WEBVTT - Weirdhouse Cinema Rewind: Zaat 0:00:04.360 --> 0:00:08.080 Hey, welcome to Weird How Cinema. Rewind. This is Rob 0:00:08.160 --> 0:00:11.520 Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick, and today we got an 0:00:11.520 --> 0:00:15.120 episode from the vault for you. This is Za or 0:00:15.240 --> 0:00:18.760 the Blood Waters of Dr z Uh. This episode originally 0:00:18.760 --> 0:00:22.640 aired on one April. Am I right about that? Yep? 0:00:22.760 --> 0:00:26.320 I believe. So this one ties into the Stuff to 0:00:26.320 --> 0:00:28.880 Blow Your Mind vault episode that we ran the other day, 0:00:29.040 --> 0:00:32.280 so I think they pair nicely with each other. This is, 0:00:32.320 --> 0:00:35.360 of course, one of three different Florida movies that we 0:00:35.440 --> 0:00:40.680 discussed last year, the Florida Never Stops. Hey, everybody, sit back, enjoy. 0:00:44.360 --> 0:00:46.760 Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind production of My 0:00:46.840 --> 0:00:57.040 Heart Radio. Hey, welcome to Weird How Cinema. This is 0:00:57.120 --> 0:01:00.080 Rob Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick, and I regret to 0:01:00.160 --> 0:01:02.240 inform you right at the start here that the Weird 0:01:02.280 --> 0:01:05.360 House Cinema tour bus has broken down in Florida, so 0:01:05.440 --> 0:01:09.479 we are still stuck in the Sunshine State. That's right. 0:01:09.520 --> 0:01:13.280 We're continuing our look at Florida movies from the nineteen seventies, 0:01:13.520 --> 0:01:16.640 movies filmed in Florida and certainly in the case of 0:01:16.640 --> 0:01:21.160 today's film, and also ninety two Frogs, which we've covered previously. 0:01:21.600 --> 0:01:25.520 Set in Florida as well, they capture a certain Florida 0:01:25.680 --> 0:01:29.640 This both real and imagined. Uh. And this week we're 0:01:29.640 --> 0:01:33.639 gonna look at the Florida movie par Excellence nineteen seventy 0:01:33.720 --> 0:01:37.200 ones ZU. You might know it as the Blood Waters 0:01:37.240 --> 0:01:40.000 of Doctor z. Some of you might even know its 0:01:40.080 --> 0:01:42.840 Hydra basically. As we'll get into it had a number 0:01:42.840 --> 0:01:46.800 of various releases over the years under different titles, but uh, 0:01:47.360 --> 0:01:49.680 for the most part, the one that's stuck is z 0:01:50.160 --> 0:01:54.600 Z a a t. This movie has some thematic overlap 0:01:54.680 --> 0:01:57.560 with other movies that we've looked at, including sort of 0:01:57.600 --> 0:02:00.520 like Nature strikes Back movies, though this is not exactly 0:02:00.600 --> 0:02:03.800 Nature strikes Back. This is more of a uh. This 0:02:03.880 --> 0:02:06.640 is more of a sort of cheap body horror, mad 0:02:06.800 --> 0:02:11.800 science movie with some ecological themes to it rather than 0:02:11.840 --> 0:02:16.760 just like animals attacking for revenge on humankind. Yeah, it's 0:02:16.800 --> 0:02:20.200 I guess at hart. It's a creature feature. But like 0:02:20.200 --> 0:02:22.200 like a lot of films that you encounter like this, 0:02:22.560 --> 0:02:27.160 certainly like like the first big independent efforts from from 0:02:27.320 --> 0:02:30.640 filmmakers it It tries to do a lot of things, 0:02:30.680 --> 0:02:33.320 so it's it's it's a creature feature, but it's also 0:02:33.680 --> 0:02:38.440 like a science team adventure. It's also um, you know, 0:02:38.480 --> 0:02:40.959 it also tries to be uh in the heat of 0:02:41.000 --> 0:02:44.000 the night a little bit and uh. It also has 0:02:44.080 --> 0:02:47.639 this nature strikes back element to it. It's also a 0:02:47.720 --> 0:02:51.720 kind of a hippie folk musical, so it it kind 0:02:51.720 --> 0:02:55.320 of bats itself around a lot and um. Depending on 0:02:55.360 --> 0:02:57.799 where you are in the film, you might get something 0:02:57.840 --> 0:03:01.760 that is uh tonally different from another portion of the film. 0:03:02.040 --> 0:03:05.080 It also has a little bit of overlap with Boggy 0:03:05.120 --> 0:03:07.880 Creek two, and the legend continues. We can talk about 0:03:07.960 --> 0:03:10.240 some of the similarities as we go on, but uh, 0:03:10.639 --> 0:03:15.200 but I appreciated the the similar pompous voiceover narration, though 0:03:15.240 --> 0:03:17.880 in this case it is the voiceover of a of 0:03:17.880 --> 0:03:22.360 a crazed uh spurned scientist who wants revenge on the world, 0:03:22.400 --> 0:03:26.079 whereas in Boggy Creek Too, it's just a kind of uh, 0:03:26.120 --> 0:03:28.600 I don't know, like the town smart guy who wants 0:03:28.639 --> 0:03:30.959 to to show off all his knowledge about the river. 