OVERLORDS OF THE U.F.O. (1976)
Directed by G. Brook Stanford
United Home Video VHS
THE FILM
A man talks to us, a lot, about "The UFO" and all the sightings and all the cover-ups and some things that are, frankly, super-wacky. The man speaks very authoritatively. But, he does get muddled up in some, frankly, super-wacky sentences. Overlords Of The U.F.O. is a dense and fruity mix of "investigation" and speculation and Uri Geller. And, it would have made the perfect hour-long special but at 90-odd minutes, it's all a bit much. I did find myself staring around the room a lot.
I was very young when all the 70s Cryptozoology/Paranormal/UFO stuff hit the fan. But, I always loved Bigfoot and UFOs and weird stuff. And, I remember being freaked out by In Search Of quite a bit. Recently, I got a complete set of In Search Of taped off of The History Channel and (after a rather tiring re-sequencing of the whole series to go from alphabetical order to broadcast order (if you own the set, I recommend doing that...it's more satisfying)) the show still creeps me out. It is like watching a series of Sunn Classics film shorts made for TV consumption. It is what Overlords Of The U.F.O. is...a wonderfully nutty and open-minded journey into a world that might all be rubbish.
I don't really have too much to say about Overlords Of The U.F.O. It is a constant stream of info that is presented to the viewer as complete fact. There is the constant belief that the government is covering up something huge and they could be. How do I know? How does the man who is talking to us know? There is so much random info tossed at the viewer that this just happened: When I started this paragraph, I had a point. As I wrote, I saw all the images from the film in my mind, flooding all over it. Now, I'll be damned if I can remember what point I was making. It happens.
The fact that this is a full-length movie devoted to nothing but UFO speculation and abduction and sighting tales is what intrigues me the most. Did people really flock out to see this in 1976? A drive-in double feature of Cathy's Curse and Overlords Of The U.F.O. must have been something. Which one would have been the second feature, I wonder?
My theme for this review seems to be my own forgetfulness. Check this out...
The man who speaks promises us revelations at the end but I can't remember what they were. Mr. B. Skull keeps a notebook that he writes all his info in. It's a very nice notebook. I tried to do the same thing and had a notebook with movie titles written on the top of each page and nothing else. I'm pretty sure the man did not reveal anything groundbreaking or I would have called my Ma and told her about it.
The problem with my occasional inability to remember all the details is this: When a movie like Overlords comes along, I really don't have much to say about it. It's a rush of info that keeps circling back on itself and goes all around and up and down and...I don't know what to say except that it is pretty entertaining and rather interesting. Possibly more for what it was than what it currently is...but interesting nevertheless. Now, is that a review? I don't know. It's something, though.
AUDIO AND VIDEO
Looks like a made-for-TV movie from the 70s. Sounds fine to me. The Soundscapes of Ummo are Mind-Blowing! (and Time-Filling!)
EXTRAS
Ahhh, to be forever hopeful.
FINAL THOUGHTS
This week, I reviewed Force On Thunder Mountain and Overlords Of The U.F.O. One has nothing in particular happen for 90 minutes. The other has tons of stuff going nowhere in particular for 90 minutes. I watched them back-to-back and, apart from the fact that you might want to try each one once, I have nothing to say of great interest about either of them.
Overlords Of The U.F.O. is a rather charming and slightly mad mid-70s journey through the world of the paranormal. It's as primitive as early rock and roll and just as much fun.
— Dan Budnik, 03.11.10 |
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