The Beast of Yucca Flats

The Beast of Yucca Flats


Starring:Larry Aten, Linda Bielema, Conrad Brooks, Anthony Cardoza, Alan Francis, Barbara Francis, Ronald Francis, Tor Johnson, Marcia Knight, Bob Labansat, Douglas Mellor, Jim Miles, John Morrison, Jim Oliphant, George Prince, Bing Stafford, Graham Stafford, Eric Tomlin
Studio: Gotham Distribution
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
Government security sure has gotten lax at nuclear test sites. It seems like any old defecting Russian nuclear physicist fleeing Soviet agents (who are oddly indistinguishable from American gangsters) can stumble into an A-bomb detonation by accident and turn into a bloodthirsty monster. (You think Stan Lee watched this film before creating the Incredible Hulk?) Meanwhile a vacationing family wanders through the desert as the cops hunt the atomic beast. Tor Johnson (an Ed Wood Jr. fixture) makes a superbly cheesy rampaging mutant, but the film really enters the Twilight Zone when the investigating cops mistake an innocent dad looking for his sons lost in the desert for their target ("Shoot first, ask questions later" is their motto). Supercheap cult director Coleman Francis shot this without sound, dubbing it all in later, and he clumsily cuts away from every actor as they start to speak to hide his handiwork. He hardly had to worry: the flat dialogue and wooden narration is almost absurd enough to distract viewers from his cinematic incompetence. In short, a masterpiece of zero-budget camp with an unbelievably surreal edge. --Sean Axmaker
The Beast of Yucca Flats
Average customer rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
  • Some Bad Films Are Amusing To Watch, But Yucca Flats Is Not Among Them
  • Touch the `Play' Button. Something Weird Happens.
  • Get it in the Horror Classics Collection instead
  • The Beast Of Succa Flats
  • This is a blast!
The Beast of Yucca Flats
Starring: Larry Aten , Linda Bielema , Conrad Brooks , Anthony Cardoza , and Alan Francis
Manufacturer: Alpha Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:
  1. Giant Gila Monster (B&W)
  2. The Hideous Sun Demon
  3. Target Earth
  4. The Classic Sci-fi Ultimate Collection (Tarantula / The Mole People / The Incredible Shrinking Man / The Monolith Monsters / Monster on the Campus)
  5. Cult Classics: Earth vs. the Spider/War of the Colossal Beast

ASIN: B0000ZFZU0
Release Date: 2003-11-18

Amazon.com

Government security sure has gotten lax at nuclear test sites. It seems like any old defecting Russian nuclear physicist fleeing Soviet agents (who are oddly indistinguishable from American gangsters) can stumble into an A-bomb detonation by accident and turn into a bloodthirsty monster. (You think Stan Lee watched this film before creating the Incredible Hulk?) Meanwhile a vacationing family wanders through the desert as the cops hunt the atomic beast. Tor Johnson (an Ed Wood Jr. fixture) makes a superbly cheesy rampaging mutant, but the film really enters the Twilight Zone when the investigating cops mistake an innocent dad looking for his sons lost in the desert for their target ("Shoot first, ask questions later" is their motto). Supercheap cult director Coleman Francis shot this without sound, dubbing it all in later, and he clumsily cuts away from every actor as they start to speak to hide his handiwork. He hardly had to worry: the flat dialogue and wooden narration is almost absurd enough to distract viewers from his cinematic incompetence. In short, a masterpiece of zero-budget camp with an unbelievably surreal edge. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews:

1 out of 5 stars Some Bad Films Are Amusing To Watch, But Yucca Flats Is Not Among Them.......2006-11-03

According to film lore, THE BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS was filmed without sound and dialogue was dubbed in postproduction. In order to accomodate this effect, the camera usually photographs characters in long shot; cuts off their heads; shows a character listening in a reaction shot; or has the so-called actors cover their mouths at strategic moments. The effect is very obvious and even so there are quite a few moments where characters are clearly speaking but no sound is coming out.

This is actually the most interesting thing about the film. The story, such as it is: a Russian scientist (Tor Johnson) has defected to the United States. Chased by Russian agents, he escapes into an atomic test area, where radiation converts him into a mindless killer. He kills a vacationing couple and local police officers pursue him. One of the police officers takes to the air, where he mistakes an innocent man for the Beast, and spends quite a lot of time shooting at him. And so on.

YUCCA FLATS has the reputation of being among the worst films ever made. The reputation is deserved. The film looks like it cost about twenty six cents to make; the cast is uninspired, to say the least; and the script (which consists largely of meaningless narration) is stupid in a very unamusing way. Some bad films are amusing to watch. YUCCA FLATS is not among them.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

1 out of 5 stars Touch the `Play' Button. Something Weird Happens........2006-09-07

In the realm of bad movies, there is the good-bad, and there is the bad-bad.