0:03:31.960 --> 0:03:36.080 Yeah yeah, yeah. The voiceover narration and this is um 0:03:36.280 --> 0:03:39.520 is sardonic to the max. Like if you took Vincent 0:03:39.600 --> 0:03:43.600 Price's voice and you reduced it overheat for a little 0:03:43.600 --> 0:03:47.320 bit until it was it was just extra ikey and gooky. 0:03:47.920 --> 0:03:50.440 That's what you'd have in the Bloodwaters of Doctor Z. 0:03:50.880 --> 0:03:56.520 The voiceover narration wear's joker makeup. Yeah. Now, um, if 0:03:56.520 --> 0:03:59.680 you mentioned Boggy Creeker earlier, and I think this is 0:03:59.800 --> 0:04:02.680 a good point to mention that this film was was 0:04:02.840 --> 0:04:06.640 riffed in a episode of Mystery Science Feed or three 0:04:06.680 --> 0:04:09.800 thousand under the title the Bloodwaters of Dr Z. And 0:04:09.800 --> 0:04:12.320 if you're like me, that might be where you discovered 0:04:12.320 --> 0:04:16.440 the film. Um, and that's a great MST episode. I 0:04:16.440 --> 0:04:20.120 don't want to take anything away from that, but as 0:04:20.160 --> 0:04:22.800 I would watch and rewatch that episode, I found that, 0:04:23.400 --> 0:04:26.039 like a lot of MST episodes that really called to me, 0:04:26.080 --> 0:04:28.960 there was something in the underlying film. There was an 0:04:29.000 --> 0:04:32.080 awkwardness to it, a kind of loneliness to it. And 0:04:32.120 --> 0:04:35.279 I've also grown to really appreciate the Florida ness of 0:04:35.400 --> 0:04:39.159 it as well. So for this episode of Weird House Cinema, 0:04:39.240 --> 0:04:42.440 this was the first time I watched an unriffed version 0:04:43.000 --> 0:04:48.000 of that which rented from Atlanta's Video Drome video rental store. 0:04:48.360 --> 0:04:50.520 And uh, you know, ultimately I encourage fans of the 0:04:50.640 --> 0:04:53.200 MST episode to do the same, because like a lot 0:04:53.240 --> 0:04:55.920 of MST films, it was really edited, really cut down 0:04:55.960 --> 0:04:58.520 for time, and so there's a there's a lot of 0:04:58.600 --> 0:05:02.040 stuff that you're missing out on, some really um walky 0:05:02.120 --> 0:05:06.560 and at times grotesque details and sometimes just ludicrous um 0:05:06.600 --> 0:05:09.480 additions to the film. This is not of the attack 0:05:09.520 --> 0:05:13.239 of the Crab Monsters School of Creature feature run time. 0:05:13.279 --> 0:05:15.800 You know, it's not your sixty three minute abs this one, 0:05:16.000 --> 0:05:19.040 I think is it's it's actually getting close to two 0:05:19.120 --> 0:05:21.520 full hours, isn't it. Yeah, I think it's the it's 0:05:21.520 --> 0:05:25.040 a hundred minutes long. It's a it's it's plus size 0:05:25.120 --> 0:05:28.880 this one. Um, so you can you have to set 0:05:28.960 --> 0:05:31.080 us out a little bit of time for it. Um. 0:05:31.200 --> 0:05:33.359 And again the pacing is is at times kind of 0:05:33.400 --> 0:05:38.720 weird but also antic um quite ludic at times. Uh huh. 0:05:39.320 --> 0:05:41.880 Now we mentioned the MST episode. I think a lot 0:05:41.920 --> 0:05:44.520 of people did discover it through that. Um. But the 0:05:44.520 --> 0:05:47.560 film has has had a cult following outside of MST 0:05:47.680 --> 0:05:52.320 as well, despite only having a limited release in Jacksonville, Florida, 0:05:52.760 --> 0:05:58.080 and New York's Street back in nine two. The uh 0:05:58.240 --> 0:06:00.359 you have the version we watched it begin ends with 0:06:00.360 --> 0:06:03.080 the statement from the director where he's like people were 0:06:03.120 --> 0:06:05.880 coming up to be and saying, don don You've got 0:06:05.880 --> 0:06:09.880 to release this movie? Yes, so yeah, I think it was. 0:06:09.960 --> 0:06:13.200 It was people really wanted some sort of release for 0:06:13.200 --> 0:06:16.440 a long time, and luckily in recent years it has 0:06:16.480 --> 0:06:20.599 been available. Um. But yeah, this this film, like the 0:06:20.600 --> 0:06:25.600 Scorpion Fish uh and the Sargassum Fish is, it's been patient. 