Creature of Destruction

1967's "Creature of Destruction" came 5th out of Larry Buchanan's 8 Azalea pictures (shot in April 1967, four months after "Mars Needs Women," mere weeks before "In the Year 2889" began May 14), mostly color remakes of AIP features of the black and white 50s, this item recycled from 1956's "The She-Creature," a topical story of that year thanks to the Bridey Murphy case, incorporating mesmerism with reincarnation and regression, which even Roger Corman tried his hand at with "The Undead." The Alex Gordon production was no classic but featured a fine cast of familiar faces, and a memorable Paul Blaisdell monster that was supposed to look female but didn't, despite the breasts. The original took place at an oceanside park, while this remake is set at a small lakeside resort, filmed at Lake Texoma 75 miles north of Dallas, with each shot looking as though it were done at dusk (one unchanged line of dialogue from the 1956 script reports the Creature leaving saltwater tracks despite now rising from a freshwater lake!). In the top billed hypnotist role essayed by Chester Morris (who had a real affinity for magic), we here have former carnival barker Les Tremayne, whose solid professionalism lent stature to many lower budgeted horrors since his co-starring part as General Mann in 1953's "The War of the Worlds," including 1957's "The Monolith Monsters," 1958's "The Monster of Piedras Blancas," 1959's "The Angry Red Planet," 1962's "The Slime People," and 1974's "Fangs" aka "Snakes" (also shot in Texas). Rather than a recognizable face like John Ashley, Paul Petersen, or Tommy Kirk, we get the eminently forgettable Aron Kincaid, who has been remembered as a veteran of AIP's Beach Party series but only did two, "Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine" and "The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini," understandably mesmerized by Quinn O'Hara's red haired beauty (he did do a pair of rip offs, "Ski Party" and "Beach Ball," guess they got confused). His unspectacular acting career ended with many voiceovers for animated shows and cartoons (as did radio veteran Tremayne). This final AIP credit finds Kincaid unbearably stiff, looking mighty uncomfortable in an air force uniform two sizes too small for him, in a somnambulistic performance entirely post dubbed in inept fashion. And please don't ask about the inexplicable presence of Scotty McKay, possibly a local talent who worked cheap, who belts out two songs (one about Batman!) before the whole mess starts to gel nearly 20 minutes in (incidentally, the five minute pre credits sequence is taken from the climax, which is conspicuously shorter as a result). Non music lovers will be pleased to note that Scotty's performance receives the scorn it deserves when he's bumped off by the Creature. A Texas filmmaker of notorious repute, Buchanan certainly qualifies as a real huckster like Al Adamson, able to churn out numerous titles despite the dearth of talent, perhaps not as laughably incompetent as Ed Wood, but worth their share of laughs in their own right. Of all his genre films for Azalea, "Creature of Destruction" probably ranks as his least interesting, receiving less airplay in its day than any of the other, better remembered titles, particularly the two with John Agar. The wet suit that doubles as the Creature (played by Byron Lord) returned for another go-round in 1969's "It's Alive!" still adorned with fins on the mask, which were missing in its first appearance (played by Bill Thurman) in 1966's "Curse of the Swamp Creature" (at least the monsters in "The Eye Creatures," "Zontar the Thing from Venus," and "In the Year 2889" were unique to them). Come to think of it, one of The Eye Creatures actually showed up in "The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini," but failed to steal the thunder from Boris Karloff. The kind of movie that one used to find at 3AM, a relic of a bygone era, which probably wouldn't pass muster with someone who never discovered it under those conditions.

Within moments I was struck with how terrible the movie looked. With a monster that looks like it was made by the Blue Peter cast, random colour filters that looked appalling and a score that made me turn the volume down it was so bad.

Telling the story of a psychic, his subject and a mysterious creature (The very same one used in multiple movies to save money)

When you can't take the antagonist seriously and find yourself squinting to work out whats going on you have to question what the creators were playing at.

Sure it's not the worst of its ilk, but this is one of those that is so bad.....it's bad and doesn't even have that goofy charm to elevate it above embarassment.

The Good:

The monster is unintentional comedy

The Bad:

Light filters are bafflingly bad

Monster is laughable

Music cuts through you like a knife

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Science is jazz

Batman is a traditional party song

A hypnotised woman's soul regresses through time and manifests as a murderous, monstrous primeval sea-creature. This cheap-looking, cheaply-made 16mm TV fodder is one of several colour remakes of fifties sci-fi shockers that AIP hired Larry Buchanan to make in the late 1960s. While not great cinema (even by genre standards) the original film, 1956's 'The She-Creature', was moderately imaginative (in a nonsensical way), timely (reincarnation stories were all the rage after the release of the best-selling book 'The Search for Bridey Murphy') and featured one of monster-maker Paul Blaisell's most memorable creations. Buchanan's penny ante celluloid reincarnation has none of these virtues - it is tedious bargain-basement retelling with a crudely made monster that is barely watchable, even by hard-core fans of crap.

One of my sci-fi/horror/fantasy reviews written 50 years ago: Directed and Produced by Larry Buchanan. Released by American-International TV. Screenplay by Tony Huston; Photography by Robert Jessup. Starring: Les Tremayne, Pat Delaney, Aron Kincaid, Neil Fletcher, Annabelle Weenick, Roger Ready and Byron Lord.

Amateur acting and glossy photography in this example of modern ineptness in filmmaking. A well-dressed hypnotist seeking fame for regressing a pretty young babe back to the 17th Century for the fans has actually regressed her back a few million years, bringing forth a cheap, goggle-eyed sea monster which rips up a few folks. Features the tag line: "There is no monster in the world ...as treacherous as man" -Montaigne.

The film is a complete steal from "The She Monster" (1956).

Considering that this film was made by Larry Buchanan, you can't help but assume it will be a horrible film. After all, Buchanan made a ton of low-budget AND terrible films in his illustrious career. For most, this might be a bad thing, but fans of bad films (like myself) actually seek out his films because they are usually laughably bad.

At first, I was concerned however, as the film didn't seem all that bad. Sure, the monster was recycled from several previous cheesy films, but the plot involving the evil hypnotist seemed interesting. However, considering that the film never really connected this mind control with the appearance of the murderous creature, the film sure was confusing...and dopey.

Les Tremayne plays the hypnotist/mentalist and he actually seemed like a pretty good actor--but he was unfortunately stuck in a bad film. He had an assistant--a pretty lady who was under his total power. She would travel back in town a describe previous lives she'd lived to amazed audiences of rubes. Later, a doubtful psychic investigator (an air force captain whose hair was too long to be a real military man) tries to break Tremayne's hold on the lady. At the same time, there are a series of silly murders on the nearby beach--though as I said before, there really is no explanation of how the evil Tremayne and the somnabalistic lady are involved.

In many ways, the film is like THE HORROR OF PARTY BEACH (a truly dreadful film) and the classic silent, THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI. The evil mentalist and his patsy are there--as is the dumb bug-eyed monster (a guy in a diving suit, rubber gloves and a silly mask).

What's to like? Well, other than Tremayne and a mildly interesting mentalist concept, nothing. The film is poorly directed and written and just screams "cheese" from start to finish. Only for the lovers of bad cinema.