This movie is seriously confusing, scenes that don't seem to belong together follow each other without transition or explanation. Who are these people? Why are they here? What i going on? No one knows. On top of that, the special effects are laughable, the characters are ill defined and the acting is bad.
But, looking beyond all these criticisms, and they are valid, believe me, there is actually a rather watchable movie. We have the story of Billy who is turned into a monster that wanders the streets shooting things with a laser gun. Kind of like a sci-fi version of a werewolf story where the protagonist does not know he is the monster. Not to mention that the aliens that one would naturally assume to be evil, seem to be some kind of police officers chasing down the monster, a fun take on things I say. And of course, the whole thing is really rather campy which is appropriate.
An added bonus on my copy were the trailers for several campy looking old movies.
Laserblast
1978
Horror / Sci-Fi
Laserblast
1978
Horror / Sci-Fi
Keywords: aliendesertspacecraftstop motionmutation
Plot summary
Alien creatures kill a mutated alien creature in the California desert. Its remains, and the high-tech laser gun and power source accidentally left behind, are found by an ostracized teenager. However, the power source causes the teenager to mutate too, and he goes on a murderous rampage.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Top cast
Tech specs
720p.BLU 1080p.BLUMovie Reviews
Confusing but watchable.
Laserblast: As bad as the rating suggests
To my surprise this is actually a Fullmoon movie, the company well known only for cheesy horror films. Apparently they do sci-fi even worse.
Laserblast presently sits with a 2.6 rating on IMDB, which is astoundingly low. I didn't think for a second it would be that bad, it actually is.
It tells the story of a young man who finds a laser cannon in the desert, after wielding it and the necklace that came with it he is periodically transformed into a creature hellbent on destruction.
Looking at the cover you'd think the "Creature" was Gary Busey, in the film it's more an early Romero zombie.
The special effects are embarassing even for the time, the plot is riddled with holes and the whole thing comes off amateurish.
One of the worst films every made? No. Deserving of 2.6? Absolutely.
The Good:
Erm.....
The Bad:
Looks hideous
Just can't take it seriously
Things I Learnt From This Movie:
Aliens are just giant turtles without shells who wear shiney gloves
A bad movie, but not that bad
I was expecting Laserblast to be awful, judging by its position in the "Mystery Science Theater 3000: 10 Worst Movies They Riffed" list and its reputation. It is a bad movie- though I can see why people would find it entertaining to watch- but it is much better than the likes of Monster A-Go Go, Manos the Hands of Fate, The Wild World of Batwoman, Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders and Hobgoblins, and in general there are far worse as well. The best asset of Laserblast is the music score, which pulsates through the movie with great energy and atmosphere that is not matched with the rest of the movie. Cheryl Smith is sweet and sympathetic and Keenan Wynn is appropriately gruff. And I personally though the stop-motion and the aliens were quite good, of any of the movies on the "10 Movies they Riffed" list it is Laserblast that has the best special effects. Everything else comes up painfully short though, Roddy MacDowell is wasted to the point that you question why was he even in it, and Eddie Deezen has to be the most annoying bully ever seen in film. The story is a real drag as well, it makes very little sense if at all, has so much overlong filler that adds nothing to the storytelling and is one of those instances where the plot summary pretty much sums up the whole movie. It also doesn't know what to do with itself and takes forever to get going, it is half-an-hour until anything of the sort happens and then when the gun is found the rest of the movie is just stuff getting shot at. At best, the camera work and editing are haphazard, the dialogue is hysterically bad and the characters are not developed anywhere near enough or characterised very effectively to be believable or likewise. In conclusion, Laserblast is a bad movie that is rather dull and senseless and wastes McDowell but a great score, better-than-average stop-motion and effects and two decent performances make it not as bad as all that. 3/10 Bethany Cox