0:06:26.000 --> 0:06:30.080 It knew that it would one day conquer the universe. Um. 0:06:30.160 --> 0:06:32.159 And and it has its super fans, one of which 0:06:32.520 --> 0:06:36.600 is the Atlanta artist and Jacksonville native our Land, who 0:06:36.640 --> 0:06:39.080 I know we're both the fans of. Have you seen 0:06:39.120 --> 0:06:42.320 any of our Lands Zapp pieces? Joe, Oh, I don't know. 0:06:42.400 --> 0:06:44.640 I've seen a lot of his stuff around town, a 0:06:44.640 --> 0:06:47.040 lot of you know, restaurants and coffee shops and stuff. 0:06:47.160 --> 0:06:49.400 We'll have our Land pieces up on the walls. I 0:06:49.440 --> 0:06:51.440 think some of his work also, though I don't quite 0:06:51.480 --> 0:06:53.840 recall how, was featured in some adults Win shows. I 0:06:53.880 --> 0:06:56.240 could be wrong about that, but no, I don't know 0:06:56.320 --> 0:06:58.600 which the za ones are. I know his, I know 0:06:58.720 --> 0:07:01.479 his piece that's like the die verse with the spear guns. 0:07:01.600 --> 0:07:04.360 Is that that related? Um? That one might not be 0:07:04.400 --> 0:07:06.840 I mean, he's he works Florida into a lot of 0:07:06.839 --> 0:07:10.240 his pieces, but he did, Um, he did create a 0:07:10.320 --> 0:07:13.760 number of art pieces that actually feature that he did. 0:07:13.840 --> 0:07:16.160 He did a show as part of a two thousand 0:07:16.280 --> 0:07:18.840 nine screening of the film at the Plaza here in Atlanta, 0:07:19.440 --> 0:07:21.680 and at least some of the pieces I assume from 0:07:21.720 --> 0:07:24.240 that show were that they used to hang out over 0:07:24.280 --> 0:07:27.560 at Joe's Coffee in East Atlanta. Uh, and I would 0:07:27.600 --> 0:07:30.200 go there and bring my laptop and work. Uh and um, 0:07:30.400 --> 0:07:31.760 I don't know, there may still be some pieces there. 0:07:31.760 --> 0:07:33.560 I haven't been there in a in a spell, but uh, 0:07:33.600 --> 0:07:36.840 there you know, images of Za and uh. He had 0:07:36.880 --> 0:07:39.920 some some spinoffs over the years as well, Like there 0:07:40.000 --> 0:07:41.520 was one that was like a real estate sign that 0:07:41.600 --> 0:07:45.480 says that did it again. Um, And then he's he 0:07:45.600 --> 0:07:48.520 recently did did one at least online that was a 0:07:48.600 --> 0:07:53.480 zat or day uh thing. It was pretty amusing. But yeah, 0:07:53.480 --> 0:07:56.120 he's he's apparently a zat Mega fan and they know 0:07:56.160 --> 0:07:58.400 a lot of people like him out there, you know 0:07:58.440 --> 0:08:01.400 where you see this maybe and you're younger, and something 0:08:01.480 --> 0:08:04.320 about it's that it sticks in into your brain and 0:08:04.320 --> 0:08:06.760 you can't quite get it out, all right, what's the 0:08:06.800 --> 0:08:10.360 elevator pitch? On this film, a lonely mad scientist in 0:08:10.440 --> 0:08:13.400 Florida hatches a plan to raise an army of giant 0:08:13.520 --> 0:08:18.080 walking catfish and avenge himself over his colleagues and also 0:08:18.160 --> 0:08:23.200 conquered the planet, perhaps the universe. Uh, and we're left 0:08:23.200 --> 0:08:25.760 to follow him and see how it works out. Let's 0:08:25.760 --> 0:08:33.880 hear that trailer audio and now coming to this theater. 