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Revision as of 21:58, 19 September 2014 by Paleface Jack (talk | contribs) (→External links)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) 1983 American film| The Being | |
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 DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Jackie Kong |
| Written by | Jackie Kong |
| Produced by | Bill Osco |
| Starring | Martin Landau José Ferrer Dorothy Malone Ruth Buzzi Marianne Gordon Bill Osco |
| Cinematography | Hanania Baer Robert Ebinger |
| Edited by | David H. Newhouse |
| Music by | Don Preston |
| Distributed by | New World Pictures |
| Release date |
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| Running time | 82 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Being is a 1983 horror film written and directed by Jackie Kong and starring Martin Landau, José Ferrer, Dorothy Malone, Ruth Buzzi, Marianne Gordon and exploitation film producer Bill Osco, who is billed as "Rexx Coltrane". It focuses on a detective who is trying to solve a string of grisly murders and disappearances. It was first film directed by Kong, who went on to direct several other films of the same type, including Blood Diner, which has become a cult favorite.
Synopsis
People have been disappearing in the town of Pottsville, Idaho. Detective Mortimer Lutz (Bill Osco) thinks it is connected to the toxic dump site near the town, but is impeded in his investigation by the Mayor (Jose Ferrer), who is concerned about the economic impact on the town's potato industry should it turn out to be true. In reality, the toxic waste has turned a young child into a cannibalistic,mutant monster, devouring anyone who comes across him. When the existence of the mutant is discovered, Lutz begins a run against time to stop it before it consumes the town's entire population.
Plot
The film opens in the town of Pottsville, Idaho with a young man who is being chased by an unknown figure; the young man manages to drive away in a car but the unseen assailant tears through the roof and rips off the man's head. Sometime later Detective Mortimer Lutz investigates the abandoned vehicle; Lutz is puzzled by the appearance of the car and the fact that there is no body. A little while later the unseen killer slaughters a young couple and a stoner at a drive-in movie theater after the incident however all the bodies are missing and green slime is found in both incidents. Lutz later visits Mayor Lane and notifies him that something dangerous is happening, but Lane dismisses Lutz's concerns, and hires biochemist Garcon Jones to investigate the matter. However Lutz is still convinced that something terrible is going on, his suspicions are later confirmed when he is attacked by the creature in his house. Lutz narrowly escapes the encounter and tries to convince Mayor Lane who dismisses this as another of the detective’s regular complaints. The next night policeman is slaughtered in his car by creature. Later at the end of the next day, Lutz heads home where he dozes off, while picking up his girlfriend Laurie they are suddenly attacked by the creature, after holing themselves inside the diner they manage to lock the creature inside the freezer. When they manage to bring the mayor, the creature is gone, and a puddle of green slime. Furious that Lutz called him all the way over there for nothing. After the mayor leaves, Lutz is called from the dump by Jones, who tells him to meet him there, as he has discovered something. When they arrive Jones shows them an abandoned building which is undoubtedly the creature’s lair, Jones explains that he discovered a network of tunnels that led into the creature’s lair. After narrowly escape an encounter with the creature they stop at the sheriff’s station in order to gather weapons, Lutz, afraid for Laurie’s safety locks her in the jail cell much to her dismay. Heading back to the beast’s lair, they wait until the creature returns. During this time Jones reveals that the creature is a mutant, who uses a larger percentage of its brain but at the same time it is completely psychotic due to prolonged exposure to the radiation emitting from the dump site, the creature is also sensitive to light. It is also revealed that the creature is in fact young Michael Smith who was the first person to go missing. Lutz and Jones are attacked by the mutant, fleeing from the vehicle into another abandoned building where they attempt to contact the sheriff’s station but none of the phones work. While Jones is wandering around the facility he is attacked by the creature who manages to drag him off and tears him to pieces. Blocking the exists Lutz faces the creature, but he is no match for it as it easily knocks him around the room, after a failed attempt to gas the creature Lutz manages to throw a nearby bottle of acid at the creature, stunning it. Taking advantage of this Lutz grabs a nearby axe and hack the creature to death. Upon its demise the creature explodes, Lutz emerges from the building victorious. However a new mutation bursts from the ground of toxic dump site just before the screen fades to the credits.
Cast
- Martin Landau as Garcon Jones
- Marianne Gordon as Laurie
- Bill Osco as Detective Mortimer Lutz
- José Ferrer as Mayor Gordon Lane
- Dorothy Malone as Marge Smith
- Ruth Buzzi as Virginia Lane
Cast notes:
- Bill Osco, who produced the film, was billed as "Rexx Coltrane" for his acting role.
- Marianne Gordon was married to singer Kenny Rogers at the time, and is billed as "Marianne Gordon Rogers"
Production
The Being is notable as the first film made by schlock horror film writer and director Jackie Kong. Filming began in 1980 under the title "Easter Sunday", before being put on the shelf for three years before finally being released on November 18, 1983 with the tagline "The Ultimate Terror has Taken Form".
Reception
The film has been met with negative reviews. On the review website Rotten Tomatoes it has had few but mostly negative reviews. On IMDb it currently has an abysmal 3.3/10 reviewed from 647 viewers. Scott Weinberg from DVDTalk.com was among the film's detractors calling the film "Grungy, muddy-looking" he also called it a "blatant Alien ripoff". J. Read from monstersatplay.com called it "cheap, rushed, and an incongruous mess" stating it as a perfect example of all the bad movies that came out in the 1980s. Allmovie.com calls the film "abysmal", with "clumsy, ham-fisted" direction, effects that are at times "goofy", and a "leaden, noncharismatic" performance from lead actor and producer Bill Osco. Nevertheless, the reviewer calls it "worthy of note for cinematic trash-fiends", because of its cast, flashes of humor and "oddball qualities".
Leonard Maltin awarded the film 1 1/2 stars out of 4 stating that humor was the film's only saving grace, stating that "it wasn't enough to overcome its Z-grade script and production".
Home video
The Being was released on DVD on September 13, 2005 by Shriek Studio in widescreen format with no special features. Shriek Studio released it again on July 31, 2007 as a part its Mutant Monsters Triple Feature which combined it with The Dark and Creatures from the Abyss.
References
Notes
- ^ "Overview" on Allmovie.com
- Muir, John (2007). Horror films of the 1980s. McFarland and Company. p. 297.
- "The Being". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2013-09-14.
- "The Being (1983) - IMDb". IMDb.com. IMDb. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
- Weinberg, Scott. "The Being". DVDTalk.com. Retrieved 2013-09-14.
- Read, J. "The Being (1984)". Monstersatplay.com. Retrieved 10/7/2013.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ Guarisco, Donald. "Review" on Allmovie.com
- Leonard Maltin (2 September 2014). Leonard Maltin's 2015 Movie Guide. Penguin Group US. pp. 197–. ISBN 978-0-698-18361-2.
External links
- The Being at IMDb
- The Being at the TCM Movie Database
- Template:AllRovi movie
- The Being on Bad Movies
- The Being on Rotten Tomatoes