And then there's The Beast of Yucca Flats. I call this the good-bad-ugly.

The good: it runs for only 54 minutes.

The bad: that's 54 minutes too long.

The ugly: Tor Johnson.

Some fans of truly bad films may like this. I am a fan of truly bad films, and I didn't like this. For the most part, at least. Sure, it has its moments. The whole notion of Ed Wood regular Tor Johnson playing a Russian scientist defecting to the US is, on its own, pretty laughable. But once that's established and the movie rolls along, you're pretty much done laughing at that idea.

So you ask yourself, what's next? How about the narrator's lines? Hmm, we may be on to something here. There is not a single line that makes sense. I'll say that again, not a single one. But do they pass the good-bad test of making you laugh? Well, yes, but the laughter is often accompanied by groans of disbelief and wrinkling of the brows. By comparison, such classics as Robot Monster and Plan 9 are laugh-out-loud hilarious.

Hey, how about plot twists? Look, we have Tor kissing a rabbit at the end. How's that for a surprise ending? Uh, doesn't work for you? Ok, I didn't think it would.

Conclusion: The Beast of Yucky, excuse me, Yucca Flats is not bad enough to be good-bad. The laughs are too few and far-between. And it's too boring to be that much fun. But still, you have to credit Coleman Francis for scoring some remarkable feats with this piece.

1. He manages to bore us in just 54 minutes.

2. He actually made money out of this. Ok, maybe that's not all that remarkable, since you really can't lose when you start with a budget of $0.

3. So how about this: he succeeded where Ed Wood failed. He killed Tor Johnson's career. That's right, this abomination of filmmaking was the ex-wrestler's swan song.

What a way to go.

1 out of 5 stars Get it in the Horror Classics Collection instead.......2006-07-03

I can tell you this is not a good movie, and I know that you - like me - will want to see it anyway. Go ahead, but don't waste your money on this DVD. Get the "Horror Classics Collection: 50 movie pack" instead, where this movie is included, and you get 49 other movies at pretty much the same price.

1 out of 5 stars The Beast Of Succa Flats.......2006-03-03

I wouldn't wish this film on my worst enemy(well, actually I probably would). This film could easily be used as a child discipline tool("If you get sassy with me again you're gonna have to watch The Beast From Yucca Flats again!"), but if someone caught wind of that, you'd be reported for child abuse. Never before has a 54 minute film seemed so long and boring. In fact, the film doesn't even feel like a feature film, but more like a cold war propaganda film they would show in schools back in the 50s. Tor is a scientist(yeah right) that survives an atomic blast in the desert and becomes some scarred mutant killer. He's supposed to be on a rampage I guess, but up until the final minutes he just wanders around the desert. Two cops try to hunt him down. A family gets stuck in the desert and Tor goes after their two boys in the not too exciting climax. The film wasn't shot in direct sound. That's not a big deal to me usually coz the Italians do it all the time, but this was rotten. In the few cases of dialogue, never once do you see a character's mouth move. Their backs are always to the camera or at a distance or covered by shadows, making the dubbed voices all too obvious. The only sound effects in the film are gunshots and vehicles. No other sounds are heard but the background music which is nonstop throughout. And of course there's a narrator. This film needs a narrator like Paris Hilton needs to go on a diet. The opening scene features a topless woman stangled(I assume by Tor-we don't see anything but shoes and hands) in her home. This scene was thrown in just for the sake of having a scene with a topless woman, which was probably quite taboo at the time. It makes no sense otherwise coz Tor's monster is "born" in the desert and dies there. When the hell did he make a special trip to some chick's apartment? And why does this scene take place before Tor is transformed? Take into consideration that I love bad B pictures, and when I say that one is terrible, you know it's really gotta suck. The concept is cool, and certainly could have been B movie heaven if done right, but....well, it wasn't. Painful.

3 out of 5 stars This is a blast!.......2006-02-25

And not just the nuclear kind, either. As several reviewers above did, I saw this as part of the 50 Horror Classics collection, as well as on MST3K. This is such a hysterical film, it's hard to know where to start. The narration is incredible, the situations have to be seen to be believed (particularly the chase after the innocent father on top of the plateau, which the narrator seems to think is appropriate), and Tor as the Beast is a real hoot, groaning loudly and wielding a big stick.
But for all that, I still think it's a lot of fun in a surreal sort of way. Plunk down your $6.98 and enjoy!!
The Beast of Yucca Flats
Average customer rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
  • Some Bad Films Are Amusing To Watch, But Yucca Flats Is Not Among Them
  • Touch the `Play' Button. Something Weird Happens.
  • Get it in the Horror Classics Collection instead
  • The Beast Of Succa Flats
  • This is a blast!
The Beast of Yucca Flats
Starring: Larry Aten , Linda Bielema , Conrad Brooks , Anthony Cardoza , and Alan Francis
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:
  1. Giant Gila Monster (B&W)
  2. The Hideous Sun Demon
  3. Target Earth
  4. The Classic Sci-fi Ultimate Collection (Tarantula / The Mole People / The Incredible Shrinking Man / The Monolith Monsters / Monster on the Campus)
  5. Cult Classics: Earth vs. the Spider/War of the Colossal Beast