0:08:35.280 --> 0:08:41.920 One of the most incredible stories of modern time sat 0:08:43.800 --> 0:08:51.880 Invasion of the Walking Catfish. A crazed scientist Dr. Leopold 0:08:52.080 --> 0:08:58.760 is convinced he can turn humans into fish. He proves 0:08:58.760 --> 0:09:11.920 it by transforming himself into a horrible oul that tells 0:09:11.960 --> 0:09:21.160 it all. You won't want to miss that, positively, No 0:09:21.240 --> 0:09:34.720 one admitted during the last minutes. Okay, now, you would 0:09:34.800 --> 0:09:37.240 not have expected a movie like this to have major 0:09:37.320 --> 0:09:40.640 folk music themes. And I don't know if the trailer 0:09:40.679 --> 0:09:43.640 audio we just played had the folk music in it. Uh. 0:09:43.880 --> 0:09:46.320 If not, maybe we should insert a clip right here, 0:09:46.440 --> 0:09:48.160 just because like you've got to have this in your 0:09:48.160 --> 0:09:51.120 head to understand everything that comes after. Oh yeah, I 0:09:51.120 --> 0:09:53.319 mean we can go straight to the music here if 0:09:53.360 --> 0:09:56.920 you like, uh this, uh, what we're about to hear 0:09:57.280 --> 0:10:00.400 is um is a is a bit from a song 0:10:00.559 --> 0:10:04.240 titled World War two Boy, which is a very strange, 0:10:04.320 --> 0:10:10.119 strange title. But this is from Barry Hodgen and Jamie Defrates. 0:10:10.440 --> 0:10:13.520 They were the composers, and this is Jamie Defrate's performing 0:10:13.520 --> 0:10:27.360 the song. Alright, that's just a clip, but this song 0:10:27.440 --> 0:10:30.840 is performed in its entirety at the top of the film. 0:10:30.960 --> 0:10:34.520 Um and it's and I actually love it. I listened 0:10:34.559 --> 0:10:37.079 to this song quite a bit, especially in the last 0:10:37.120 --> 0:10:39.800 couple of weeks leading up to this episode, because you can. 0:10:39.840 --> 0:10:43.199 You can find this on Spotify and various other streaming places. 0:10:43.200 --> 0:10:45.800 If you just look up Z songs or or Jamie 0:10:45.840 --> 0:10:49.120 Defrates you will find it. Uh, there's a B side 0:10:49.160 --> 0:10:51.000 and we'll get to the B side track in a bit. 0:10:51.640 --> 0:10:54.560 But these tracks are featured in the film in full 0:10:54.840 --> 0:10:58.320 no cuts, so it's almost it's almost a rock opera, 0:10:58.960 --> 0:11:01.360 not quite, only only a couple of songs in the movie, 0:11:01.400 --> 0:11:04.760 but like it has musical numbers. Yeah, and I have 0:11:04.920 --> 0:11:07.200 to say, I mean, we'll get into this little bit 0:11:07.200 --> 0:11:09.600 when we start rolling through the plot, but yeah, the music. 0:11:10.480 --> 0:11:13.079 Music always elevates the film. If you have quality music, 0:11:13.400 --> 0:11:18.280 it can really create dimensions that would not be there otherwise. 0:11:18.640 --> 0:11:21.560 And I legitimately think that the music and Za, both 0:11:21.720 --> 0:11:23.439 the folk music and some of the other music will 0:11:23.440 --> 0:11:25.920 get to does a great job of that. Like it 0:11:25.920 --> 0:11:32.960 takes this this sort of awkward, fumbling creature feature and 0:11:32.960 --> 0:11:35.400 and elevates it to a to this level where it 0:11:35.440 --> 0:11:38.480 does legitimately get caught up in your brain. Do you 0:11:38.480 --> 0:11:40.880 ever hear that story? It was by somebody who worked 0:11:40.920 --> 0:11:44.120 on Halloween with John Carpenter. It might have been Donald 0:11:44.160 --> 0:11:46.679 Pleasants who told the story about going to see a 0:11:46.720 --> 0:11:49.880 preview screening of the movie where the music had not 0:11:50.000 --> 0:11:53.160 been added in yet and thinking like, oh no, what 0:11:53.320 --> 0:11:57.840 a disaster. I'm so embarrassed, and then seeing another cut 0:11:57.960 --> 0:12:00.880 later when the music had been finn Ish and added in, 0:12:01.000 --> 0:12:05.480 and suddenly everybody thinks this is a horror masterpiece. Yeah, yeah, 0:12:05.520 --> 0:12:09.200 I mean it. It really does it? It? Uh, it 0:12:09.280 --> 0:12:12.360 can really elevate things to to new levels. Though shocking 0:12:12.360 --> 0:12:15.800 that Donald Pleasants would find embarrassment in a film at 0:12:15.840 --> 0:12:17.680 that stage of his career, because it's not like this 0:12:17.720 --> 0:12:21.240 would have been the first the first bad movie he 0:12:21.360 --> 0:12:26.280 was in. This come before after Puma. Man. Uh, I 0:12:26.320 --> 0:12:30.120 don't recall. Oh, but either either way, there were definitely 0:12:30.160 --> 0:12:33.800 some Puma Man's in there before Halloween. All right, we'll 0:12:33.840 --> 0:12:35.400 come back to more about the music in a bit, 0:12:35.440 --> 0:12:39.000 but let's uh, let's start with the screenwriter, or one 0:12:39.000 --> 0:12:42.040 of the screenwriters and the director, Don Barton, who lived 0:12:42.120 --> 0:12:46.719 ninety so he was he was very much alive to 0:12:46.840 --> 0:12:50.839 see the renaissance of of that, the resurgence of that, 0:12:51.720 --> 0:12:55.880 and in fact, the disc that we watched featured introductory 0:12:55.960 --> 0:12:59.839 commentary by Don Barton thanking everyone for their support of 0:12:59.880 --> 0:13:02.560 the creature here. Yeah, yeah, he shows up right at 0:13:02.600 --> 0:13:04.319 the top of the film. And I should point out 0:13:04.360 --> 0:13:06.240 this disc. It like it's one of those that doesn't 0:13:06.280 --> 0:13:08.640 even have a menu in it. It just you just 0:13:08.679 --> 0:13:10.880 put it in and it just plays that the only 0:13:10.880 --> 0:13:14.200 option is play. Um. But it starts with him talking 0:13:14.280 --> 0:13:17.840 and he Don Barton says, uh, in nineteen seventy one, 0:13:18.000 --> 0:13:21.679 my film production company in Jacksonville, Florida, decided that the 0:13:21.679 --> 0:13:24.959 time was right to make a feature film, meaning this 0:13:25.040 --> 0:13:27.520 was his first feature film. He'd only done one other 0:13:27.600 --> 0:13:29.520 movie before this, which we'll talk about in the second, 0:13:29.559 --> 0:13:32.360 which was a short film. But he says he sat 0:13:32.400 --> 0:13:35.880 down with his staff to discuss ideas quote, and we 0:13:35.960 --> 0:13:39.240 decided that our first motion picture should be a creature feature. 0:13:39.880 --> 0:13:42.840 Uh so this turned into an idea I think talking 0:13:42.840 --> 0:13:46.160 with some writers and associates of his about a man 0:13:46.240 --> 0:13:50.640 catfish creature that terrorizes a small town in his quest 0:13:50.720 --> 0:13:54.360 for revenge. And then Don Barton says that the initial 0:13:54.400 --> 0:13:58.400 theatrical release was very promising. He doesn't elaborate on what 0:13:58.480 --> 0:14:03.319 exactly that means, but he says that due to unspecified mishaps, 0:14:03.679 --> 0:14:06.880 the film had been unavailable for like thirty years at 0:14:06.920 --> 0:14:09.600 the time that it was rereleased. So I wonder, I mean, 0:14:09.600 --> 0:14:11.360 there must have been some way people got it, because 0:14:11.480 --> 0:14:13.800 the they must have gotten a tape of it for 0:14:13.960 --> 0:14:16.920 Mystery science theater. I'm not sure what. Yeah, so I 0:14:16.960 --> 0:14:19.480 think even that there was some issues, if I am 0:14:19.520 --> 0:14:21.760 to understand correctly, like there was some there was a 0:14:21.800 --> 0:14:24.680 situation where a sci fi channel I think at the time, 0:14:24.680 --> 0:14:27.800 aired it and then Barton's people got in touch with 0:14:27.880 --> 0:14:29.880 them and there was some back and forth about like 0:14:29.960 --> 0:14:32.560 the rights, but it eventually got worked out. Okay, that 0:14:32.640 --> 0:14:35.000 that that makes sense. But um Man, when I was 0:14:35.040 --> 0:14:38.280 watching this preamble by Don Barton at the beginning of 0:14:38.320 --> 0:14:41.760 the movie. I kept thinking, who does this guy remind 0:14:41.880 --> 0:14:44.440 me of his Something about his voice and the way 0:14:44.480 --> 0:14:48.080 he talks, And then I realized, he reminds me of 0:14:48.200 --> 0:14:51.720 the TV news host Bill Moyers, who used to do 0:14:51.800 --> 0:14:54.320 like I think he worked for Uh, he did his 0:14:54.480 --> 0:14:56.840 specials for PBS, and then I think he worked for 0:14:56.880 --> 0:15:00.360 CBS for a while. Um. But so like I got 0:15:00.400 --> 0:15:02.880 that feeling like, oh no, this is like Bill Moyer's 