The Being (1983)

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

To me, this movie is perfection.

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

"The Being" is must viewing for those fright film fans who delight in the cheap and the cruddy. As Leonard Maltins' paperback guide to movies has always succinctly put it, this is not just a B movie but a Z movie. It's got a few distinguished thespians slumming badly, crude direction by cult favourite Jackie Kong ("Blood Diner", "Night Patrol"), a routine and silly script, and enough hilarity to keep bad movie enthusiasts chortling for 82 minutes.Kongs' then-husband Bill Osco, the producer of this thing, also co-stars under the name Rexx Coltrane, as small town detective Mortimer Lutz, trying to solve the cases of missing people in his small town of Pottsville in Idaho. The culprit is a monster spawned by improperly "disposed" toxic waste, and it leaves gallons of slime wherever it goes. The perpetually cranky mayor (Jose Ferrer) doesn't want anything to hurt local business, while Garson Jones (Martin Landau), a scientist who is a fairly slimy one himself, does some snooping around.One is certain to smile watching the ineptitude play out as "The Being" tells its tale. One of the highlights is when two stoners watching a movie at a drive-in spot the creature and one of them utters an obscenity at it. Prompting the thing, of course, to devour him. The finale is great stuff, as Lutz goes through a hilarious amount of punishment while fighting the Being; this is one protracted battle. The effects are abysmal and audience members are certain to bust a gut when we finally get a good look at our antagonist. It's pretty suggestive looking, for one thing.One could savour the casting mix here: also among the people wasting their time here are Marianne Gordon (wife of Kenny Rogers at the time), Dorothy Malone as a woman desperately searching for her son, Ruth Buzzi as the mayors' annoying wife, comedians Murray Langston & Johnny Dark and author / actor Kinky Friedman as a trio of cannon fodder, Jerry Maren as the Being, and Kent Perkins (Buzzis' husband) as dopey Officer Dudley. The adorable tyke who gets too close to the Being at one point is played by Roxanne Cybelle, the daughter of Kong and Osco.Originally filmed in 1980 under the title "Easter Sunday", when capitalizing on the concept of holidays in horror was in vogue.This is a special kind of bad; my corresponding rating applies not to quality, obviously, but simple entertainment value.Seven out of 10.

I purchased this film when I was in my must purchase every horror film of the 80's mode. Granted, I still would like to do so, just gets expensive because you cannot just walk into your local retail store and purchase said item, but instead you have to order them online. This film looked interesting and it had a rather cool premise and so I got it. What did I get exactly? Well, a B horror film with a couple of stars of note and a radioactive monster! You also get an inconsistent monster, a plot point involving a mother whose son is missing that does not really get resolved and a climax that goes on for a tad too long. Still, while not a good film, it was entertaining in a way. Some good kills to be had, though they brought out one of the best ones first and it also has that B movie charm of being so bad it is kind of good in a way. Martin Landau is in the film too, and I have to wonder how the heck that convinced him to take this role. There are a couple of other actors and actresses of note in it, but no one you will probably know by name, but rather the type you recognize them from something else cheesy.The story has a radio DJ always commenting on the weather and how bad the rain is, but come to think of it, I do not recall actually seeing it rain in the film...Well, a dude is getting chased right out of the gate and he tries to escape only to get his head torn off! Others start dying and I am thinking this film is totally awesome! Then the film kind of slows down and it just is not as good as it seemed like it was going to be. A detective who has run in after run in with the monster tries to convince the ever skeptical mayor that there is a monster loose while his wife is kind of a nut job trying to rid her town of adult entertainment, or smut as it were. I really think they could have simply added more deaths if they felt the need to pad the film.The film is short and it is padded to make it as long as it got. As I said, they could have just done some more killing instead of adding the smut plot point or the strange dream sequence. Heck, they could have simply made the plot point with the old woman whose son went missing actually go somewhere instead of just kind of petering out. Literally, it looked like something was going to happen with the waitress at the woman's house and nothing ever came of it.So the film was a fun film to watch, but in the end it is a pretty bad film. Not completely horrid mind you as it was an enjoyable kind of bad. The premise was good and had they been able to keep up with the break neck pace of the first half hour it would of been an insanely more fun B movie treasure. Throw in a bit more nudity, some more kills and more kitty cats sneaking up on people! Seriously, that scene was really stupid as a cat startles the two leads as cats tend to do in these movies and they just life and hug each other and become good friends over a trivial thing. The detective really could not stand the guy earlier and it was not as if they really had that much time to bond or anything. So a great kill to kick it off, but its pace slows, but overall entertaining, but keep in mind in a bad way for the most part.

This is truly a very horrible film simply about a big glob of green mess that creates all kinds of problems for all kinds of people in a small town of Idaho where Jose Ferrer, (Major Gordon Lane) runs a big potato processing plant. We also have Martin Landau, (Garson Jones)who is a scientist studying nuclear experiments which he is very upset about. Dorothy Malone, (Marge Smith) is a woman who has lost her son and wanders all around this Idaho town and never seems to find a final conclusion. This is a film with great actors who are becoming elderly and looking for a pay check and it is great to see these great veteran actors performing and at the same time it is rather sad to see at what steps they all take to make a buck. Horrible film and a big waste of your time or money. Avoid.

THE BEING is one bad movie. And it's very funny. There's no point of writing a sensible review of this "movie" because it's sooooooo bad. If you like bad movies, you have to check it out. My favorite scene is the one at the drive-in, where people are watching a movie with a cheesy monster attacking a bimbo, while the "being" attacks people in their cars. The whole thing was almost brilliant! The main actor is very stiff and his voice is dubbed throughout the movie. I guess the actor didn't have a great voice. And Martin Landau plays a scientist of sorts. Boy, did he hit rock bottom with this movie. And then there's Ruth Buzzi. Yes, THE Ruth Buzzi. There's nothing like seeing the name Ruth Buzzi during the opening credits to give a film some star quality. Arf!Anyway, I like this movie a lot. It's really one of the best "it's so bad it's good" movies.