Project: Metalbeast

Having no idea this movie even existed, I was surprised to come across it late one night on cable. I thought it might be good for a few laughs. While it is worth a chuckle or two, ultimately it's not as much fun as I hoped it would be. The plot's a rather involved one that starts in the 1970s where a crazy soldier who was part of a mission to take down a werewolf injects himself with werewolf blood. For reasons, I guess. Then he's cryogenically frozen for twenty years by bad guy Barry Bostwick. In the present day of the 1990s, some scientists led by Kim Delaney are working on creating a new type of artificial skin to treat cancer patients and the like. Bostwick comes in and takes over the experiment, forcing them to test their new skin on his frozen werewolf guy. Long story unfortunately not short enough, the werewolf awakens with super strong skin that makes him even more indestructible than he already was. He goes on a killing spree and you can pretty much figure out the rest. It's a cheaply filmed bit of business with Kane Hodder in the cheesy werewolf costume. Barry Bostwick provides some fun but Kim Delaney treats the whole thing more seriously than it deserves. It's goofy and unintentionally funny at times but, as I said already, never as much fun as you want it to be. Still it's pretty watchable so give it a shot if you like low-budget '90s horror.

After finding, killing and extracting a blood sample from a werewolf in Europe, a soldier injects himself with it's DNA, turning himself into a werewolf in an American military base, where he's captured and cryogenically frozen. Flash foreword 10 years, where scientists are given the man's body for an experiment involving a metal-based, organic, self-restoring skin. Upon giving the soldier the skin graph, he awakens and turns into a werewolf, but this time faster, meaner, shinier and bullet proof. I picked this movie up the other day from my local video store for $2, as they are going out of business and need to sell all their videos. I grabbed as many as I could carry home, "Project: Metalbeast" being one of them. Despite the terrible title and having heard nothing of it before, "Metalbeast" turned out to be an okay way to kill 90 minutes in my book. It's got a script that's more intelligent than your usual straight-to-video horror flick, a decent score, some likable characters, a couple of gory bits (the highlight being the death of the creature at the end), and even John Carl Buechler's creature effects weren't bad, though the Metalbeast itself looks more like a Hedgehog on crack than a werewolf. Granted, the film never steps very far out of genre territory, and the portrayal of both the scientists and the military are as clichéd as can be but in the end, "Project: Metalbeast" offered a fine dose of gore, monster action, and a interesting concept that puts a nice spin on the werewolf myth.

$2 well spent, I say.

6/10.

I must admit I wasn't expecting much when I first rented this movie, but the concept of a metal covered werewolf is a unique twist on an old story. Also the effects were very good. But if your not into werewolf movies then you may not like Metalbeast.

I GIVE IT (7 STARS) ******* ON THE POSITIVE SIDE (+ HITS)

+ CONCEPT (I always give kudos to an original or a new twist on an old concept)

+ CREATURE EFFECTS (The Metalbeast was just plan cool)

+ ATMOSPHERE (It has spooky atmosphere with substance)

ON THE NEGATIVE SIDE (- MISSES)

• SLOW (It has several places of slow peroids while they build up suspense, a little too long at times)

And Finally:

• FAN BASED (If you are not a fan of horror or werewolf movies then steer clear of PROJECT: METALBEAST)

I RENTED this movie and i thought it would be a waste of time like these unheard of low budget movies usually are ,but i was little surprised to see that it was actually pretty good(not great or anything but pretty good for a low budget film) so if you like werewolf movies like i do and your lying in bed bored go ahead and rent it(if you like werewolf movies).my wife hated it of course but for the true horror fan it's not a complete waste of time.out of four stars for a low budget movie i give it ** stars

There's no such thing as an idea for a horror film that's too ridiculous to work, but I don't think it's unreasonable to argue that the more complicated the concept - the more ideas that are layered on top of one another - the harder the road to success. Take 'Project: Metalbeast,' for example. Filmmaker Alessandro De Gaetano and co-writers Timothy E. Sabo and Roger Steinmann tossed together werewolves, military experiments with werewolves, corrupt government programs and officials, and not least, synthetic metal skin. Oh my. None of this means that success was impossible, but it does mean that one has to stretch the limits of their imagination and suspension of disbelief to accept what the movie is putting down. When one further considers how lax this tends to be in its tone and pacing, leading to a paucity of major goings-on, well, one's attention begins to wander.

It's not like this is abjectly awful. Everyone put in an earnest effort, and between the cast and the crew everyone made fair contributions. The acting is fine, the sets are fine, and the costume design, hair, and makeup are fine, if a little too overt. The stunts and effects are fine. I'm more concerned about the unconvincing dialogue, the halfhearted characters, and the lethargic scene writing. The plot doesn't go very far at all for the preponderance of the first hour, and all that's left for the last third is for the carnage to ensue (less than you'd think, honestly) and for the threads to be wrapped up in the manner in which we know they will be. The direction feels less than fully engaged, and for as relatively little action as there is in ninety minutes, the result feels like a bit of a slog. No, 'Project: Metalbeast' isn't fully bad, but there's just so little here to keep us invested that the picture falls quite flat.

Yawn. There are some recognizable names and faces involved here. The last act is fine. The climax is fine. Would that there were more substance to this of any sort, or that the feature did anything to make a lasting impression. As it is the viewing experience is just rather bland and dull, even in the moments of the most violence or would-be disturbing imagery, and it stops only a little bit shy of being sleep-inducing. Sure, there are worst things one could find themselves checking out, but the simple truth of the matter is that there's just no real reason to watch this flick. I suppose if one is extremely curious or bored, and open to all the wide possibilities of cinema, then one could claim sufficient impetus to press "play," but otherwise one's time is surely better spent elsewhere. 'Project: Metalbeast' was just kind of dead on arrival.