ASIN: B00004W192
Release Date: 2000-09-05

Amazon.com

Government security sure has gotten lax at nuclear test sites. It seems like any old defecting Russian nuclear physicist fleeing Soviet agents (who are oddly indistinguishable from American gangsters) can stumble into an A-bomb detonation by accident and turn into a bloodthirsty monster. (You think Stan Lee watched this film before creating the Incredible Hulk?) Meanwhile a vacationing family wanders through the desert as the cops hunt the atomic beast. Tor Johnson (an Ed Wood Jr. fixture) makes a superbly cheesy rampaging mutant, but the film really enters the Twilight Zone when the investigating cops mistake an innocent dad looking for his sons lost in the desert for their target ("Shoot first, ask questions later" is their motto). Supercheap cult director Coleman Francis shot this without sound, dubbing it all in later, and he clumsily cuts away from every actor as they start to speak to hide his handiwork. He hardly had to worry: the flat dialogue and wooden narration is almost absurd enough to distract viewers from his cinematic incompetence. In short, a masterpiece of zero-budget camp with an unbelievably surreal edge. --Sean Axmaker

Description

Commies made him an atomic mutant! Noted Russian nuclear scientist Joseph Javorsky (Tor Johnson) escapes to the United States with "Top Secret" Soviet documents. U.S. Army personnel accompany him to the Yucca Flats Atomic Testing Grounds, but Soviet agents are in hot pursuit! They run Javorsky's car off the road, right into the bomb testing site. During the ensuing gunfight, an H-bomb detonation kills everyone except Javorsky, who is transformed into a crazed atomic-mutated beast on a bloodthirsty rampage! Inspired by the Cold War, Communist infiltration of America, and the constant threat of atomic attacks, this drive-in theater classic from the Kennedy Era stars cult favorites Tor Johnson and Conrad Brooks from "Plan 9 from Outer Space."

Customer Reviews:

1 out of 5 stars Some Bad Films Are Amusing To Watch, But Yucca Flats Is Not Among Them.......2006-11-03

According to film lore, THE BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS was filmed without sound and dialogue was dubbed in postproduction. In order to accomodate this effect, the camera usually photographs characters in long shot; cuts off their heads; shows a character listening in a reaction shot; or has the so-called actors cover their mouths at strategic moments. The effect is very obvious and even so there are quite a few moments where characters are clearly speaking but no sound is coming out.

This is actually the most interesting thing about the film. The story, such as it is: a Russian scientist (Tor Johnson) has defected to the United States. Chased by Russian agents, he escapes into an atomic test area, where radiation converts him into a mindless killer. He kills a vacationing couple and local police officers pursue him. One of the police officers takes to the air, where he mistakes an innocent man for the Beast, and spends quite a lot of time shooting at him. And so on.

YUCCA FLATS has the reputation of being among the worst films ever made. The reputation is deserved. The film looks like it cost about twenty six cents to make; the cast is uninspired, to say the least; and the script (which consists largely of meaningless narration) is stupid in a very unamusing way. Some bad films are amusing to watch. YUCCA FLATS is not among them.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

1 out of 5 stars Touch the `Play' Button. Something Weird Happens........2006-09-07

In the realm of bad movies, there is the good-bad, and there is the bad-bad.

And then there's The Beast of Yucca Flats. I call this the good-bad-ugly.

The good: it runs for only 54 minutes.

The bad: that's 54 minutes too long.

The ugly: Tor Johnson.

Some fans of truly bad films may like this. I am a fan of truly bad films, and I didn't like this. For the most part, at least. Sure, it has its moments. The whole notion of Ed Wood regular Tor Johnson playing a Russian scientist defecting to the US is, on its own, pretty laughable. But once that's established and the movie rolls along, you're pretty much done laughing at that idea.

So you ask yourself, what's next? How about the narrator's lines? Hmm, we may be on to something here. There is not a single line that makes sense. I'll say that again, not a single one. But do they pass the good-bad test of making you laugh? Well, yes, but the laughter is often accompanied by groans of disbelief and wrinkling of the brows. By comparison, such classics as Robot Monster and Plan 9 are laugh-out-loud hilarious.

Hey, how about plot twists? Look, we have Tor kissing a rabbit at the end. How's that for a surprise ending? Uh, doesn't work for you? Ok, I didn't think it would.

