The Cape Canaveral Monsters

The man who made this film, Phil Tucker, was one of the worst film directors in history. He was responsible for such travesties as "Dance Hall Racket" and "Robot Monster"--the latter of which was among the films in Harry Medved's book "The Fifty Worst Movies of All Time". Incompetence, bad acting and crappy budgets--all hallmarks of this film legend. So, when I saw that "The Cape Canaveral Monsters" was also made by Tucker, I had to watch it, as I occasionally like a terrible movie. After all, with over 12000 reviews to my credit, I need a few truly horrible films now and again after watching artsy, foreign or silent films. Unfortunately, while "The Cape Canaveral Monsters" is very bad, it never comes close to being as bad as "Robot Monster".

The film is supposedly set around Cape Canaveral, Florida. But, being a Floridian, I was amazed to see LOTS of very, very high hills with caves and not a trace of a palm tree or alligator. Frankly, if there WERE caves around Canaveral, they'd be filled up with water, as the land is swampy and very wet. The location was about as un-Canaveral like as you can get--short of filming it in Alaska!

The plot involves two bad actors who have stolen human bodies killed in a car accident. Following their assumption of the bodies as their own, the pair destroy rocket test after rocket test, as their planet does not want the humans venturing into space. They also want to collect a few human specimens to take back to their home planet. Two young folks who work for a professor in charge of the rocket program stumble upon these two undead aliens. Can they stop them or is the Earth royally screwed? The story idea is pretty typical of the genre--and isn't that different from Ed Wood's "Plan 9 From Outer Space". And, like "Plan 9", the film has a lot of bad acting, crappy props and the like. Bad movie buffs will love watching the Professor deliver his lines as if he's suffering from a traumatic brain injury. They will also love the one-armed guy who clearly has his arm tucked inside his jumpsuit! But the overall level of badness isn't uniform. The male lead isn't a terrible actor and the editing and direction occasionally don't look horrible. Not exactly glowing endorsements, I know, but things that make the film less attractive to those who seek out the very worst! Bad but not quite bad enough is how I see this one.

When a couple are killed in an auto accident their bodies are immediately inhabited by extraterrestrial beings. Taking refuge in an underground cave, the aliens attempt to sabotage the United States space program.

Probably the most interesting thing about this film is the story of the director, Phil Tucker. Tucker pumped out six films in two years, including "Robot Monster" and a Lenny Bruce film. Then, after a failed suicide attempt, he made this little-known film. From there he went on to become an editor and worked on such films as "King Kong". So, the story here is more about Tucker than the movie itself.

That being said, the story here is not bad... ignoring the sabotage aspect, we have here a story that may have more to do with vampires than zombies -- the need to use human "life forces" to stay alive. Others have drawn parallels with Romero's "Night of the Living Dead", but I think that is uncalled for.

I did not know this science-fiction film from the director of ROBOT MONSTER, which was on the same line, the same spirit, same atmosphere and also the same kind of directing as this one. I mean a not so bad stuff, regarding the match box budget which was allowed to it. It is on the same scale as the Roger Corman's films from the fifties. It is really enjoyable, fun, perfect material for the drive in audiences on saturday evenings programs. It is not a masterpiece, and only the science-fictions fans will appreciate it. We are lucky that ths movie is still available, easily simple to find, to purchase. But, of course, don't watch it at the first degree, it is not WAR OF THE WORLDS....

As a certified Ed Wood fan, I had been meaning for some time to track down the works of Mr. Phil Tucker.

But, they had eluded me, except for his disasterpiece, his masturwork, his Citizen Kane, his Plan Nine From Outer Space.

That would be the immor(t)al Robot Monster, which I have seen on DVD, and even had the good fortune to see on the big screen, in its super rare 3-D version no less! Jeekers!

So, finally, Netflix allowed me to stream one of his other epics, THE CAPE CANAVERAL MONSTERS. I have to say, it was almost worth the wait. Fans of the celluloid leavings of Ed Wood, Jerry Warren and Richard Cunha will be right at home here.

This is a pure gold-plated turd, full of the hi-jinx beloved by aficionados of low-budget 50's sci-fi swill. Aliens, mad scientist, stupid gadgets, cheap-arse monsters, yes, fans, they are all here, and they are all awesome. Perfect mindless viewing for a boring Saturday afternoon.

Not sure if this presentation is available on DVD, but if it is not, then it really should be. Somebody get right on that, will ya?

Director Phil Tucker will always be associated with his 1953 3-D epic "Robot Monster," but after a number of lesser features he made one return to the science fiction genre with 1960's "The Cape Canaveral Monsters," a title that curiously remains in obscurity despite several weird touches provided by Tucker's screenwriting, bypassing theatrical distribution for television screenings in a sci/fi quartet with "The Monster of Piedras Blancas," "The Hideous Sun Demon" and "Flight of the Lost Balloon," all independent productions. Invaders from another world in our solar system are eager to prevent Earth from launching any rockets that might reveal the truth about them, so two alien scientists are dispatched to carve out a cave in the hillside near Florida's Cape Canaveral to set in motion long term sabotage. Originally represented by two dots of light, the creatures engineer the demise of a husband and wife, the man's arm torn off by the force of the car crash, the woman Nadja (Katherine Victor) left with facial scars from a collision with the bloody windshield. Her companion Hauron (Jason Johnson) is naturally eager to find a suitable replacement for his tattered arm, particularly after guard dogs at Cape Canaveral finally rip it off for examination. Another curious notion finds the decomposing invaders retiring for a little off screen canoodling, so it's no wonder that they scour Lover's Lane for mostly female subjects to transmit back to their home planet. One such couple is Tom Wright (Scott Peters) and Sally Markham (Linda Connell), noting strange interference on an illegal radio frequency, enough to lead them to the Bronson Cavern hideaway and the discovery of the space saboteurs. For all its endless talk it remains curiously watchable, not as jaw droppingly bad as the $16,000 "Robot Monster," rather a marked improvement in its uncommon gruesomeness on what may have been a smaller budget, its possession of the deceased prefiguring "Night of the Living Dead," like "Plan 9 from Outer Space" or "Invisible Invaders." The cast is mostly comprised of amateurs, although Jason Johnson played bits in "Invasion of the Saucer Men" (another Lover's Lane highlight) and "The Lost Missile," top billed Scott Peters hardly carving out a name for himself in AIP efforts such as "Invasion of the Saucer Men," "The Amazing Colossal Man," "Attack of the Puppet People" and "Panic in Year Zero!" plus "They Saved Hitler's Brain." Cinematographer W. Merle Connell had previously directed 1952's rarely screened "Untamed Women," but his finest contribution to this minor film was the starring role portrayed by his pretty daughter Linda, whose fresh faced presence makes up for many dull stretches opposite her colorless leading man (Lover's Lane was never more dangerous!). The most familiar face belongs to Katherine Victor, whose long association with huckster filmmaker Jerry Warren extended from 1957's "Teenage Zombies" all the way to 1981's "Frankenstein Island," sinking her teeth into this role for all its worth, a memorable performance under the circumstances.