Invaders From Beyond The Stars!
Holy smokes! I laughed. I cried. I laughed some more. As frequent readers will know, I am not the greatest fan of science fiction, although there are a few exceptions to this rule. And as much as I do enjoy Warner Brothers and feel it was the greatest studio for classic films, I have had my questions about the great idea which is the Warner Archive Collection of MOD dvds.
So they sent a review copy of 1968’s The Green Slime and I must admit I was initially less than excited. So I watched it and this may be the ultimate in B movies. I still even after viewing it am completely unsure whether it was intended to be so campy or if the laugh out loud humor is completely unintentional.
Pretty typical late 60s fare. An asteroid is hurtling towards the earth and a team of crack astronauts is dispatched to avert disaster. They do succeed in destroying the asteroid, but inadvertently bring back an uninvited guest. That’s right the GREEN SLIME. Well perhaps you see where this on goes, so enough about the plot.
This is perhaps the funniest movie in history- it literally made my sides hurt. I grew up watching on occasion Sid and Marty Kroft’s Sigmund the Sea Monster. I never knew he was in his own cheesy sci-fi film. Because as the Green Slime grows it mutates into Sigmund! Perhaps the most unintentional humor ever. Really, I can not make this up.
Everything you think stereotypically is in a B movie like this is here. Melodramatic dialogue from a mad scientist, ridiculously poor miniatures which are comical, and in some instances resemble…”other things.” Combine that into special effects which make you smirk along with Sigmund and you have a classic. (And admit, if you are of the right age, you have that theme song in your head, don’t you?)
Also, the funniest scene to me was one where the evil Green Slime is being faced down by one of our heroes, laser gun in hand. Sitting on the desk is what appears to be a rotary phone. Great image.
The Green Slime was Japanese made, but as far as I can tell it has nary an Asian in it, and the only star power (if you call it that) is Richard Jaeckel, best known from The Dirty Dozen. Luciana Paluzzi is here as well. Don’t know her? Well, I had to do some research myself, but I knew I had seen her before. She’s one of the Bond girls from Thunderball, but even as an avid Bondphile I didn’t immediately catch on to who she was.
Also on the crew’s return to Earth they meet John Wayne while he is in the middle of a cavalry charge. Then Johnny Weissmuller swings in, in full Tarzan garb, and tackles the Green Slime, whereupon Wayne skewers it on his saber. Okay, I made this paragraph up, but hey – it isn’t that far off, all things considered!
Obviously The Green Slime is a guilty pleasure at best. There is nothing deep here but surely sufficient to get a laugh out of you and yours or burn off some stress. Warner Archives has put it out as part of their Archive Collection in a “Remastered Edition.” I am not familiar with the film so I really can’t comment on the remastering, but the image is fine. Not pristine, but about what you’d expect, perhaps slight bit better even. The color is funky, but I think that is in the original film as well so no worries.
Hard to say I recommend this, but it surely is a hoot! The ultimate in camp!
Get it exclusively from The WB Shop.
Review copy provided by Warner Bros. Thanks!