(1971)
Dir - Harry Essex
Overall: WOOF
Writer/director Harry Essex penned a few notable B-movie screenplays before he directed the Mexican/American co-production Octaman, which is a crap-fisted riff on his own Creature from the Black Lagoon. On the plus side, the movie gets right to the good terrible stuff by showing us baby octopus toys wiggling around on the ground via strings and then lots of shots of the title monster which is a humanoid octopus creature that walks on its hind legs, is usually shot in broad daylight, and occasionally slaps some people to death with its stupid rubber arms. The thing looks ridiculous and for unintentional comedic purposes, it is the star of the show since Essex knew that to keep it off of the screen for too long would likely result in drive-in walk-outs. That said, he still is powerless to keep the film from being an insufferable bore, especially once the second act settles into a handful of people talking, capturing the creature, losing the creature, looking for the creature, and then finding it again at which point they just shoot it with guns until it flops back into the water. Rick Baker worked on the monster which is something that he is probably not proud of, so maybe this can be viewed as historically significant as well as ideal fodder for bad movie night.
(1978)
Dir - Tsugunobu Kotani
Overall: MEH
The second of three giant monster collaborations between Rankin/Bass and Tsuburaya Productions, (all of which were directed by Tsugunobu Kotani and initially aired on ABC in the States before getting picked up theatrically in Japan), The Bermuda Depths has wicked awesome and completely misleading poster art, plus Carl Weathers shooting a harpoon bazooka. Combining sea sirens, a Faustian pact, the mysterious death of Leigh McCloskey's father, and a giant turtle creature, the script by William Overgard and Arthur Rankin Jr. at least deserves points for its hodgepodge of ideas. Unfortunately it is a painfully dull watch, spinning its wheels with characters relaying irrelevant and/or repetitive information and taking over an hour to show the big-shelled reptile on screen. Things still dilly-dally along once Weather and McCloskey are hunting the elusive new species at sea in the third act, lingering in a languid pace even when things technically get going. The film is also peppered with inconsistent performances that bounce between the actors looking bored out of their minds and exploding in an emotional flurry at unintentionally funny intervals.
(1979)
Dir - Worth Keeter
Overall: MEH
Dull and cliche-ridden, Wolfman is the unassuming debut from writer/director Worth Keeter, who would go on to do a number of Power Rangers episodes, amongst other things. This was one of several regional caca-fests from North Carolina-based producer Earl Owensby who casts himself in the title role as a zero-charisma schlub that inherits his father's money, only to find out that a wacky local priest has put a curse on his family because the script needed such a thing. As bland as water-flavored ice cream, the movie goes for a period-set Gothic vibe with nightmare sequences, fog-drenched cemeteries, and eventually Owensby in cheap werewolf makeup that barely gets any screen time or close-ups. Judging by the shoddiness of the production though, it is likely that the funds were lacking to do anything more with the paint-by-numbers material, but it somehow steers clear of being an unwatchable embarrassment. That said, more unintentionally goofy moments could have elevated it to proper bad movie terrain. Instead, it is played sincerely and the lousy acting, lousy script, unhurried pacing, and lack of fun set pieces just makes it as instantly forgettable as any werewolf movie has ever been.
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