"I think they were trying for 'A Touch Of Evil' in this movie, but they actually wound up with a touch of something else." - Crow T. Robot. This was the last movie covered by MST3000 when they were on Comedy Central, so it is hard to be fair to the movie when feelings about it are tinged with sadness that the Bots would no longer be enlivening my Saturdays.BTW, the MST version is not their best effort,but is still a fair amount of fun, and is worth seeing.
As for "Laserblast" itself...these days, such an effort would be direct-to-video, or direct-to-cable; it's hard to imagine such a minor league effort ever getting a nationwide distribution. It's too lightweight and threadbare to be a feature film. However, it wouldn't be out of place as an episode in a science fiction or horror anthology title such as "Tales From The Crypt" or a color version of "The Outer Limits".
So where does it fall short? In oh so many ways...! To give one example, the government investigator who comes to town to investigate the alien incursion is dressed in a Palm Beach suit; this completely undercuts any aura of menace or ominous vibes he is meant to generate by making him look like a 3rd-string men's fashion model. My guess is that the poor guy (whose actual performance is not too bad) had to wear his own clothes to the movie for his 'costume' and this was the best thing he had in his wardrobe.
For another example, there's the weird cognitive dissonance when Billy, the "protagonist" of the movie, is pushed around and teased by other teenagers. Billy is a good looking blond kid with perfect hair (in the "sullen Ken doll" mold), his own van, and a slender, pretty girlfriend. In normal life, such kids are not ever the targets of persecution by their peer group, so this just doesn't work.
For a third, Eddie Deezen is in the movie. This isn't to cast aspersions on Deezen as a person or anything, but I hate him as an actor. Eddie has gotten a lot of work over the years, so I assume he's considered good at what he does (sub-Jerry Lewis comedy relief), but he's a waste of space and film here - there isn't a single moment in the film where he doesn't make the most obvious and lazy acting choices (OK, the director shares part of the blame for this). Every scene he is in sucks wind.
Roddy McDowell shows up for about 3 minutes of screen time, which probably blew the movie's budget. He's competent and professional and pretty much blows every one else off the screen, which is why he's the biggest name actor in the movie. Keenan Wynn, the other 'name' actor in the movie, is on autopilot; he could have phoned his part in. He could have perked up the movie considerably, but he was as lazy as Deezen and just set his internal dial to 'ranting craziness'.
Mostly, the pacing and editing are death to any sense of excitement or interest. The movie spends no time explaining how the Laserblast gun and pendant got to Earth in the first place or why the aliens are interested in it enough to vaporize any earthling who uses it. Presumably this was intended to add an air of mystery to the proceedings. But there is NOTHING else going on except Billy's corruption by the Laserblast pendant and his overreaction/revenge on his peers and the town, and the scenes where this stuff actually happens are drowned in endless, tedious filler scenes that kill any momentum the director is trying to generate.
To say some kind kind things about the movie: the soundtrack (one guy with a synthesizer) actually has some decent, effective musical cues and riffs for such a low budget effort. The animated scenes with the aliens are 2nd rate, but are still fun to look at. Sometimes the movie does manage to convey the boredom and emptiness of a teenager's life in a small town. Most of the minor actors (especially the "lens crafter technician" and the two deputies) try mightily and do the best they can with their material. And no one here actually sucks on the level of an old Corman or Sam Neufield movie (except for Eddie Deezen). As I said, Roddy McDowell is his usual compelling self. That elevates the movie above the sheer awfulness that deserves a "1" rating.
Good enough to serve as background video wallpaper on the TV while you wash the dishes.
As for "Laserblast" itself...these days, such an effort would be direct-to-video, or direct-to-cable; it's hard to imagine such a minor league effort ever getting a nationwide distribution. It's too lightweight and threadbare to be a feature film. However, it wouldn't be out of place as an episode in a science fiction or horror anthology title such as "Tales From The Crypt" or a color version of "The Outer Limits".
So where does it fall short? In oh so many ways...! To give one example, the government investigator who comes to town to investigate the alien incursion is dressed in a Palm Beach suit; this completely undercuts any aura of menace or ominous vibes he is meant to generate by making him look like a 3rd-string men's fashion model. My guess is that the poor guy (whose actual performance is not too bad) had to wear his own clothes to the movie for his 'costume' and this was the best thing he had in his wardrobe.
For another example, there's the weird cognitive dissonance when Billy, the "protagonist" of the movie, is pushed around and teased by other teenagers. Billy is a good looking blond kid with perfect hair (in the "sullen Ken doll" mold), his own van, and a slender, pretty girlfriend. In normal life, such kids are not ever the targets of persecution by their peer group, so this just doesn't work.
For a third, Eddie Deezen is in the movie. This isn't to cast aspersions on Deezen as a person or anything, but I hate him as an actor. Eddie has gotten a lot of work over the years, so I assume he's considered good at what he does (sub-Jerry Lewis comedy relief), but he's a waste of space and film here - there isn't a single moment in the film where he doesn't make the most obvious and lazy acting choices (OK, the director shares part of the blame for this). Every scene he is in sucks wind.
Roddy McDowell shows up for about 3 minutes of screen time, which probably blew the movie's budget. He's competent and professional and pretty much blows every one else off the screen, which is why he's the biggest name actor in the movie. Keenan Wynn, the other 'name' actor in the movie, is on autopilot; he could have phoned his part in. He could have perked up the movie considerably, but he was as lazy as Deezen and just set his internal dial to 'ranting craziness'.
Mostly, the pacing and editing are death to any sense of excitement or interest. The movie spends no time explaining how the Laserblast gun and pendant got to Earth in the first place or why the aliens are interested in it enough to vaporize any earthling who uses it. Presumably this was intended to add an air of mystery to the proceedings. But there is NOTHING else going on except Billy's corruption by the Laserblast pendant and his overreaction/revenge on his peers and the town, and the scenes where this stuff actually happens are drowned in endless, tedious filler scenes that kill any momentum the director is trying to generate.
To say some kind kind things about the movie: the soundtrack (one guy with a synthesizer) actually has some decent, effective musical cues and riffs for such a low budget effort. The animated scenes with the aliens are 2nd rate, but are still fun to look at. Sometimes the movie does manage to convey the boredom and emptiness of a teenager's life in a small town. Most of the minor actors (especially the "lens crafter technician" and the two deputies) try mightily and do the best they can with their material. And no one here actually sucks on the level of an old Corman or Sam Neufield movie (except for Eddie Deezen). As I said, Roddy McDowell is his usual compelling self. That elevates the movie above the sheer awfulness that deserves a "1" rating.
Good enough to serve as background video wallpaper on the TV while you wash the dishes.