Conclusion: The Beast of Yucky, excuse me, Yucca Flats is not bad enough to be good-bad. The laughs are too few and far-between. And it's too boring to be that much fun. But still, you have to credit Coleman Francis for scoring some remarkable feats with this piece.

1. He manages to bore us in just 54 minutes.

2. He actually made money out of this. Ok, maybe that's not all that remarkable, since you really can't lose when you start with a budget of $0.

3. So how about this: he succeeded where Ed Wood failed. He killed Tor Johnson's career. That's right, this abomination of filmmaking was the ex-wrestler's swan song.

What a way to go.

1 out of 5 stars Get it in the Horror Classics Collection instead.......2006-07-03

I can tell you this is not a good movie, and I know that you - like me - will want to see it anyway. Go ahead, but don't waste your money on this DVD. Get the "Horror Classics Collection: 50 movie pack" instead, where this movie is included, and you get 49 other movies at pretty much the same price.

1 out of 5 stars The Beast Of Succa Flats.......2006-03-03

I wouldn't wish this film on my worst enemy(well, actually I probably would). This film could easily be used as a child discipline tool("If you get sassy with me again you're gonna have to watch The Beast From Yucca Flats again!"), but if someone caught wind of that, you'd be reported for child abuse. Never before has a 54 minute film seemed so long and boring. In fact, the film doesn't even feel like a feature film, but more like a cold war propaganda film they would show in schools back in the 50s. Tor is a scientist(yeah right) that survives an atomic blast in the desert and becomes some scarred mutant killer. He's supposed to be on a rampage I guess, but up until the final minutes he just wanders around the desert. Two cops try to hunt him down. A family gets stuck in the desert and Tor goes after their two boys in the not too exciting climax. The film wasn't shot in direct sound. That's not a big deal to me usually coz the Italians do it all the time, but this was rotten. In the few cases of dialogue, never once do you see a character's mouth move. Their backs are always to the camera or at a distance or covered by shadows, making the dubbed voices all too obvious. The only sound effects in the film are gunshots and vehicles. No other sounds are heard but the background music which is nonstop throughout. And of course there's a narrator. This film needs a narrator like Paris Hilton needs to go on a diet. The opening scene features a topless woman stangled(I assume by Tor-we don't see anything but shoes and hands) in her home. This scene was thrown in just for the sake of having a scene with a topless woman, which was probably quite taboo at the time. It makes no sense otherwise coz Tor's monster is "born" in the desert and dies there. When the hell did he make a special trip to some chick's apartment? And why does this scene take place before Tor is transformed? Take into consideration that I love bad B pictures, and when I say that one is terrible, you know it's really gotta suck. The concept is cool, and certainly could have been B movie heaven if done right, but....well, it wasn't. Painful.

3 out of 5 stars This is a blast!.......2006-02-25

And not just the nuclear kind, either. As several reviewers above did, I saw this as part of the 50 Horror Classics collection, as well as on MST3K. This is such a hysterical film, it's hard to know where to start. The narration is incredible, the situations have to be seen to be believed (particularly the chase after the innocent father on top of the plateau, which the narrator seems to think is appropriate), and Tor as the Beast is a real hoot, groaning loudly and wielding a big stick.
But for all that, I still think it's a lot of fun in a surreal sort of way. Plunk down your $6.98 and enjoy!!
The Beast of Yucca Flats
Average customer rating: 1 out of 5 stars
  • "Feed soda-pop to thirsty pigs."
The Beast of Yucca Flats

Manufacturer: Digiview Productions
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000A1GZ58

Product Description

Fans of THE INCREDIBLE HULK will Love this early 60's horror film.

Customer Reviews:

1 out of 5 stars "Feed soda-pop to thirsty pigs.".......2007-04-18

I am somewhat proud of the fact that I am so familiar with the works of Coleman Francis that even watching this for the first time, I was very easily able to spot Francis and producer Anthony Cardoza in their (multiple) cameo appearances. I'm also tickled that I was able to spot the guy who played "Cherokee Jack" in RED ZONE CUBA without even trying. This may not get me into Mensa, but gives me a warm sensation on this cold spring day in all the parts of my mind and body that crave bad moviemaking.

This film runs for two and fifty minutes. It has just about enough plot for the two, but the fifty is left oddly hanging. It's difficult to believe that a film that's eight minutes short of an hour could feel like a lifetime, but believe me it does.

The story is about Tor Johnson (PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE and THE UNEARTHLY) as a defecting Soviet scientist. This bit of casting is probably the film's first mistake. If you're going to have someone believable as an intelligent, reputable man of science, it would perhaps be better to stay away from the Swedish ex-wrestlers.

