The Beast of Yucca Flats
The Beast of Yucca Flats | |
---|---|
Directed by | Coleman Francis |
Written by | Coleman Francis |
Produced by | Anthony Cardoza Coleman Francis Roland Morin Jim Oliphant Larry Aten Bing Stafford |
Starring | Tor Johnson Douglas Mellor Barbara Francis Bing Stafford Conrad Brooks |
Cinematography | John Cagle Lee Strosnider |
Edited by | Coleman Francis Austin McKinney Lee Strosnider Anthony Cardoza |
Music by | Gene Kauer Irwin Nafshun Al Remington |
Distributed by | Cinema Associates |
Release date |
|
Running time | 54 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $34,000 (est.) |
The Beast of Yucca Flats (released to television as Atomic Monster: The Beast of Yucca Flats) is a 1961
The film stars Swedish former wrestler Tor Johnson (in his last film role) as "the Beast".[4] It stars Anthony Cardoza, Coleman Francis and Jim Oliphant in bit parts, as well as Conrad Brooks in a very small role. Director Francis cast his two sons (Ronald and Alan Francis) in the film as the two lost boys.
The plot concerns a Soviet scientist named Joseph Jaworsky (Tor Johnson), who
Plot
In Yucca Flats, Nevada, Soviet scientist Joseph Javorsky has defected from the USSR and arrives in America with a briefcase carrying various military secrets, including the Soviet Moon landing. Javorsky and his American contacts are suddenly attacked by a pair of KGB assassins, who kill Javorsky's contacts and bodyguards. Javorsky flees into the desert, walking for a great distance, and the searing heat causes him to discard much of his clothing. When he wanders in range of an American nuclear test, the bewildered Russian is transformed by it into a mindless beast with an uncontrollable urge to kill. He proceeds to murder a couple in their car on a nearby road, prompting pursuit from police officers Jim Archer and Joe Dobson.
Meanwhile, a vacationing family ventures along the same road. After stopping at a service station, the family's two young sons wander off into the surrounding desert where they eventually encounter and escape from the mutated Javorsky. Their father searches for them but is mistaken for the killer by one of the police officers, who is searching for the murderer from the air in a small plane. The officer opens fire with a high-powered rifle on the innocent man, who manages to escape.
Eventually, the family is reunited and the police shoot and mortally wound Javorsky. A jackrabbit later nuzzles his dying body, and using the last of his strength, he caresses it before dying.
Cast
- Tor Johnson as Joseph Javorsky/The Beast
- Bing Stafford as Jim Archer
- Larry Aten as Joe Dobson
- Douglas Mellor as Hank Radcliffe
- Barbara Francis as Lois Radcliffe
- Ronald Francis as Randy Radcliffe
- Alan Francis as Art Radcliffe
- Jim Oliphant as Vacationing Husband
- Linda Bielema as Vacationing Wife
- Anthony Cardoza as KGB Driver/Helpful Neighbor
- Bob Labansat as Javorsky's Bodyguard
- John Morrisonas KGB Passenger
- Jim Miles as Javorsky's Driver
- Eric Tomlinas Motorist Run Off Road
- George Prince as Man Who Reports Murder
- Conrad Brooks as Man at Airfield
- Graham Staffordas News Boy
- Lanell Cado as Strangled Woman
- Coleman Francis as Gas Station Attendant/Newspaper Patron
- Marcia Knight as Jim's Woman
- Joseph Luis Rubin as Police Officer
Production
The setting for the film, "Yucca Flats", was based on the real-life
The movie was filmed without a soundtrack. Narration, voice-overs and some sound effects were added in post-production. To avoid having to synchronize the audio to the picture, characters speak only when their faces are either off-screen or not clearly visible due to darkness or distance. Likewise, during scenes in which firearms are used, the muzzles of the guns are usually out of shot when the weapons are fired. During scenes of gunplay, many characters appear at first to have suffered life-threatening bullet wounds, only to appear in later scenes fully recovered with no visible signs of having been wounded. Extensive narration is used in lieu of plot points being conveyed through dialogue.[8] Film historian Bill Warren stated "The AFI catalog says (the film) may have been reissued in 1964 as Girl Madness"[9]
According to producer Anthony Cardoza, the film's closing scene in which Johnson's character, expressing a final bit of humanity, embraces a jackrabbit, was not planned; a wild rabbit entered the shot while the camera was rolling, and Johnson improvised.[10]
The film's total budget was estimated at $34,000.[7]
Opening murder scene
