Ray Dennis Steckler stars as a down on his luck private eye who’s hiding out from finance companies coming to collect on his many debts. He gets a job from some shady customers to find a cat burglar (Steckler’s real-life wife and frequent leading lady, Carolyn Brandt) who ripped off a sweaty underworld boss (Bernard Fein). Once Steckler finally tracks her down, she offers to cut him in for half of the stolen loot.
Body Fever resembles a “real” movie, which is more than I can say for many other Steckler joints. However, that ramshackle homemade quality is usually the most endearing aspect of his films. As it is, it’s a relatively straightforward, albeit completely forgettable throwback to the detective genre of the ‘40s and ‘50s.
Steckler must’ve thought his performance was noteworthy because he is billed under his real name and not his usual “Cash Flagg” pseudonym. He is sorely miscast as a hardboiled private detective, but his goofy aloofness at the very least makes the cliched detective sequences watchable. Al Adamson regular Gary Kent also appears as a tough guy, as does Coleman Francis, who has a bit part. (Legend has it, he was added to the cast after production wrapped when Steckler found Francis lying drunk and broke in the gutter.)
If anything, Body Fever is proof that Steckler could produce a competently put-together movie. It’s just that without a Z grade premise or title (as was the case with The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies), it’s all rather forgettable. The occasional glimpse of nudity portends Steckler’s eventual career turn into porn. It definitely needed more than a few quick snippets of skin to elevate it into something recommended, but as far as Steckler’s films go, you can do a whole lot worse.
AKA: Super Cool. AKA: Deadlocked. AKA: The Last Original B Movie.
No comments:
Post a Comment