In any event, the scientist heads towards the Yucca Flats nuclear testing grounds. On route, he is attacked by Soviet agents (look, it's Tony Cardoza!) who want to kill Tor and destroy the information he carries. Tor escapes their gunfire simply by walking very quickly away from them. Unfortunately, he wanders onto the proving grounds themselves and is hit by a nuclear bomb. Rather than blasting him into his component atoms, the effect is merely to turn this notable scientist into the eponymous Beast.

The Beast now has an unquenchable appetite for death. To satisfy his cravings he begins a killing spree out on the wastelands. This is not, it must be noted, the most efficient location for a killing spree. Fortunately for Tor -- thanks to movie logic -- the abandoned wastelands seem to have a fair number of great fools willing to go into them and be knocked over by Tor.

"Flag on the moon," intones the narrator. "How did it get there?" How indeed. The film's narration is littered with these apparent non sequiturs (the previous question arrives unannounced in the middle of a car chase sequence). The narrator is by far the most entertaining portion of this film, interrupting the action with bad poetry about human progress related in a bland monotone.

Sounds like a fun, cheesy sci-fi/horror film right?

Well, if you haven't seen it, it would be difficult for you to believe exactly how mind-numbingly dull this film is. It's less than an hour, but during my second viewing I kept finding excuses to walk about of the room. The problem is that there isn't enough action in it. Tor Johnson needed to do more killing. Almost all of the film seems to involve either two police officers wandering around the wasteland looking for Tor or two young boys blinding stumbling around the location shoot. Tor's is the slowest rampage you'll ever in your life see.

I find myself rendered mentally immobile enough after two viewings to have much of anything left to say. The dialog is stilted. The direction is dizzying in its utter lack of a breakneck pace. The plot -- as I indicated -- would have trouble fleshing out a two minute trailer. I would almost recommend this as a way of turning an ordinary metal and plastic television set into something that most humans cannot bear to look at for more than a few minutes at a time. This is definitely a film that only a bad movie lover could endure, but even with previous bad movie experience, you should approach this one with caution.
Horror Classics Volume 3: Attack of the Giant Leeches, The Screaming Skull, Beast of Yucca Flats, The Terror, Revolt of the Zombies
Average customer rating: 1 out of 5 stars
  • classics is a bit much,but the transfers are so bad how can you tell
Horror Classics Volume 3: Attack of the Giant Leeches, The Screaming Skull, Beast of Yucca Flats, The Terror, Revolt of the Zombies
Starring: Ken Clark; John Hudson; Tor Johnson; Boris Karloff; Dean Jagger
Manufacturer: Mill Creek Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0009W306K
Release Date: 2004-01-01

Customer Reviews:

1 out of 5 stars classics is a bit much,but the transfers are so bad how can you tell.......2006-05-22

save your money you can find better copies of these movies in any collection out there and get better prices.
Horror Classics: The Beast of Yucca Flats/The Corpse Vanishes/Giant Fr
Average customer rating: Not rated
    Horror Classics: The Beast of Yucca Flats/The Corpse Vanishes/Giant Fr
    Starring: Horror Classics
    Manufacturer: Platinum Disc
    ProductGroup: DVD
    Binding: DVD

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    ASIN: B000A59PU6
    Release Date: 2005-08-23
    Monsters and Madmen: The Brain That Wouldn't Die / Beast of Yucca Flats / Arctic Giant
    Average customer rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    • Unexpectedly Good Quality In Budget Double Feature DVD
    • GET 2 CREATURE-FEATURES FOR THE PRICE OF NONE!
    Monsters and Madmen: The Brain That Wouldn't Die / Beast of Yucca Flats / Arctic Giant

    Manufacturer: PC Treasures
    ProductGroup: DVD
    Binding: DVD

    GeneralGeneral | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video
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    ASIN: B000BGZFA8

    Product Description

    Depraved mad doctors - evil men who use their brutal genius to ravage the secrets of science, an unnatural dalliance that spawns unimaginable monsters of terrible destructive power. Using their twisted brillance, these wizards of science bend the laws of nature to their own loathsome wills, wallowing in the dreadful insanity their twisted knowledge spawns.

    Customer Reviews:

    3 out of 5 stars Unexpectedly Good Quality In Budget Double Feature DVD.......2006-11-07

    You're usually asking for trouble when you purchase a super-inexpensive DVD--but this PC Treasures double feature release is remarkably good in terms of quality, if not necessarily so in terms of content.

    Cult favorite THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE is the winner of the two films offered here, a film that was considered so distasteful in 1959 that the passage of three years and several cuts was required before its release in 1962. Seen today, it is hard to imagine how anyone could have taken it seriously even back in the day; it is indeed both lurid and lewd, but it is also remarkably ludicrous in its tale of a mad doctor who keeps his girl friend's head alive after a car crash. But the doctor is picky about the new body: he wants one built for speed and takes to cruising disconcerted women on city sidewalks, haunting strip joints, visiting body beautiful contests, and hunting down cheesecake models in search of endowments that will raise his eyebrow.