0:15:03.040 --> 0:15:06.680 introducing a PBS special on that it's going to feature 0:15:06.760 --> 0:15:11.840 interviews with Joseph Campbell. Yeah, it does have that kind 0:15:11.880 --> 0:15:15.400 of vibe. Now, yeah, we mentioned Jacksonville already, uh, and 0:15:15.520 --> 0:15:19.760 we will mention Jacksonville. Somemore Barton was Jacksonville based. He's 0:15:19.800 --> 0:15:22.840 a producer and director. This was his second and last 0:15:24.200 --> 0:15:27.760 directorial credit, following nineteen sixty nine They're out to Get You. 0:15:28.080 --> 0:15:30.040 But he was apparently involved throughout his life in the 0:15:30.040 --> 0:15:33.960 Florida film industry, having co founded the Florida Motion Picture 0:15:33.960 --> 0:15:39.040 and Television Production Association, and he also produced documentaries, training films, 0:15:39.280 --> 0:15:42.960 TV commercials, etcetera. And this is actually more of the 0:15:43.040 --> 0:15:45.560 genre that They're out to Get You. Was so They're 0:15:45.600 --> 0:15:47.360 out to get you? I was really looking for an 0:15:47.360 --> 0:15:50.160 online copy of it, and I couldn't find anything. But 0:15:50.160 --> 0:15:53.400 but if somebody out there has better sleuthing capabilities, please 0:15:53.400 --> 0:15:56.920 send this our way. Um, this is not an entertainment film. 0:15:56.960 --> 0:15:59.520 They're out to get you. From nineteen sixty nine is 0:15:59.680 --> 0:16:03.040 an educational short that I think was supposed to be 0:16:03.120 --> 0:16:06.920 shown to retail employees. So it's like one of those 0:16:07.120 --> 0:16:11.000 you know, harassment or ethics training video workplace videos they 0:16:11.040 --> 0:16:12.840 show you on the first day at a new job, 0:16:13.480 --> 0:16:17.320 except it is about shoplifting, and the plot of it 0:16:17.440 --> 0:16:20.480 is that there's this young criminal, or at least this 0:16:20.520 --> 0:16:22.480 is the alleged plot. I had to find a summary. 0:16:22.520 --> 0:16:26.400 Somebody wrote online. There's a young criminal named Tony Alto 0:16:26.600 --> 0:16:30.120 who steals cars for a living, and he gets caught 0:16:30.160 --> 0:16:33.480 and sent to prison, And in prison, his cell mate 0:16:33.520 --> 0:16:35.680 turns out to be this, uh, I don't know this, 0:16:36.160 --> 0:16:38.480 the smooth guy who's going to tell him no, no, no, 0:16:38.640 --> 0:16:42.240 stealing cars, you're doing it all wrong. Here's what's up shoplifting, 0:16:42.760 --> 0:16:45.400 And he explains to him why shoplifting is a much 0:16:45.440 --> 0:16:48.840 better way to to make a living by stealing, And 0:16:48.880 --> 0:16:50.800 so as you go through the narrative, I think it 0:16:50.920 --> 0:16:54.640 shows the tricks that shoplifters could be using in your store, 0:16:55.160 --> 0:17:00.840 or your store or yours. So it also sounds like 0:17:00.880 --> 0:17:04.560 it's just in general, a shoplifting training video for very 0:17:04.600 --> 0:17:06.919 either side of the equation. Well, it's kind of like 0:17:06.960 --> 0:17:10.399 how Dare was supposed to scare kids away from doing drugs, 0:17:10.440 --> 0:17:12.080 but instead it was just kind of like here all 0:17:12.080 --> 0:17:16.600 the different kinds of drugs you could do. Alright, Well, 0:17:16.680 --> 0:17:20.119 let's talk very briefly about the additional story credits um 0:17:20.440 --> 0:17:25.960 Ron Kivett and Arnold Stevens and also Lee oh Lar LaRue. 0:17:26.520 --> 0:17:29.840 Not much to report here though. Ron Kivitt was apparently 0:17:29.880 --> 0:17:33.359 an investigator on History Channels ancient aliens at one point, 0:17:33.440 --> 0:17:38.080 so he investigating aliens, I guess or pyramids. One of 0:17:38.080 --> 0:17:41.080 it was, you know, one of the two, probably um. 0:17:41.240 --> 0:17:44.320 But that that's the main creative force behind the picture 0:17:44.440 --> 0:17:46.280 that we're going to discuss here at the top. It's 0:17:46.320 --> 0:17:50.520 time to get into the cast. And the film is 0:17:50.560 --> 0:17:54.840 initially concerned with only