INCREDIBLY STRANGE CREATURES... (1964)

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Dewey1960
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INCREDIBLY STRANGE CREATURES... (1964)

Post by Dewey1960 »

The movie you thought was only a legend, merely a figment of someone else's imagination---THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE CREATURES WHO STOPPED LIVING AND BECAME MIXED-UP ZOMBIES---turns up this Friday night on TCM's beloved Underground showcase!

No discussion of the bizarre world of low-budget exploitation sleaze filmmaking can exist without at least a casual mention of Ray Dennis Steckler's mucho mondo 1964 classic of exotic horror, teenage musical and carny sideshow madness. Love it or hate it, it's a one-of-a-kind movie experience that you're not likely to soon forget. And it's in color!

Steckler. who wrote and directed it, also stars (under the name Cash Flagg) as a college student who falls under the spell of a carnival gypsy. Before long he becomes one of the living dead, carrying out gruesome crimes in the name of something or other before succumbing to whatever. It's all an unholy mess, makes little or no sense at all and provides us with a jaw-droppingly weird excursion into the demented psyche of a filmmaker who, although residing permanently on the fringes of obscurity, has given us a prime example of what I like to call "accidental art."

Watch it if you dare! It's followed by yet another Steckler classic, RAT FINK A BOO BOO. (Legend has it that Steckler meant to title the film RAT FINK AND BOO BOO, but the N and D fell off the title card before filming and he neglected to replace them.) God, I love movies!
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Post by SSO Admins »

I'm not sure I can deal with this. I could barely make it through the MST3K version.
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Dewey1960
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Post by Dewey1960 »

Jon, I think you can definitely deal with this. The creators of that dreaded, presumptuous MS3TK should all be forced to live together on an island and watch Anthony Hopkins movies for eternity. That hideous program has done more to discourage people from enjoying the pure delirium of great primitive entertainment than Will Hays and Jack Valenti combined.
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Post by SSO Admins »

I'm sorry, but I LOVE MST3K. I think it's the best TV show of all time, and I have every available episode, either on traded DVD or the Rhino collections.

In fact, the past few months have been some of the most emotionally trying of my life. It's not exaggerating to say that Joel, Mike and the bots saved me in some of the darkest moments.

Plus, the show has probably done more to promote trash cinema than anything else.
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Dewey1960
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Post by Dewey1960 »

Jon, we must simply agree to disagree!
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vallo
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Post by vallo »

As a kid remember the Rat Fink, Models, Cars and the like. it was the SpongeBob of the 60's every kid loved Rat Fink. I'm staying up late on Friday.

Rat Fink: http://www.htd.fr/images/Presse/PR%20AV ... %20Rat.jpg

Bill (vallo)
"We're all forgotten sooner or later. But not films. That's all the memorial we should need or hope for."
-Burt Lancaster
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Post by SSO Admins »

vallo, have you seen this from last year?
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Post by Mr. Arkadin »

Thanks for the tip, Dewey. I will be tuning in. How could anyone not like this:

[youtube][/youtube]

and our hero Zapp Rowsdower:

[youtube][/youtube]
Ollie
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Post by Ollie »

I've had the DVD for a while but never finished it. A year ago, I slipped up and ordered several other Ray Steckler films (Las Vegas killer or some nonsense)... oh gosh, just too terrible. It was definitely a Naked Woman picture - that is, a film that needed Naked Women in it to keep any attention going. And that film needed a LOT of Naked Women - a continuous stream, preferably overcrowding HIS scenes with their bodies. Of course, White Screen would have been more tolerable, too...

I don't know that I "hate" Steckler. Mostly, I feel amazed that the fellow was ever given a second role of film, period. WHY?!! Does anyone have proof that he's done something better with his 2nd role of film compared to his 1st or 300th? No, I don't think so. But WHY have I seen a lot of his films?

Q: "Can they ALL be this bad?"
A: "No. Some were only half that bad."

As if that's the reason I used to keep watching them. He is definitely one of the curiosities in my collection - if the McCarthy Hearings were held and I was forced to name names and give reasons, "Steckler" is the one set of films I'd never find an excuse for having.

And I have NO idea why I'll try to watch INCREDIBLY STRANGE yet again.
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Dewey1960
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Post by Dewey1960 »

Hi there, Ollie! You said...
"Mostly, I feel amazed that the fellow was ever given a second role of film, period. WHY?!"
Well, no one ever gave him a roll of film; he financed these incredibly strange films himself (mainly). What emerged from all of this was a series of compulsively watchable monstrosities, devoid of reason and purpose, an affrontery to all that is decent and good. In other words, perfect Friday night film fare for the impure of heart.
And then you said: "And I have NO idea why I'll try to watch INCREDIBLY STRANGE yet again."
Hey, Ollie; I think I know why!
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Post by SSO Admins »

ROWSDOWER!!

Dewey, we discussed your feelings about MST3K on the show's LiveJournal community here. It's probably not a surprise that most people disagreed with you. :)
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Post by Mr. Arkadin »

Ya shoulda just banned him! I understand the Dewster's point (it shows these films in a bad light), but I also understand many MST3K fans views in the fact that some people are not going to sit down and watch a cult or B film, but they will watch humor. If that leads them to investigate these films on their own--great. If not, I'd probably think they'd never enjoy these types of films anyway.

In a case like The Final Sacrifice (1993), I don't think any harm has been done. This is not a great B film or anything--it's just crap. However, one day I'm sure someone will link Rowsdower with John Wayne or Orson Welles in a stirring critique and prove me wrong! :P
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Dewey1960
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Post by Dewey1960 »

Jon(daris)--
No amount of conversation will change my view of MST3K, although I certainly would never fault anyone else's enjoyment of it. But the idea of a band of smugly condescending nerds poking fun at some of my favorite films is not particularly my idea of a swell time. I'd simply rather just watch the film itself and come up with my own snappy one-liners.
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ChiO
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Post by ChiO »

As one who was able to see only about the first 10-15 minutes of INCREDIBLY STRANGE CREATURES each time in happened to be on some stupid station because we had to go to some stupid party or had some stupid family obligation when I really wanted to watch some stupid movie, I finally rented it about 4 years ago.

I cleared my schedule (i.e. I was alone) and settled in to watch a long awaited classic and...it was the MST3K version! It was the worst movie watching experience in my life. Thank goodness I now have this marvel on VHS (DVD just doesn't seem appropriate) and can watch to my heart's content without interruption.
I love MST3K. Mostly because that's exactly how my entire family use to watch these turkeys.
While I would disagree vehemently with the term "turkey", I agree with the sentiment. That's what families should do. We don't need those guys doing it for us. :lol:

Vive la Steckler! Viva la joy of Film. And viva those brave auteurs -- Welles, Cassavetes, Wood, Steckler, et al. -- who withstand the wrath and jibes of those who refuse to see the Art in Art for Art's Sake (or, the Sartre in Sartre for Sartre's Ache).

P.S. Kovacs' and Zsigmond's cinematography alone makes this a must-see. Carolyn Brandt's dancing -- magnificent! I'm drinking coffee now to stay up for this -- and I have it on glorious VHS!!!! In Hallucinogenic Hypnovision!!!!!!!!
Everyday people...that's what's wrong with the world. -- Morgan Morgan
I love movies. But don't get me wrong. I hate Hollywood. -- Orson Welles
Movies can only go forward in spite of the motion picture industry. -- Orson Welles
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