    Leading man Jason Evers plays the rougeish doctor as if he's been given a massive dose of spanish fly; Virginia Leith, the unhappy head, screeches and cackles in spite of the fact that she has no lungs and maybe not even any vocal chords. Busty babes gyrate to incredibly tawdry music, actors make irrational character changes from line to line, the dialogue is even more nonsensical than the plot, and you'll need a calculator to add up the continuity goofs. On the whole THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE comes off as even more unintentionally funny than an Ed Wood movie.

    The 1961 BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS, however, is an entirely different matter, and is often described as the single worst B movie ever made. BEAST was filmed without sound and dialogue was dubbed into the footage afterward. In order to accomodate this, the camera usually photographs characters in long shot; cuts off their heads; shows characters listening instead of speaking; or just has the so-called actors cover their mouths at various moments. While this may sound good for a laugh, it isn't, and sad to say it is actually the single most interesting thing about the film.

    The story, such as it is, concerns a runaway Russian scientist played by Tor Johnson, no less, who stumbles into an atomic test area and is most unfortunately transformed into... well, into Tor Johnson beset by bad make up. He kills off a couple of people and local police pursue him. One of the police officers takes to the air, where he mistakes an innocent man for the Beast, and spends quite a lot of time shooting at him. And so on. Yes, some bad films are amusing to watch. YUCCA FLATS is not among them.

    Bearing in mind that both BRAIN and BEAST were made on the cheap and that even the first run prints were probably nothing to write home about, I can say that the transfered offered here are actually quite good. If you want some cult fun, BRAIN is a good choice and I give it four stars. If you are determined to see just how bad BEAST is, well, I give it zero stars and don't say I didn't warn you. The DVD also includes ARCTIC GIANT, a cartoon in which we find Superman required to save girl reporter Lois Lane from a defrosted dinosaur; it too is in good condition and is amusing in an old fashioned sort way. Recommended if you're in the market for any of these titles.

    GFT, Amazon Reviewer

    3 out of 5 stars GET 2 CREATURE-FEATURES FOR THE PRICE OF NONE! .......2005-11-10

    This twin bill includes two "Monsters And Madmen" features plus one Superman in "Arctic Giant" cartoon.

    FIRST AND BEST FEATURE IS "THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE

    A "B" MOVIE SLEEPER FOR THE BRAIN DEAD!

    "The Brain That Wouldn't Die" is definitely a large step up from "The Beast of Yucca Flats", but how much of a compliment is that?

    NOT IN THE RUNNING FOR WORST B FILM EVER:

    This film is watchable even though it runs for 80 minutes and has quite a bit of dialogue in it. Let's say it promises more than it delivers, but the possibility of the delivery looms until the very end when indeed something of a horrific event does finally take place.

    WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT?:

    Joesph Green doesn't waste any time in his direction of "The Brain That Wouldn't Die". It begins on an operating table with action and dialogue of a philosophical nature. The theme of the film is established at the onset -- just how far can we humans go playing God without suffering dire consequences.

    The rest of the film plays out as a "Science Goes Amuck" formula with some sexploitationist detours which are not altogether unentertaining, but do detract from the seriousness of the film. Of course, there is decent pacing and a building of tension as the clock ticks. The brain can only be kept alive for "48-60 hours" before something must be done, but then there is more B-film stuff as the plot does thicken. We have henchmen and experiments gone amuck in the foreground as our anti-hero deals with the crisis of the brain that wouldn't die. We have our anti-hero scientist scoping for a body to replace his fiancee's who has just a head, but no shoulders.

    All the while, things are happening in the basement as the brain of this sweet girl turns into an evil thing with fiendish designs and desire only for revenge against the man who is trying desperately to put her head back on a body. Preferably, a really nice one, but only if he can find one quickly thereby helping science in the process. His fiancee has enlisted the aid of an unseen fiend in the closet and his arrival waits till the explosive climax, although he has already killed the scientist's henchman through an opening in the door where he is fed. The end is hardly unexpected, but shows more than the usual effort for this type of film, especially in the realm of imagination.

    When all is said and done, this is definitely a "'B'-MOVIE SLEEPER FOR THE BRAIN DEAD"!


    If you are still interested, the second feature is "The Beast of Yucca Flats"

    THANK THE DIRECTOR FOR THE 53 MINUTE RUN TIME!,

    I must admit to buying this on DVD for the sole purpose of determining whether I felt it was the worst feature motion picture of all time. There are quite a few to choose from, but this film seems light years ahead of a pack made up of such epics as "The Slime People", "The Green Slime", "Robot Monster", "Plan 9 From Outer Space" and a few more.

