Nightbeast (1982)

Too much of everything

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Cult independent director Don Dohler, who also gave unto us such low budget flicks as Fiend and Alien Factor strikes again here with this mildly entertaining homicidal alien flick.I actually remember my first encounter with this film (or at least the poster for said flick) many, many years ago when it first came out on video here in the UK. I was a wee lad at the time and can still vividly remember feeling a combination of fear and fascination at the site of this bizarre looking shiny suited monster crouching over a dead victim. Cut back to the present and purely by chance I came across the film again recently - well needless to say, I just had to check it out after all these years!Now armed with adult eyes the first thing that struck me was that the alien featured in this, as another reviewer pointed out, looks not dissimilar to a hairless gorilla! (with a laser gun no less!) - A fact which in all honesty makes it rather hard to take said critter at all seriously or furthermore to emote any fear from (not that the film manages to evoke any sense of tension and/or scares whatsoever anyway).Aside from said beasties somewhat unfortunate rendering, we are also treated to some pretty risible acting displays, bland characterisations and general tediousness of plotting/pacing. Sounds pretty bad eh? Well, yes it is but credit where credits due - the film somehow remains watchable throughout at least. In fact to be equitable, for a simple 'small town menaced by alien invader' flick, this works about as well as any and even has a healthy splattering of gore to lift the proceedings somewhat.Certainly far from a classic but does nonetheless have a rather curious nostalgic charm to it, especially for me in fact as I had wanted for so long to find out exactly what the film was I had seen the poster for all those years ago.Ah, the magic of childhood memories eh?

Don Dohler MUST have grew up during the fifties/early sixties and been a tremendously big fan of the monster-movies of that period! How else could you justify the handful of cheesy Sci-Fi horror movies that he unleashed upon the world during the first half of the 1980's? His movies all revolve on the exact same storyline of an alien monster invading a remote little redneck-town and killing the locals. "Nightbeast" is by far superior to "The Galaxy Invader" and "The Alien Factor", but still a pretty inept and laughable movie. The monster, which resemblances a hairless gorilla with fangs, lands on earth, takes out his laser gun and starts shooting random people so they disappear into thin air. He occasionally also rips hillbillies' heads off or their guts out, but he never seems to attempt to take over our planet or anything. Why is he here? Nobody knows and nobody even bothers to wonder about it. Thanks to the monster's arrival, the local sheriff also realizes that he's in love with his deputy! How convenient is that? Most of the time, you get the impression that the players completely worked without a script! They all just do and say what they feel is best, and Don Dohler doesn't mind because he's happy already for making another cheesy monster movie! There's some outrageous gore and gratuitous nudity, so I don't assume any 80's horror fan will complain. Heck, even the title can't be taken seriously, as the intergalactic King Kong eliminates as many people during the day as he does at night! It's true what the other reviewer said: they just don't make 'em like this anymore.

I purchased a NIGHTBEAST video for less than a price of a rental, even if I knew nothing about it and I have to say that I'm glad I did. This is a somewhat fun (funny?) horror/sci-fi movie that's rarely dull. The body count is HIGH. One of the highest I've ever seen. The alien starts killing people left and right, with its laser or with its hands and huge toothy mouth. The beast even kills two kids. Now you've got to love that in a B-movie. Many of the killings are gory. The action is really fast and furious at the beginning but gradually peters out halfway through the film.Anyway, the acting is spectacularly amateurish and the music often sounds like the one in FRIDAY THE 13TH. So much so that I wonder why haven't the producers of FT13 sued yet? The script is all over the place. As if the alien wasn't enough, the script also includes several competing plotlines, including a story-line about a criminal on a killing spree. And then there's the hilarious love story that blossoms right in the middle of the action between the sheriff and his female deputy. With the alien killing people all over town, the sheriff tries to stop a pool-side party held by the mayor for a state politician (the scene when the people lounging at the pool leave in a panic is hilarious. It's a priceless B-movie moment). The sheriff makes a big deal about the party, saying that there's no time for frivolities when people are dying all over the place and the town should be evacuated BUT the sheriff and the deputy do have time for some lovemaking. Nice to see where the sheriff's priorities are. Anyway, the love scene with the afro-haired sheriff and the blonde deputy with the perky breasts has got to be one of the funniest moments ever put on film. The same could be said for the conclusion of the film. Major guffaws.I like these kind of b-movies which were produced by some local folks with no budget starring nobodies with no expectations but to entertain bored people seeing this in a rundown movie theater in the middle of nowhere. We don't see these kind of unassuming (and goofy) films being made and released anymore. It's unfortunate because they're often more fun to watch than anything released on video these days.

This movie was really awesome at the beginning, then eventually got to be pretty boring. The lasers and the alien are really cool. The alien has such a good face and his laser gun looks like a dollar store kid gun. The music and sound effects are the best, I would like to drive around in my car and just listen to them all day! I didn't like how a lot of it was filmed in the dark, the people were gritty enough already. Is the sherrif wearing an afro wig? Why does the biker's girlfriend not button her shirts? Why is the little boy wearing a Montreal ringer shirt? Why is the biker such a dork? Why can about 5 local police officers die and no one cares, but then some local boy dies and everyone is very sad and upset? Why do the laser shots disintergrate humans and cars but not stone walls, trees or anything else they hit? What kind of a name is Wilton? It's a fun movie to make fun of.