"Nightbeast" is one of those ingratiating little, regional genre pictures that wears its "cheesy B" status right on its sleeve. It's good straightforward entertainment, with no pretensions in sight, and a lot of gleefully nasty mayhem. One of the handful of movies made by regional filmmaker Don Dohler, it begins with a bang and offers plenty of amusements until its big finish.
The title creature crashes its spacecraft on Earth, outside a rural town. It's not really fleshed out at all as a character, seeming to have no motivation; it's a total badass that claims any and all people in its vicinity as victims. The local sheriff (the late Tom Griffith, sporting an awe-inspiring greying perm) and his deputies (Karin Kardian, Jamie Zemarel) have their hands full trying to destroy the antagonist while evacuating the town.
It's easy to level accusations of being "tacky" at such a movie - from the gore effects to much of the acting - but that merely adds to the low-rent charm if you're a B movie enthusiast like this viewer. Certainly you have to admire Dohler (who is also no longer with us) for having his movie hit the ground running. His first major set piece has the rampaging monster actually shooting it out with the cops! Granted, his pacing does slow down in the second half, with Griffith and Kardian indulging in an obligatory sex scene accompanied by romantic piano music.
The cast will likely amuse you, no matter if they can't carry the same gravitas as more seasoned Hollywood players. Griffith, Zemarel, and Kardian are watchable as the heroes, while other Dohler regulars like George Stover, Anne Frith, and Don Leifert fill out supporting roles. Leifert plays a murderous lowlife biker in a gratuitous subplot. Richard Dyszel is a hoot as the town mayor who's one of those classic Stubborn Dummies you can find in COUNTLESS movies of both the A and B level. But whatever you do, don't call him "Bertie".
This is lots of fun, if you're partial to movies like this to begin with.
Some latter day notoriety has resulted from the participation of a then very young J.J. Abrams, in one of his earliest movie credits. He contributed to the music score and also worked on sound effects.
Seven out of 10.
The title creature crashes its spacecraft on Earth, outside a rural town. It's not really fleshed out at all as a character, seeming to have no motivation; it's a total badass that claims any and all people in its vicinity as victims. The local sheriff (the late Tom Griffith, sporting an awe-inspiring greying perm) and his deputies (Karin Kardian, Jamie Zemarel) have their hands full trying to destroy the antagonist while evacuating the town.
It's easy to level accusations of being "tacky" at such a movie - from the gore effects to much of the acting - but that merely adds to the low-rent charm if you're a B movie enthusiast like this viewer. Certainly you have to admire Dohler (who is also no longer with us) for having his movie hit the ground running. His first major set piece has the rampaging monster actually shooting it out with the cops! Granted, his pacing does slow down in the second half, with Griffith and Kardian indulging in an obligatory sex scene accompanied by romantic piano music.
The cast will likely amuse you, no matter if they can't carry the same gravitas as more seasoned Hollywood players. Griffith, Zemarel, and Kardian are watchable as the heroes, while other Dohler regulars like George Stover, Anne Frith, and Don Leifert fill out supporting roles. Leifert plays a murderous lowlife biker in a gratuitous subplot. Richard Dyszel is a hoot as the town mayor who's one of those classic Stubborn Dummies you can find in COUNTLESS movies of both the A and B level. But whatever you do, don't call him "Bertie".
This is lots of fun, if you're partial to movies like this to begin with.
Some latter day notoriety has resulted from the participation of a then very young J.J. Abrams, in one of his earliest movie credits. He contributed to the music score and also worked on sound effects.
Seven out of 10.