one human being and devotes a 0:17:54.920 --> 0:17:59.840 good twentysomething minutes to just him, and that is our 0:18:00.000 --> 0:18:04.560 our signature character, our our main character, Dr Kurt Leopold, 0:18:04.640 --> 0:18:08.240 played by Marshall Grower. Now this is his one and 0:18:08.320 --> 0:18:11.520 only film role, and for a long time I assumed 0:18:11.760 --> 0:18:14.240 that he only did the physical performance that we're seeing 0:18:14.280 --> 0:18:18.360 Marshall Grower and somebody else's providing that just overly sardonic 0:18:18.680 --> 0:18:21.000 voiceover that we were talking about that again, it's just 0:18:21.080 --> 0:18:25.439 like Vincent Price turned up to eleven Vincent Price without 0:18:25.480 --> 0:18:28.960 any uh you know, humanity left in it at all. 0:18:29.040 --> 0:18:31.760 The you know, the the voice of just a uh 0:18:32.280 --> 0:18:37.200 an overacting demon. But he apparently did the narration as well. 0:18:37.600 --> 0:18:41.840 Um Leopold, the character, the human character never speaks on camera, 0:18:43.240 --> 0:18:46.760 not a single time, but we have just this voiceover 0:18:47.320 --> 0:18:51.320 at length describing what he's planning to do, what he's doing, 0:18:51.840 --> 0:18:55.320 um what you know, his ultimate aspirations are, uh it's 0:18:55.359 --> 0:18:57.719 it's a lot of fun. But I would say Marshall 0:18:57.760 --> 0:19:01.840 Grower is is just delightful in this film because the 0:19:01.920 --> 0:19:05.840 voiceover is just it's so rich, it's just so overdone. 0:19:05.920 --> 0:19:11.080 And then physically he has this weird combo of sinister 0:19:11.240 --> 0:19:16.159 awkwardness and this kind of outsider sadness, which when you 0:19:16.200 --> 0:19:19.159 throw in the sort of film quality of that, it 0:19:19.200 --> 0:19:22.320 feels like you're watching a window into someone's personal hell. 0:19:22.720 --> 0:19:26.840 You know, Dr Leopold is a human with the personality 0:19:26.960 --> 0:19:32.399 of a car that's having maintenance problems. He's having trouble accelerating, 0:19:32.560 --> 0:19:35.879 he's releasing dark, foul smelling exhaust, like he needs to 0:19:35.880 --> 0:19:40.040 get his catalytic converter replaced. But also the thing that 0:19:40.240 --> 0:19:42.879 I realized about him that there's a scene early in 0:19:42.920 --> 0:19:47.120 the film where he's walking along a beach, but he's 0:19:47.160 --> 0:19:49.800 not dressed for the beach. He's wearing long slacks and 0:19:49.840 --> 0:19:52.840 the shirt tucked in and his heads hanging down and 0:19:52.880 --> 0:19:56.320 this kind of like sad like puppy dog way, except 0:19:56.359 --> 0:20:00.320 he's he's a little he's more drabbed than a puppy dog. Uh. 0:20:00.359 --> 0:20:03.639 And you know, there's this acoustic guitar strumming in the background, 0:20:04.119 --> 0:20:07.639 and he's just this beacon of shabbiness. In some shots 0:20:07.680 --> 0:20:12.800 he's giving off strong, hairy Dean Stanton fumes. Yeah, yeah, 0:20:12.840 --> 0:20:15.280 I think that's a that's a good comparison, that kind 0:20:15.320 --> 0:20:20.160 of drawn haggard appearance. Yeah. But on the other hand, 0:20:20.280 --> 0:20:23.440 he has a haircut that doesn't quite match. Because I 0:20:23.480 --> 0:20:26.600 don't know how to describe his his haircut. It's very strange. 0:20:26.720 --> 0:20:30.640 It's kind of messy and mappy in the front, but 0:20:30.760 --> 0:20:33.919 also to make it weirder. So it's a haircut that 0:20:33.960 --> 0:20:36.840 I think I've basically only seen on women before. It's 0:20:37.160 --> 0:20:39.840 a cut style this kind of puffy up in the 0:20:39.880 --> 0:20:42.840 back and raises up towards the back or the crown 0:20:42.920 --> 0:20:46.240 of the head, and then goes flat down toward the front. 0:20:47.480 --> 0:20:50.240 Do you do you know what I'm talking about? Um, 0:20:50.280 --> 0:20:52.680 I'm having a hard time picturing his hair in my head. 0:20:52.760 --> 0:20:56.800 I all my pictures that face and then later that 0:20:56.800 --> 0:21:02.440 that bod Uh we'll get to. Uh. Well, anyway, he's 0:21:02.480 --> 0:21:06.760 a he's a profound screen presence. Imdbat is not list 0:21:06.920 --> 0:21:09.280 birth and death dates for Grower, but I was looking 0:21:09.320 --> 0:21:13.800 around and I think I found him as being listed. 