After exposure to radiation, an atomic research scientist finds himself changing into a murderous, lizard-like creature every time he is exposed to sunlight.
29 Nov The Hideous Sun Demon (1958)
Rays
Some of these old things are great. The absolute maturity of the genre creates a purity that you can see because all the normal movie stuff (plot, acting, story, production) falls away and you deal with the saints and angels of the cinematic universe.
But that’s only possible when the movie is deep in the genre. This one isn’t, it is sort of a cross between a monster movie and a noir. So it can never achieve that purity, like the early Ed Wood things and “Creature from 10,000 Leagues,” which I recently saw.
If you are inclined to watch this, there is a terrific ending. At least the setting and staging is terrific. It involves a friendly little girl, oilwells and noisy machinery, and a final climb and fall from a huge oil tank. It is all photographed with noir sensibilities, especially in the angles.
Halfway through the movie, the story follows a story thread from the noir genre: handsome guy picks up buxom gangster’s girl, takes her to the beach and has sex. Then gets beat up buy the gangster and pals.
The first part is plodding exposition and pain along the lines of monster movies.
Posted in 2005
Ted’s Evaluation — 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.
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