    I have come to the conclusion that if this film were a little longer and gory it would have won the title of worst film. However, to its credit, there is no real gore, just old-style TV violence [people get shot, but don't bleed or suffer]. Also in its favor, there is no nudity or really cheezy special effects. Basically there is just nothing going on to be interested in and the filming is very dark and the sound is buzzy. There is no dialogue to speak of, just a drunken-sounding narration that seems to make little sense. In the end, I found myself wondering if the 81-minute-long "Creeping Terror" might be a better candidate for worst film, but I will have to see that one again.

    If you can find this film for nearly no cost as I did you might consider buying it for the campy value of having it. Though this film is not terribly insulting to the viewer, it does strain the viewer's attention span for each and every one of its 53 minutes of run-time.

    The "Superman Cartoon" is definitely a plus and is in about the same condition as the rest of the DVD insofar as the transfer is concerned - OK.


    ABOUT THE DVD:

    This is a decent single-layer transfer and is relatively glitch-free for a promotional public-domain product. You get alot for the money here, but the outer box is the only case you get so don't discard it. Target was running an after Halloween sale on this series DVDs, 4 for $1, so this DVD cost .25 cents plus tax. On the basis of the extreme value, I have given this DVD a 3 star rating, but the first film is worth 3 stars while the "Beast of Yucca Flats" rates just 1 star and is the worst film I have ever seen. It is rated #2 on the "Internet Movie Database's" "Bottom 100 films" list and deserves that lowly rating.

    Mesa of Lost Women/Beast of Yucca Flats
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      Mesa of Lost Women/Beast of Yucca Flats
      Starring: Image 2pak
      Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
      ProductGroup: DVD
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      ASIN: B0000TAZI8
      Release Date: 2003-12-30
      The Beast of Yucca Flats
      Average customer rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
      • Some Bad Films Are Amusing To Watch, But Yucca Flats Is Not Among Them
      • Touch the `Play' Button. Something Weird Happens.
      • Get it in the Horror Classics Collection instead
      • The Beast Of Succa Flats
      • This is a blast!
      The Beast of Yucca Flats
      Starring: Larry Aten , Linda Bielema , Conrad Brooks , Anthony Cardoza , and Alan Francis
      Director: Coleman Francis
      Manufacturer: Alpha Video
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      5. Cult Classics: Earth vs. the Spider/War of the Colossal Beast

      ASIN: B0000D1FGU
      Release Date: 2003-11-18

      Amazon.com

      Government security sure has gotten lax at nuclear test sites. It seems like any old defecting Russian nuclear physicist fleeing Soviet agents (who are oddly indistinguishable from American gangsters) can stumble into an A-bomb detonation by accident and turn into a bloodthirsty monster. (You think Stan Lee watched this film before creating the Incredible Hulk?) Meanwhile a vacationing family wanders through the desert as the cops hunt the atomic beast. Tor Johnson (an Ed Wood Jr. fixture) makes a superbly cheesy rampaging mutant, but the film really enters the Twilight Zone when the investigating cops mistake an innocent dad looking for his sons lost in the desert for their target ("Shoot first, ask questions later" is their motto). Supercheap cult director Coleman Francis shot this without sound, dubbing it all in later, and he clumsily cuts away from every actor as they start to speak to hide his handiwork. He hardly had to worry: the flat dialogue and wooden narration is almost absurd enough to distract viewers from his cinematic incompetence. In short, a masterpiece of zero-budget camp with an unbelievably surreal edge. --Sean Axmaker

      Customer Reviews:

      1 out of 5 stars Some Bad Films Are Amusing To Watch, But Yucca Flats Is Not Among Them.......2006-11-03

      According to film lore, THE BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS was filmed without sound and dialogue was dubbed in postproduction. In order to accomodate this effect, the camera usually photographs characters in long shot; cuts off their heads; shows a character listening in a reaction shot; or has the so-called actors cover their mouths at strategic moments. The effect is very obvious and even so there are quite a few moments where characters are clearly speaking but no sound is coming out.

      This is actually the most interesting thing about the film. The story, such as it is: a Russian scientist (Tor Johnson) has defected to the United States. Chased by Russian agents, he escapes into an atomic test area, where radiation converts him into a mindless killer. He kills a vacationing couple and local police officers pursue him. One of the police officers takes to the air, where he mistakes an innocent man for the Beast, and spends quite a lot of time shooting at him. And so on.

      YUCCA FLATS has the reputation of being among the worst films ever made. The reputation is deserved. The film looks like it cost about twenty six cents to make; the cast is uninspired, to say the least; and the script (which consists largely of meaningless narration) is stupid in a very unamusing way. Some bad films are amusing to watch. YUCCA FLATS is not among them.

