Hideous Sun Demon, The |
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USA • 1959 • 74m •
  • Directed by: Robert Clarke, Tom Boutross. • Starring: Robert Clarke, Patricia Manning, Nan Peterson, Patrick Whyte, Fred La Porta, Peter Similuk, William White, Robert Garry, Donna King, Xandra Conkling, Del Courtney, Richard Cassarino, Helen Joseph..      After exposure to radiation, an atomic research scientist finds himself changing into a murderous, lizard-like creature every time he is exposed to sunlight.
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Review:
B-movies have a reputation for being educational and it's no different with this particular gem. We learn from the movie's scientists that Clarke has "devolved" back to the lizard-state - not the ape-state - for, you see, it is not apes which are our distant cousins: it's the lizards. "Darwin never even scratched the surface," says Clarke. (Whereas Clarke doesn't even see the surface.) He is depressed because, just as he was having a wonderful chat with an old woman in a hospital, he turned into a member of GWAR! She shrieked. He ran. He never had any musical ambitions, so this sudden involuntary recruitment into the ranks of GWAR came as a shock. What does that strange R'n'R lifestyle hold for the future? No... No! I don't even play an instrument, he must have thought. But, Clarke... You don't need to play an instrument to be in GWAR. You can be a GWAR-slave.
B-movies aren't only educational for US. Even this movie's scientists learn - from one another. For example, Clarke's colleagues get a Basic Biology lesson from a doctor; he explains to them the magical secrets of life, evolution and silly dialogue. After that it's Clarke sitting in a bar, depressed about being a R'n'R star, and a heavy metal one at that. What will that nice Baptist family next door think? But Clarke's thoughts soon divert to a chesty blonde who sings something bluesy. (What breasts!) Soon Clarke is fighting over her with her manager(?)pimp(?) boyfriend(?) in a fist-fight full of near-hits and pulled punches. Next thing we know, he has completely forgotten about GWAR, inner-lizards, and Darwin, and is smooching on the beach with that chesty blonde! Everything seems okay. But - oh, no... The next morning it's GWAR again; the inner lizard in Clarke is calling him to meet his relatives in the swamps of Florida. Clarke brusquely rejects this invitation and runs in panic, back to his scientist friends.
The next day it's more of the same. Clarke is back in that bar; depressed, drinking, and again has a near-fight experience with the blonde's boyfriendmanagerpimp. The blonde's wishy-washiness becomes apparent at this point: first she was with Pimpy, then dumped him for Clarke, then felt rejected by Clark and went back to Pimpy, only to switch sides again when Pimpy started near-hitting him. But no matter. Minutes later Clarke turns into a GWAR member again and this is the last we see of the blonde. No - she wasn't killed. She simply became a forgotten character.
The rest of the movie has no cleavage to speak of, so let's sum it up very briefly: Clarke doesn't join GWAR for its U.S. tour, but instead decides to go solo. His first tour-date was with a small girl in a barn. She gave him away, and soon the lizard in him was chased by lizard-hating cops. And we all know that what cops don't know is that when they chase a lizard what they are really doing is chasing the lizard in themselves the lizard that is in us all .
Review by Fedor Petrovic (fedor8) from the Internet Movie Database.
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