0:21:13.880 --> 0:21:16.960 Is buried in a a cemetery in Jacksonville, and he 0:21:17.000 --> 0:21:20.920 lived nineteen two through And uh, if I have the 0:21:21.000 --> 0:21:23.240 right guy here, and I'm pretty sure I do, he 0:21:23.320 --> 0:21:26.360 was he was pretty active in the Jacksonville theaters, so uh, 0:21:26.400 --> 0:21:28.800 and I would not be surprised if that's where Ultimately 0:21:28.800 --> 0:21:31.320 a number of these actors come from, actors that in 0:21:31.359 --> 0:21:34.800 many cases have no other movie credits listed to them. 0:21:34.800 --> 0:21:38.840 Thinking about this guy being active in Jacksonville theater got 0:21:38.880 --> 0:21:40.760 me off on a tangent that I actually think about 0:21:40.760 --> 0:21:43.600 a good bit when we're watching these B movies, especially 0:21:44.359 --> 0:21:48.840 locally produced B movies, movies that are, you know, not 0:21:49.160 --> 0:21:51.320 a product of l A, but you know, come out 0:21:51.320 --> 0:21:53.960 of Florida or somewhere else in the country. Uh. And 0:21:53.960 --> 0:21:57.640 it got me thinking about how acting talent translates across 0:21:57.720 --> 0:22:01.040 from stage to screen and and the connect that can 0:22:01.119 --> 0:22:05.159 occur when somebody spans these two worlds. Because I was 0:22:05.200 --> 0:22:08.359 thinking about a story where a longtime close friend of mine, 0:22:08.480 --> 0:22:11.520 he used to do some local theater directing in Tennessee, 0:22:12.040 --> 0:22:15.480 and he was at one point directing. This was years ago, 0:22:15.520 --> 0:22:17.679 but at one point he was directing an adaptation of 0:22:17.680 --> 0:22:20.719 a Tennessee Williams play, I think, and he ended up 0:22:20.760 --> 0:22:23.760 working with this actor who, according to him, was just 0:22:23.920 --> 0:22:26.560 magical on stage, you know, one of the best actors 0:22:26.560 --> 0:22:28.639 he had ever worked with, and and it was it 0:22:28.680 --> 0:22:31.920 was spell binding. But we found out this guy had 0:22:31.960 --> 0:22:34.480 also been in a few movies and I don't recall 0:22:34.520 --> 0:22:37.040 the exact titles, but they were just like z grade 0:22:37.080 --> 0:22:40.679 horror movies, you know, Chuo Pacabra, Rampage nine or something 0:22:40.760 --> 0:22:44.880 like that, And so we we watched these and this 0:22:44.920 --> 0:22:49.120 amazing local theater actor was, you know, just not especially 0:22:49.160 --> 0:22:53.240 impressive in a direct video horror context. And I remember 0:22:53.280 --> 0:22:55.840 having a kind of revelation at that point that like, oh, 0:22:55.920 --> 0:22:59.720 you know, stage talent and screen talent are not always interchangeable. 0:23:00.080 --> 0:23:03.399 End context really matters. Like somebody who can be a 0:23:03.520 --> 0:23:06.520 very good actor when they've got good material to work with, 0:23:06.560 --> 0:23:07.840 Like a lot of a lot of the people who 0:23:07.920 --> 0:23:10.080 do these Z grade horror movies are probably a lot 0:23:10.119 --> 0:23:13.560 of times doing Shakespeare or something, you know, in local theater, 0:23:14.000 --> 0:23:16.560 or they're or they're they're doing Tennessee Williams plays or 0:23:16.600 --> 0:23:19.040 something like that. But then when you put them in 0:23:19.480 --> 0:23:24.280 in a catfish monster movie, the whatever talents they've developed 0:23:24.359 --> 0:23:30.000 for those other acting contexts just don't really translate. But 0:23:30.359 --> 0:23:33.639 there's a good chance in any given B movie that 0:23:33.720 --> 0:23:35.720 there are plenty of members of the cast who are 0:23:35.880 --> 0:23:38.159 no names in the film world, but they're like the 0:23:38.200 --> 0:23:41.360 best actor in their local theater group and they're used 0:23:41.400 --> 0:23:44.160