Regie:
Roger CormanDrehbuch:
Lou RusoffKamera:
Jockey Arthur FeindelMusik:
Ronald SteinBesetzung:
Richard Denning, Lori Nelson, Adele Jergens, Mike Connors, Paul Birch, Raymond Hatton, Paul Dubov, Paul Blaisdell, Roger Corman, Jonathan HazeInhalte(1)
Nachdem ein Großteil der Erde durch einen Atomkrieg unbewohnbar ist, hat sich der Farmer Maddison mit seiner Tochter Louise in seinem Haus verschanzt. Wie durch ein Wunder ist das Tal, in dem die Maddisons leben, von der Radioaktivität verschont geblieben und nach und nach erreichen weitere Überlebende – darunter der Gangster Tony mit seiner Braut Ruby und der Geologe Rick – den Zufluchtsort. Doch schon bald kommt es zu Spannungen in der Gruppe, die das Zusammensein gefährden. Und als sei dies nicht genug, nähert sich über die Hügel eine schreckliche Mutantenkreatur, die eine schier unüberwindliche Bedrohung darstellt. (Verleiher-Text)
(mehr)Kritiken (1)
Poster tagline: HUMAN EMOTIONS STRIPPED RAW!!! ATTACKED BY A CREATURE OF HELL!!! Corman's early films, narratively speaking, look – how shall I put it – rather daft. The atomic "destruction of humanity" is portrayed by one shot of a destroyed house, and the post-apocalyptic atmosphere is evoked by a few puffs of artificial smoke floating in a few shots over the landscape around the house. This is where the vast majority of the action takes place, with a disparate group of seven survivors that their unwritten leader has jokingly called "the hope for a new human race". If Corman adhered to the unwritten rule that "we are most afraid of what we can't see", it doesn't really work here. Those few hints with a detail on the tentacle of the monster with long claws don't cause much terror and until about 10 minutes before the end, it’s a rather lengthy wait, when the most that can break the viewer's lethargy is the dashing girlfriend of the villain and her dancing in front of a gramophone, plus some terrible dialogues. By the way, the monster, and it sounds almost unbelievable, it’s represented – according to the drawings of one of the characters – by a radioactive mutated North American chipmunk squirrel, but it looks like a scarecrow from a children's carnival. It has a stocky human figure, a thick makeup of modurite on its head, with two horns and pointed ears impaled into it. It's not scary at all, but it's just a blast to watch :o)
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