Superbeast

An unbelievably awful movie, potentially the worst thing I have ever seen. I can´t believe I actually took the time to comment on it. Perhaps I am in a state of shock. I would advise potential viewers to give this a definite miss.

This was an extremely awful movie.It was hard to pay attention to this movie which involved secret experiments in the jungle.The acting was poor.Ed Wood got better performances from his actors.This movie wasn't even enjoyably bad.It wasn't as bad as Kazaam so that's why I gave it a 2.

But for all those elements there is too much time spent with the dull lead actress walking silently around and some travelogue footage to pad out the proceedings. She just rarely changes expression and quickly sinks any hope the movie has.

Production values are decent(if you can make them out through a poor copy) the music isn't bad and main element of note is probably John Chambers (Planet of the Apes) make up design for the mutants and final superbeast. They are pretty much just cave man looking things though decently done.

So this is in some ways above average Phillipino production which seems to use mostly production sound, rather than being redubbed in post production. But it just becomes a bore, unless there is gore or nudity cut from the version I saw there's not much in the way of excitement or suspense.

The turning the tables on the bad guy element is pretty lame as well and the final battle doesn't even develop until the last ten minutes. One odd ball dream scene with the lead, still with the fixed facial expression, having a erotic encounter with one beast man, is odd indeed but not erotic.

Borrowing from both "The Island of Dr. Moreau" and "The Most Dangerous Game", the Filipino horror flick "Superbeast" is no great shakes, and one may simply have to be a loyal aficionado of Filipino horror flicks to derive much entertainment from it. Most of the time, it tends to be talky, uneventful, and unremarkable. But it's not completely lacking in assets, which I'll get to in a moment.

Antoinette Bower ("The Evil That Men Do") stars as Dr. Alix Pardee, a renowned pathologist who investigates the case of an animalistic character named Cleaver (John Garwood, "Hells Angels on Wheels") who goes on a robbery / murder spree. After he has died and she has performed an autopsy on him, she goes to the scene(s) of his crimes in the Philippines. Eventually, she discovers a jungle-dwelling mad scientist, Bill Fleming (Craig Littler, "Barquero") who's basically responsible for Cleavers' condition. Involved in Flemings' research is a mysterious benefactor, Stewart Victor (Harry Lauter, "Escape from the Planet of the Apes") who funded Flemings' work on one BIG condition.

"Superbeast" does benefit from great atmosphere and effective prosthetics devised by John Chambers of "Planet of the Apes" fame. The music by Richard LaSalle is good, and the film does have a reasonably suspenseful, sinister finale with one character hunting another - as well as a rather nasty twist near the end. The acting is variable. Bower is MUCH too aloof and bland to be of any use as a protagonist, while Littler and especially Lauter fare better. (This was the final feature credit for Lauter, the prolific, under-rated character actor.) And, of course, this being a Filipino-lensed exploitation-horror movie, you're not a bit surprised that the equally prolific Vic Diaz turns up - and he's a hoot, as always.

You can definitely do better than this if you're in need of a monster movie fix, but there is also worse out there. "Superbeast" (one would assume that Rob Zombie has seen this one, and is a fan) does deliver some mild pleasures if the prospective viewer is not too judgmental.

Five out of 10.

Okay that quote is misleading, there is nothing fun-filled about this movie at all. It manages not only to confuse you, it also can put you to sleep in twenty minutes or less. After watching this movie several times on cable I still don't know what's going on? Jungle beasts ??? Mad Doctors ??? Hello anyone out there??? guess not. Nothing actually happens until the last half-hour or so but, If you can watch it until then, well I got two words for you, DEEP HURTING. Unless of course you fall asleep before then.