The Being (1983)

User Rating:

2.4/10   

Director:

Jackie Kong

Writer:

Jackie Kong (writer)

Release Date:

18 November 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

The ultimate terror has taken form

Plot:

Toxic waste dumping in a small Idaho town turns a young boy into horrible mutant monster. The town's...

Plot Keywords:

Monster | Police | Toxic Waste | Mutant | Radioactive

Cast

Martin Landau	...	Garson Jones
Marianne Gordon	...	Laurie
Bill Osco	...	Detective Mortimer Lutz (as Rexx Coltrane)
José Ferrer	...	Mayor Gordon Lane
Dorothy Malone	...	Marge Smith
Ruth Buzzi	...	Virginia Lane
Murray Langston	...	Arn
Kinky Friedman	...	Willis
Johnny Dark	...	John
Kent Perkins	...	Officer Dudley
Ellen Blake	...	Jenny
Roxanne Cybelle	...	Suzie (as Roxanne Cybelle Osco)
Jerry Maren	...	The Monster
Eric Helland	...	Doper #1
Bill Rawlinson	...	Doper #2

Also Known As:

Easter Sunday
Freak
The Pottsville Horror

Runtime:

82 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-18 | Australia:R | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Boise, Idaho, USA

Company:

Astral Films

Trivia:

This film was made in 1980 as "Easter Sunday," but sat on the shelf for three years and finally received a brief theatrical release as "The Being."

Goofs:

Continuity: In the first scene where the creature is chasing the boy it starts off in broad daylight, but when he reaches the junkyard and steals a car it is night time.

Quotes:

Laurie: But if this thing is actually killing people, then why is the mayor trying to keep it quiet?
Detective Mortimer Lutz: Potatoes
Laurie: Potatoes?
Detective Mortimer Lutz: Around here that means big money.

Movie Connections:

References The Silent Scream (1980)

"I don't want one word of this *leaking* out..."

A monster spawned by nuclear waste terrorizes a rural Idaho community. A detective (William Osco) and a dubious scientist (Martin Landau, who couldn't possibly have sunk lower than this) team up to stop it.

Rock-bottom creature feature, not just a B movie but, as Leonard Maltin's movie and video guide so succinctly puts it, a Z movie. *This* would be the kind of movie you'd get together with friends and get drunk to while laughing your behind off.

The veteran and esteemed performers in this fiasco (Landau, Jose Ferrer, Dorothy Malone, Ruth Buzzi) must have been embarrassed beyond belief, but then, those paychecks have to keep coming in, right? They should have played this with more sarcasm and irony, but unfortunately make the mistake of taking themselves seriously. Too bad.

Former porno movie maker William Osco, married to writer / director Jackie Kong at the time this was made, co-stars as the heroic detective Mortimer Lutz using the pseudonym "Rexx Coltrane". As you can see, he's not really an actor, but does that really matter in a pile of junk like this? It just adds to the ineptitude and enjoyment! (By the way, Osco goes through so much punishment while fighting the creature at the end, you'd think he and Kong were having a fight while they were making this!) The monster itself is pathetic...very pathetic. Instead of screaming when one sees it, you may be busting a gut laughing.

Roxanne Cybelle Osco, presumably the offspring of the film-makers, is the cute little tyke who gets too close to the beast at one point.

Other Jackie Kong misfires of the 1980's include "Night Patrol", "Blood Diner", and "The Underachievers".

Since it's so crummy that it's fun, it gets 5/10 from me.