October 16th, 2015 - Nightbeast (1982)

Not sure why they went with the 80s cop
show font, but what can you do?

Nightbeast is a pretty fun independent monster movie from the great Don Dohler (of Galaxy Invader and Fiend) fame. I don't know what it is about his films - they've got a cheap, regionally shot, straight to home video feel... but there's some heart and love of the genre in there too. They are not "great" in the traditional sense, but there's enough passion and effort on display that I find his films extremely charming and hard not to like. When I think "cheesy monster movie," I naturally look back to the black and white creature features of the 50s and early 60s - your Attack of the Crab Monsters and Giant Gila Monsters of the world. But there were still spiritual siblings of those films being made long after that - which is where Nightbeast fits in. While it's a little more gory and the effects are (a little) better, it's heart is in the same place... which is why I think I liked it so much.

Nightbeast starts like so many a creature feature - an alien spacecraft crashes in the middle of a small town. The titular Nightbeast (not actually called that in the film, as far as I can remember) wastes no time and starts to kill off the townsfolk. He's got this chintzy looking laser gun that can disintegrate who or whatever gets shot with it in a flash of cheap animation. (Or at least as it fits in with the story - it doesn't disintegrate walls or rocks or anything, but it will take out a car and the people inside. That's alien technology for you!)  But don't worry - Nightbeast can also rip people in half if he has to.

Local sheriff Jack Cinder has a run in with the thing, and quickly realizes he's in big trouble. They simply don't have the resources to deal with anything like this, so he tries to evacuate the town. But coincidentally, the mayor is having a big party that day (even the governor is going to be there!), so he ignores Cinder's request. Strangely enough, the party does *not* result in a Nightbeast Massacre. But most people in town listen to the sheriff, so post-evac you've got a manageable cast of characters for a low-budget horror film. Sheriff Cinder, his deputy Lisa (might there be some romance/awkward sexual encounter in their future?), some guy who wants to help, and a doctor and his wife. Oh, and there's also this total asshole biker dude named Drago hanging around causing trouble too. As if Nightbeast wasn't enough! This crew is going to stick around in case Nightbeast injures anyone else - like the captain of a ship, the sheriff will not abandon his town. Hopefully the reinforcements will arrive (they don't) before Cinder and co. have to face Nightbeast in a climactic showdown.

And speaking of Nightbeast: his design is pretty fun. He's got this leech-like mouth with a ton of teeth - the problem being that he can't really move them. It's not a mask with much articulation, but it still looks cool when they zoom in on his face and you hear him make menacing sounds. Which is a lot - you don't really see Full-On-Nightbeast all that often. I suspect that he looks really awkward in motion, or the man in suit straight-up can't see out of the mask. But the first full body glimpse you get of him is pretty hilarious - he's wearing a white and shiny jumpsuit that looks more fit for friendly spaceman, not a killer monster. He looks pretty rad and kind of stupid at the same time... which is just the right look for a movie like this.

They don't skimp on the monster action either. Once Nightbeast is stripped of his gun, he must resort to doing what he does best - ripping out guts and tearing off limbs. Nightbeast is certainly not a gorefest, but there are a few moments that are pretty over the top and will scratch your dumb-gore itch. (And, they must have done the good old "go to the butcher shop to get some animal viscera" deal... which is always nice to see.) The prosthetic work is not particularly good, but the fact that they even tried on their budget ($42,000 if you believe imdb) is pretty cool.

Nightbeast is never a very tense film. There aren't a lot of surprises as to when and where Nightbeast is going to show up and who he's going to kill. Plot-wise, the film pretty much does what you expect it to do, but it works. Something about Nightbeast just feels comfortable and welcoming. It's not trying to blow your socks off, but it's just a good-old-fashioned monster movie. Sometimes that's all you need. And it doesn't hurt that it's (a) sometimes funny and (b) sometimes gory.

The technical aspects of the film are about on par with what you would expect from a early 80s indie horror film. It's competently shot and edited, although the lighting is relatively poor at times. (This might be one of the reasons that Nightbeast, contrary to his name, spends a lot of time outside during the day.) The acting is a bit wooden, but to me that kind of adds to the charm. There isn't any one character that sticks out as being grating or annoying - they are all at least fun and easy to cheer for. Special mention must go to Tom Griffith and his sweet afro as Sheriff Jack Cinder - he's an entertaining presence, despite Cinder being kind of an ineffective hero.

So yeah - I've been disappointed by a lot of dumb monster movies from this era, but every once and a while you come across one that's kind of great. Don't get me wrong, Nightbeast is definitely a cheesy monster movie, but it's a great deal of fun.

I would   recommend   this film.