|
ATTACK OF THE BEAST CREATURES (1985)
Directed by Michael Stanley
Western World VHS
Reviewed 09.06.07
Review by Dan Budnik
THE FILM
If you’ve looked around Bleeding Skull, you’ll know that we are fans of Monster Kid Super 8 movies. Enthusiastic kids with tiny cameras and giant ideas bursting through their heads as they desperately try to emulate the movies they love. Hell, I was a Video “Monster Kid”, although I made mainly comedy sketches and little action pieces. It’s a natural outlet for the creative kid. You copy what you love and eventually you do your own thing. The same thing happens with writing and, I’m pretty sure, it happens with music.
We’ve come across many films that are very low-budget. That have the feel of folks going out and just making a movie to make a movie. Films that don’t conform to anything resembling the “rules” that films are supposed to have. But, I had yet to encounter a full-length grown-up film that felt exactly like a “Monster Kid” film, until Attack Of The Beast Creatures.
In 1920, a ship goes down in the middle of the ocean. The survivors are crowded onto a big lifeboat where personalities are beginning to clash. After a time, they spot land and end up on a lovely island. But, the island has acid lakes and something tiny and vicious lurking in the darkness. When they least expect it, the beast creatures attack. Tiny little monsters in waves of teeth and little spears. Will they survive? Or will they be food for the monsters?
Ahhh...Attack Of The Beast Creatures. I think the title should tip you off. We’re in the center of grown-up “Monster Kid” territory. Amateur actors giving it their all (and occasionally reminding me of the actors in Scarecrows). Waves of synthesizers washing across the soundtrack. A lot of wandering through woods. Frequent attacks by tiny monsters that alternate between rather silly and really quite good. And, an ending that isn’t an ending but the point where the required running time is reached. It’s all here.
And, I wish it was all fun. But, the elements that make it into a grown-up goof around also drag it down a bit. When I was a kid, editing and compressing screen time was always a problem. You’ve got six people and you need to convey the fact that they’re walking a long way. You can show this through editing. A montage covering how much ground they’ve passed and, possibly, the sun moving across the sky. Or you can show people walking and walking and walking. To me as a kid, that was how you did it. If they need to go from here to there, the way you convey it is by having them go from here to there. If a point has to be made in dialogue, it must be very clearly made. No subtlety allowed.
All of these things are fine for kids movies because, really, who is going to watch them? Some friends? Your parents? They’ll humor you and never watch it again. The films are more for you than anyone else. Each film is another rough draft where you refine everything you can do and make it better. Attack Of The Beast Creatures was available for purchase on VHS. The filmmakers would like you to shell out some cash. And, that makes all the difference.
Beast Creatures retains the amateur enthusiasm that makes for fun viewing, but holds this in the faults as well. People talk and talk and talk when a line or two would suffice. People walk and walk and walk when a few steps would work wonders. For every great moment, there is another moment that makes me a little impatient. The pros outweigh the cons by the end, though. The walking becomes hypnotic after a while. And, you can start to enjoy the overdone dialogue as you wait for something to happen. The problems are really just a few kinks that need to be worked out. Maybe a 72-minute cut would be perfect. I don’t know.
I do know that I like the zeal of this film, possibly more than the film itself. I have the same sort of feeling for the “Monster Kid” films. It’s not condescension or a “superior” patronizing attitude. It is admiration for the film and its makers coupled with the willingness to get carried along for the ride.
AUDIO AND VIDEO
It all looks a little hazy but that’s no problem. The audio is quite good. Actually, I love the way this film looks and sounds. Keep thinking “Monster Kid, Monster Kid.”
EXTRAS
The film was shot (extrapolating from the “Special Thanks” list) in Fairfield, CT. My wife’s hometown. All the woods look like the woods around her house. I thought I saw her sitting on a rock in the background of one of the shots. Nice.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Attack Of The Beast Creatures is a decent monster attack film that shows the “Monster Kids” all grown up and not having learned a thing. To some, a warning. To me, cause for praise and running and yelling “Huzzah!” and buying ice cream cones for people I don’t know and smiling.
Thanks to Eric Robitaille for
providing a copy of this film! |
