Creature
of Destruction was the last of four made-for-TV remakes of AIP movies Larry
Buchanan directed in the ‘60s. It’s his
version of The She-Creature. If you’re a
fan of that picture, you might enjoy seeing the way Buchanan restages some of
its most memorable scenes. Fans of
cheesy monster flicks will get a kick out of the awful green-skinned, bug-eyed
lizard monster, although it will probably make you yearn for Paul Blaisdell’s
original She-Creature creation.
Les
(The Slime People) Tremayne has the Chester Morris role of the hypnotist whose
stage act concludes with him predicting murder.
When his predictions come true, a huckster (Neil Fletcher) tries to
promote his act and milk it for all its worth.
A skeptic (Aron Kincaid) is roped into the act, which revolves around Tremayne
doing a lot of past-lives hypnotism on his assistant (Pat Delaney). He sees that she is being held against her
will and he tries to free her from Tremayne’s clutches.
Creature
of Destruction copies The She-Creature nearly scene for scene during some
stretches. The biggest difference is
that it features a gratuitous (though not-bad) rock band who are very much a
time capsule. (They even sing a song
about Batman!) Their performances, along
with the endless shots of teens dancing, help to pad out the running time.
From
a technical standpoint, the movie is all over the map. The cinematography is great, and Buchanan’s
use of color is sometimes eye-popping.
The sound is another story as there are some scenes in which the
dialogue is poorly dubbed. Tremayne is a
bit miscast as the psychic, but he’s fun to watch. Aron Kincaid is pretty horrible though as the
romantic lead. If you thought Lance
Fuller was boring in The She-Creature, wait till you get a load of this
guy. Delaney is quite fetching as the
lovely Doreena, although she spends most of the movie in a trance.
The
silly songs and stupid monster can only take this thing so far. For most of the running time, it’s a chore to
sit through. The scenes of Tremayne
negotiating his contract are especially dull.
By the time he starts putting Delaney into a deep sleep, you’re liable
to follow her.
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