Thus, we enter the biggest influence of this site......what really started me on the B-Cinema path.
Okay, it's not THE one...no real hobby is born on just one factor. I've seen many bad movies before I came across this little gem right here. BUT that was just the gasoline. "Atom Age Vampire," for some unknown reason, was the match that really got me started on searching the late night TV listings for more gems. But I think that the real reason that this movie stuck in my mind was the fact that Mystery Science Theater, at the time, hadn't gotten to it...or ever would. And it was CHEESE in it's purest form: stilted dialogue, bad costumes, the ATROCIOUS pacing of the whole film.....need I mention the acting? And the MAKEUP???
But, under it all, it all clicked for an enjoyable experience. It held my attention, and it was worth it. Thus, this site was born.
The film starts out quickly. An actress is dumped by her boyfriend. Distraught, she runs out of her performance (apparently, she's a dancer) and drives away. Distracted by a headlight or something, she drives off the road. Cut to a car rolling in neutral in the dunes which suddenly bursts into flames. However, on this deserted stretch of road, there are many voices that scream out in terror.
Cut to a hospital, where the Dancer lays, face in bandages. So far, we are three minutes into the film!!!!
However, we are shown the wound a minute later, which is just a cheap spirit gum blob. This, apparently, is disfigurement. Which is good, considering her WHOLE CAR was in flames. Having one's face have such a fake scar ain't that bad.
Anyway, a mysterious woman is able to convince the Dancer that her face can be repaired. The Mysterious Woman works for a Mad Scientist and his hunchbacked gardener. The Scientist has developed a way to rebuild skin cells using an odd radioactive technique. So, predictably, the Dancer comes to his house in the forest/wherever and gets her face fixed. Then she goes back to her boyfriend and lives her life.
No, wait.
It turns out that the 'cure' is not permanent. This disturbs the scientist, since he's fallen madly in love with her. So, needing more 'samples' from young women, he turns himself into a hideous monster to do so.....wait a minute!!! Why should he TURN himself into a monster just to kill young women? Wouldn't a mask do?? Anyway, he turns himself into one of those cheesy monsters that don't need to blink and goes about killing young women. These cures start to work, but the Dancer rejects the Scientist's advances.
Meanwhile, the Dancer's boyfriend is back from the sea, all trained to be a William Shatner lookalike......no, wait, he's a sailor. That Shatner thing is just a style of his, sadly enough. So, he happens along the Scientist's house and is able to fight off the Scientist until the Scientist, still in monster form, dies. As the Dancer and the Sailor are reunited, the Scientist reverts back to his human form and dies. The End.
The movie, an Italian movie dubbed into English, moves quite spastically than it's American counterparts. In fact, the "Scientist Becomes a Monster" is quite different than what could be imagined. In an American movie, the Dancer would be the monster thanks to the 'cure,' as opposed to what actually occurred. But, all and all, this movie has a double-edge: it's so cheesy you can't help but laugh but it has a core that makes it purely enjoyable. Highly recommended if you want a movie to bash or just to enjoyable.
RATING: Four stars out of Four Stars. Check it out.