The first scene in the film is the strangulation murder of a woman (played by Lanell Cado) who has just stepped out of a shower, by a man whose face is never shown; it is implied that the killer raped her corpse. The murderer is dressed like Javorsky after the blast, but the murder is never mentioned during the actual film, nor is there any apparent time and/or place in the film where it could be said to occur.[11] According to an interview with producer Cardoza by film historian Tom Weaver, the scene was added after the film was complete because director Francis liked nude scenes. Some prints (such as the one used for the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode) were edited to show the woman clothed for the duration of the scene (running 81 seconds), with the only nudity being a brief flash of the breast as she towels herself in front of a mirror. The 2003 Alpha Video DVD print has a slightly longer version of the scene (running 93 seconds), where the woman is shown naked as she puts on a pair of underwear, with both breasts visible several times before she is shown walking out of the room.[8][12][13]
Reception
The Beast of Yucca Flats was universally panned by critics upon its release, with many considering it one of the worst films ever made. Author and film critic Leonard Maltin awarded the film one star, or "BOMB", calling it "one of the worst films ever made". In his review, Maltin criticized the overuse of voiceover narration, and an opening sequence unrelated to the main story.[14]
Bruce Eder from AllMovie panned the film, criticizing the film's "pretentious and obtuse narration" and further stating, "The most enjoyable aspect of this movie is its remarkably short running time".[15]
Home media
The Beast of Yucca Flats was first released on
Legacy
Some critics have characterized the film as one of the worst science fiction horror films made, and one of the all-time worst films of any kind, even suggesting that it may be worse than Ed Wood's notoriously bad Plan 9 from Outer Space.[20] In 1995, the television comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000 featured The Beast of Yucca Flats, helping the film develop a cult status.
See also
References
- ^ The Annotated MST
- ^ Warren 2017, pp. 733.
- ^ Willis 1984, pp. 330.
- ^ THE BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS / CONRAD BROOKS VS. THE WEREWOLF|Alamo Drafthouse Cinema
- ^ Gerald H. Clarfield and William M. Wiecek (1984). Nuclear America: Military and Civilian Nuclear Power in the United States 1940–1980, Harper & Row, New York, p. 202.
- ^ "The Worst Nuclear Disasters". Time. Archived from the original on March 30, 2009.
- ^ a b Weaver, Tom. "The Grand Tor: Anthony Cardoza recalls the Fallout from Yucca Flats". The Astounding B Monster.
- ^ a b Weaver, Tom. "Anthony Cardoza's Tor of the Desert". The Astounding B Monster.
- ISBN 0-89950-170-2. Page 733
- ISBN 978-0-7864-3196-0. Page 280
- ^ Bogue 2017, pp. 68.
- ^ The Beast of Yucca Flats (DVD). AlphaVideo. 2003.
- ^ "The Beast of Yucca Flats". Movie-Censorship.com.
- ISBN 978-0-452-29577-3.
- ^ "The Beast of Yucca Flats (1961)". AllMovie. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
- ISBN 978-1-4144-4878-7.
- ^ Sindelar, Dave (January 4, 2016). "The Beast of Yucca Flats (1961)". Fantastic Movie Musings.com. Dave Sindelar. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
- ^ "The Beast Of Yucca Flats Review". TV Guide. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
- ^ "The Beast of Yucca Flats (1961) - Coleman Francis". Allmovie.com. AllMovie. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
- ^ Begg, Ken. "The Beast of Yucca Flats". Archived from the original on July 18, 2011.
Sources
- Bogue, Mike (July 20, 2017). Apocalypse Then: American and Japanese Atomic Cinema, 1951–1967. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-6841-3.
- Warren, Bill (January 12, 2017). Keep Watching the Skies!: American Science Fiction Movies of the Fifties, The 21st Century Edition. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-2505-8.
- Willis, Donald C. (1984). Horror and Science Fiction Films III. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-1723-4.
External links
- Beast Of Yucca Flats is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive
- The Beast of Yucca Flats at AllMovie
- The Beast of Yucca Flats at the American Film Institute Catalog
- The Beast of Yucca Flats at IMDb
- The Beast of Yucca Flats at Rotten Tomatoes
- The Beast of Yucca Flats at the TCM Movie Database
- The Beast of Yucca Flats at Movie-Censorship.com