Posts Tagged ‘Tor Johnson’


Happy WTF’ing Holidays

December 25th, 2009 | article by | No Comments »
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The end of the year is nigh and, a few glaring exceptions aside, it’s been a pretty good one here in Wtf-Film-land.  Denis is currently experiencing some timely computer troubles and me, well, I’m just taking the weekend off.  A big thanks to all of our readers, devoted and otherwise, for making this the most-visited year in Wtf-Film’s six + year history!  Be safe and have fun celebrating whatever befits you – we’ll see you back with new reviews next week.

In the meanwhile enjoy a virtual season’s greeting, courtesy of the unofficial Wtf-Film holiday mascot Tor ‘The Beast of Yucca Flats‘ Johnson.  Just look at how happy he is!

christmas_tor



The Beast of Yucca Flats

June 26th, 2009 | article by | No Comments »
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Cinema Associates [1961] 54′
country: United States
director: COLEMAN FRANCIS
cast: TOR JOHNSON, LARRY ATEN,
cast: BING STAFFORD, DOUGLAS MELLOR

“Touch a button . . . Things happen . . . A man becomes a beast . . . ”

THE BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS is a terrible film on a technical level – that needs to be gotten out of the way to begin with. The first of three films conceived by producer Anthony Cardoza and writer/director Coleman Francis shows the novice nature of its creators at every turn and that it stars Ed Wood regular Tor Johnson as the titular beast has certainly done it no favors in the forty seven years since it was made. BEAST has been bashed regularly and universally since being unleashed upon the public at large, most famously by cable show Mystery Science Theater 3000 – one would be mad to say that said bashing was entirely unwarranted.

But as a reviewer who’s interests have been growing more and more focused on subtext, the technical aspects of this 54 minute oddity are of no concern. The question then remains, is there enough subtext to THE BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS to warrant a serious critical appraisal of it?

That answer, at least as far as I am concerned, is an emphatic yes! By the end of this article [one of a series I am working on covering the directorial endeavors of Francis] I hope that at least a few of my readers will agree.

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Plan 9 From Outer Space

May 6th, 2009 | article by | No Comments »
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Reynolds Pictures [1959] 79′
country: United States
director: EDWARD D. WOOD JR.
cast: GREGORY WALCOTT, MONA MCKINNON,
cast: DUKE MOORE, TOR JOHNSON, VAMPIRA,
cast: TOM KEENE, CARL ANTHONY, PAUL MARCO
Order this film from AMAZON.COM

The narrative of PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE should already be familiar to those reading this page, and I’ll not waste time reprising it at length. The premise involves visitors from another world invading our own through the revivification of the recently departed so as to prevent our primitive species from developing a Universe-destroying weapon known as ‘solarbanite’ [or 'solaranite', depending on who's speaking]. Thrown into the mix are a handful of civilians [an airplane pilot, his wife, a police lieutenant, and several officers] and military men, whose frequent encounters with the alien invaders provide the bulk of the film’s dramatic substance. Bookends by The Amazing Criswell lend it a bit of nonsensical doom-and-gloom.

Thanks largely to brothers Michael and Harry Medved, co-authors of the 1980 film criticism effort ‘The Golden Turkey Awards’, PLAN 9′s reputation precedes it, with many many rallying behind that book’s declaration of it as the worst movie ever made. The 1980′s saw a resurgence in the PLAN 9′s popularity – spurred on by home video releases and references in the likes of IT CAME FROM HOLLYWOOD, the film became a bona fide cult sensation.

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