JANUA-RAY: BODY FEVER (1969) **

(Originally reviewed October 10th, 2021)

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.

JANUA-RAY NOTES:  

1) Body Fever is an atypical Ray Dennis Steckler movie, which, of course, makes it a typical Ray Dennis Steckler movie.  I appreciate the fact that Steckler dabbles in different genres from picture to picture (this time out, it’s an old timey detective story), but that doesn’t necessarily make it good.

2) Director Signatures:  Because this is a largely different Steckler film, his signatures aren't that overt, but we still see traces of an influence from TV’s Batman (Brandt’s cat burglar get-up is obviously inspired by Catwoman, just as Rat Pfink a Boo Boo were inspired by Batman and Robin), long chase scenes, and one character remarks Steckler looks like “the dummy from The Bowery Boys”, a nod to his role in The Lemon Grove Kids.  

3) Steckler’s Stock Player Round-Up:  Ray Dennis Steckler, Carolyn Brandt, Gary Kent, Coleman Francis, Herb Robins, Ron Haydock, Liz Renay, Brick Bardo, and Steckler’s daughters, Laura and Linda.

4) Shameless Self-Promotion:  A poster for Wild Guitar is seen hanging in Steckler’s office.

5) While Body Fever isn’t one of Steckler’s best, it is competently put together and holds your attention, even if it is missing the fun and camp of his earlier efforts.