Sins of the Fleshapoids

'Sins of the Fleshapoids' is the first film Mike Kuchar, little lesser known twin brother of George Kuchar, directed himself. The film tells a story set about million years in the future where people have become lazy and selfish, so they have human like robot salves to serve them, who are called Fleshapoids. Two androids develop feelings towards each other.

'Sins of the Fleshapoids' is deliberately campy and sleazy that was produced on minimal budget. The film became quite a success of midnight movies. 'Sins of the Fleshapoids' (along with other Mike Kuchar film 'The Craven Sluck') became a mayor influence on John Waters' films.

The theme that recurs throughout "Fleshapoids" is Howard Hanson's Second Symphony ("Romantic"). And yes, it's the same music used in "Alien." This film is a brilliant amalgamation of cinema rhetoric, fairy tale, pop art and cartoon. The typical Hollywood "love" scene, for example, is distorted way beyond familiarity. I can't think of any film that has such wonderful art direction on such a modest budget (Kuchar used his own crayon drawings, plastic fruit from Woolworth's, murals made with interior paint, etc.). As with many films from the Kuchar brothers, it's the original blend of music, voice-over and image that stuns you, leaving you either in tears of laughter.

Even at 43 minutes it's too long and drags at times. The basic idea of a robot revolt is interesting and could have had a satirical quality, but the story and characters are underdeveloped. It had a few interesting moments but nothing much comes of them. I was introduced to the Kuchar brothers, Mike and George, from the documentary It Came From Kuchar (2009). I had only heard about them in a book on cult movies by critic J. Hoberman (Midnight Movie 1983l) and the documentary gave me my first glimpse at their work. Sins of the Fleshapoids is among their most well known. From the clips included in the documentary it looked amusing. If it ran about fifteen or twenty minutes it might have been better. Obviously it's taken to be a satire and the use of word bubbles similar to those in comic strips gives it that style. I recommend watching the documentary before watching this.

It would appear the only point of this movie is to show a large breasted woman handling Christmas ornaments supposed to be jewels while a space pilot wears a football uniform in a palace which looks like a run-down house. The climactic birth scene has to be seen to be believed. Lots of wafting breezes.

A million years in the future, the few survivors of a nuclear holocaust lounge decadently amid plastic fruit, eating Clark bars and Wise-brand potato chips while being waited on by flesh-covered electronic slaves, the titular 'fleshapoids'. Mike Kuchar's amateurish satirical underground film will only be of interest to non-film students as novelty-item - a throwback to the 1960's often overrated 'counterculture-movement'. The 16mm production features crayon drawings for backgrounds, 'word bubbles' instead of dialogue, and too little story for even its brief 45 minute running time. A parody of the 'robots discovering their humanity' trope, there is little particularly unique, clever, or innovative in the film and the payoff - the scene with the fleshapoids 'making love' and the consequence of their illicit passion is barely worth sitting through the first half-hour. The soundtrack is an experimentalist mix of atonal musical-noise and neo-classical (Howard Hanson's "Symphony No. 2, Romantic") - annoying or diverting, depending on tastes. Barley watchable, even when judged for what it is.