      GFT, Amazon Reviewer

      1 out of 5 stars Touch the `Play' Button. Something Weird Happens........2006-09-07

      In the realm of bad movies, there is the good-bad, and there is the bad-bad.

      And then there's The Beast of Yucca Flats. I call this the good-bad-ugly.

      The good: it runs for only 54 minutes.

      The bad: that's 54 minutes too long.

      The ugly: Tor Johnson.

      Some fans of truly bad films may like this. I am a fan of truly bad films, and I didn't like this. For the most part, at least. Sure, it has its moments. The whole notion of Ed Wood regular Tor Johnson playing a Russian scientist defecting to the US is, on its own, pretty laughable. But once that's established and the movie rolls along, you're pretty much done laughing at that idea.

      So you ask yourself, what's next? How about the narrator's lines? Hmm, we may be on to something here. There is not a single line that makes sense. I'll say that again, not a single one. But do they pass the good-bad test of making you laugh? Well, yes, but the laughter is often accompanied by groans of disbelief and wrinkling of the brows. By comparison, such classics as Robot Monster and Plan 9 are laugh-out-loud hilarious.

      Hey, how about plot twists? Look, we have Tor kissing a rabbit at the end. How's that for a surprise ending? Uh, doesn't work for you? Ok, I didn't think it would.

      Conclusion: The Beast of Yucky, excuse me, Yucca Flats is not bad enough to be good-bad. The laughs are too few and far-between. And it's too boring to be that much fun. But still, you have to credit Coleman Francis for scoring some remarkable feats with this piece.

      1. He manages to bore us in just 54 minutes.

      2. He actually made money out of this. Ok, maybe that's not all that remarkable, since you really can't lose when you start with a budget of $0.

      3. So how about this: he succeeded where Ed Wood failed. He killed Tor Johnson's career. That's right, this abomination of filmmaking was the ex-wrestler's swan song.

      What a way to go.

      1 out of 5 stars Get it in the Horror Classics Collection instead.......2006-07-03

      I can tell you this is not a good movie, and I know that you - like me - will want to see it anyway. Go ahead, but don't waste your money on this DVD. Get the "Horror Classics Collection: 50 movie pack" instead, where this movie is included, and you get 49 other movies at pretty much the same price.

      1 out of 5 stars The Beast Of Succa Flats.......2006-03-03

      I wouldn't wish this film on my worst enemy(well, actually I probably would). This film could easily be used as a child discipline tool("If you get sassy with me again you're gonna have to watch The Beast From Yucca Flats again!"), but if someone caught wind of that, you'd be reported for child abuse. Never before has a 54 minute film seemed so long and boring. In fact, the film doesn't even feel like a feature film, but more like a cold war propaganda film they would show in schools back in the 50s. Tor is a scientist(yeah right) that survives an atomic blast in the desert and becomes some scarred mutant killer. He's supposed to be on a rampage I guess, but up until the final minutes he just wanders around the desert. Two cops try to hunt him down. A family gets stuck in the desert and Tor goes after their two boys in the not too exciting climax. The film wasn't shot in direct sound. That's not a big deal to me usually coz the Italians do it all the time, but this was rotten. In the few cases of dialogue, never once do you see a character's mouth move. Their backs are always to the camera or at a distance or covered by shadows, making the dubbed voices all too obvious. The only sound effects in the film are gunshots and vehicles. No other sounds are heard but the background music which is nonstop throughout. And of course there's a narrator. This film needs a narrator like Paris Hilton needs to go on a diet. The opening scene features a topless woman stangled(I assume by Tor-we don't see anything but shoes and hands) in her home. This scene was thrown in just for the sake of having a scene with a topless woman, which was probably quite taboo at the time. It makes no sense otherwise coz Tor's monster is "born" in the desert and dies there. When the hell did he make a special trip to some chick's apartment? And why does this scene take place before Tor is transformed? Take into consideration that I love bad B pictures, and when I say that one is terrible, you know it's really gotta suck. The concept is cool, and certainly could have been B movie heaven if done right, but....well, it wasn't. Painful.

      3 out of 5 stars This is a blast!.......2006-02-25

      And not just the nuclear kind, either. As several reviewers above did, I saw this as part of the 50 Horror Classics collection, as well as on MST3K. This is such a hysterical film, it's hard to know where to start. The narration is incredible, the situations have to be seen to be believed (particularly the chase after the innocent father on top of the plateau, which the narrator seems to think is appropriate), and Tor as the Beast is a real hoot, groaning loudly and wielding a big stick.
      But for all that, I still think it's a lot of fun in a surreal sort of way. Plunk down your $6.98 and enjoy!!

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