting that information out for their profit margins is a decent enough idea to get the mutation sorted and explained. It doesn’t do anything original but at least serves to introduce them as the type of profit-first setup that’s more concerned with keeping themselves looking good than taking responsibility for what’s going on as the whole thing makes for a strong enough commentary on the effects of environmentalism when the full origin story is finally revealed.
That provides the perfect launching point for the series of creature attacks to take place here with everything coming about letting the mysterious creature free in the town. The opening attack on the traveler inside their car gives this a great starting point, much like a later scene where it takes out the resident in their motel room throwing the naked and terrified woman around in an extended sequence. Likewise, the frenetic chase down the highway to get past an approaching train at an upcoming crossing to get to safety before it can get to him is a thrilling and suspenseful sequence, and the attacks on the chemical facility where the creature emerges from the underground holes to attack others offer some intriguing moments. With a solid enough backstory for the creature to give it some genuine sympathy and an impressive look when its full design is shown, there are some solid points to be had here.
There are some problems within this one that hold it down. One of the main drawbacks is the strange series of one-shot sequences brought up to try to offer up some sidestories but only end up dragging out the running time with useless and unnecessary aspects. The whole is mostly reliant on the atmosphere of the town to try to present it as a lived-in location focusing on their own problems while the killer mutation is going around killing people, but the whole thing has bizarrely dropped storylines that don’t mean anything. From the mayor trying to keep the product a secret, the townsfolk objecting to the arrival of a massage parlor, and the opening narration, it introduces different aspects to the story before letting them disappear for no reason other than to pad out the running time. Combined with the low-budget limitations here, these are the film’s general drawbacks.
Overview: ***.5/5
An overall enjoyable cheesy creature feature, there’s enough to enjoy that it comes off solid enough for this kind of feature while having a few drawbacks to keep it at that level. Those who are fine with this kind of presentation or don't mind these drawbacks will have the most to like with this one while most others out there should heed caution.
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