Tourist Attraction

The Outer Limits has been one my favorite series ever, although this episode certainly was the weirdest until now, all previous ones were great, this one fallen down the quality, in a fictional Latin American country an selfish an eccentric rich man Don Dexter (Ralph Meeker) makes a underwater research together with a marine biologist, also with his girlfriend and former journalist Lynn (Janet Blair), the country is ruled by the dictator Gen. Mercurio (Henry Silva) with heavy hands, sounds familiar indeed, they caught a strange creature that was an ancient native folklore, they send the amphibian to be researched on the local laboratory, however Dexter wants take it to America as Tourist attraction, the final is soooo unbelievable that l'll recommend for whom may concern to see by yourself!!!

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First watch: 2020 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 5

A wealthy Norteamericano scientist (Ralph Meeker) brings his team to a banana republic in search of scientific fame. He discovers that a legendary lake monster is in fact a living fossil, an ichthyosaur. The millionaire's egotistical plans for the monster are obstructed, however, by the egotism of the local dictator (Henry Silva), by his own team's commitment to scientific integrity, and by certain remarkable properties of the monster itself...

Once again, as too often on THE OUTER LIMITS, a decent story is undermined by clumsy plotting and awkward direction, which combine with low budget to stumble us to the usual preachy moral, which could have been better supported by the story elements.

Wealthy American publisher Ralph Meeker (as John Dexter) takes secretary Janet Blair (as Lynn Arthur) and handsome marine biologist Jerry Douglas (as Tom Evans) out for a cruise in South American waters. While Mr. Douglas rubs suntan oil on Ms. Blair's back, Mr. Meeker spots an odd looking fish under water. Though looking slightly out-of-shape, manly Meeker decides to immediately plunge into the sea and capture the giant fish. It turns out to be surprisingly easy to hoist the rubbery-looking thing aboard. As it turns out, the animal is probably from a prehistoric species, and is worshiped by locals as a God. The big fish is also desired by tyrannical South American republic General Henry Silva (as Juan Mercurio). While they and a narrator banter about trying to make some sense of this episode, something fishy is brewing underwater...

***** Tourist Attraction (12/23/63) Laslo Benedek ~ Ralph Meeker, Janet Blair, Jerry Douglas, Henry Silva

Ralph Meeker stars as John Dexter, a wealthy adventurer/hunter who is on a fishing expedition in a Latin American country with his secretary(played by Janet Blair) and other members when they stumble upon a humanoid-shaped sea creature that they manage to capture. The creature has sonic abilities to use as a self defense weapon, or to communicate with others of their kind, as they will all discover when a rescue mission is mounted... Henry Silva co-stars as General Mercurio, the country's dictator. Good premise here, and the creature costumes really are not that bad at all, though this is marred by the dull, clichéd human characters. Still, a guilty pleasure.

This has multiple stories going, none of which is very interesting. You have the insensitive megalomaniac who abuses his female partner. You have the cowardly scientist who takes off, leaving his boss to the dangerous fish. You have the fish themselves which are about as stupid looking as any of the monsters (men in sweatsuits with fish heads). You have the banana republic leader who thinks he is helping people but is only serving himself. Anyway, the bossy guy is clueless. One of the most ridiculous scenes has to do with allowing an undependable alcoholic guard to watch over the captured fish-man (when it has been announced that this may be the discovery of the century). His buddy comes over with wine and a checkerboard and turns up the heat in the refrigeration unit and allows the guy to thaw. They get drunk and the prized possession gets out. Pretty dumb.