Laserblast starts in a Californian desert where two lizard like aliens chase another human like alien (special effects make-up man Steve Neil who also gets a 'special property designer' credit whatever that means) & after a short (one shot each) laser fight the lizard aliens zap & vapourise the human like alien, the two lizard aliens are disturbed by an air-plane overhead & make their escape in a spaceship but leave behind the human like aliens laser-gun & pendant. In a nearby town teenager Billy Duncan (Kim Milford) has a tough life, his mum leaves him home alone a lot, he is picked by by just about everyone who knows him & his girlfriends Father (Keenan Wynn) is giving him serious hassle. Billy has had it & to make his day even worse he picks up a speeding ticket, however while on his own messing around in the desert he discovers the human like aliens laser-gun & pendant & discovers that the laser-gun shoots, erm well lasers. Billy starts to change as the power of the laser-gun & pendant take over, it turns Billy into a green faced creature with bad teeth & the strange desire to blow as many cars up as possible. Can shadowy Government official Tony Craig (Gianni Russo) together with Billy's girlfriend Kathy (Cheryl Smith) put an end to his homicidal laser-blasting ways & get the real Billy back?
Directed by Michael Rae I am somewhat surprised to see Laserblast on the IMDb's bottom 100 list, I mean it ain't no masterpiece that's for sure but one of the 100 worst films ever made? I don't think so, I really don't. Then again if all you're used to is Hollywood films with budgets that consist of 10's of millions of $'s then yeah I suppose I could see how someone like that might see Laserblast as a pretty crap film. Anyway here's my opinion, I'm in two minds over Laserblast as it's a pretty bad film but there was just about enough in it for me to enjoy it on a basic level. The script by Frank Ray Perilli & Franne Schacht moves along at a reasonable pace, I certainly didn't think it was boring or dull so that's something positive I can say about it. Unfortunately there's plenty of negatives as well, it takes itself far too seriously, the narrative is poor throughout & character's are very underdeveloped & stereotypical including two dumb comic relief Deputies. How did that Government agent guy know what was going on? The old army buddies thing with him & Kathy's Father goes nowhere & serves no purpose whatsoever. What were the human alien & lizard aliens fighting over in the first place? Why did the lizard aliens leave the laser-gun behind? What actually happens to Billy? Why does he change? What is he changing into? You will not find the answer to these & many more questions in Laserblast. Laserblast was released shortly after the much better Star Wars (1977) to try & cash in on it's success & at one point Billy uses his laser to blow a Star Wars advertisement billboard to pieces! Make of that reference what you will. The film is basically all about underdog empowerment & in this sense owes as much to the also then recent & also much better Carrie (1976).
Director Rae doesn't do anything special & he seems to have some sort of fascination with blowing cars up & showing the same shot from different angles. The film has flat & bland cinematography & the dull, repetitive desert locations are instantly forgettable. The films distinctly underwhelming climax has Billy blow up a newspaper stand & letterbox along with, yes you've guessed it, a couple of police cars. The lizard aliens are realised using stop-motion animation & are pretty cute if I'm honest, I want one as a pet although it goes without saying I'd have to take his laser-gun off him otherwise he'd probably zap me. The other special effects are poor & won't impress anyone.
Technically Laserblast is pretty rough & not that well made, I counted at least two shots where the boom mike was clearly visible at the top of the screen & generally speaking you can tell it was a low budget effort. The acting was average, no one's going to win any awards for it that's for sure.
Laserblast is a terrible film really but there was a certain something that I liked about it, something that kept me watching right through to the bitter end. It has many problems, a badly underdeveloped script, clichéd character's, awful special effects & low production values but I found a certain charm, a certain amount of entertainment value & at the very least I wasn't bored. Sure it's a mess but it's a watchable mess as far as I'm concerned.
Directed by Michael Rae I am somewhat surprised to see Laserblast on the IMDb's bottom 100 list, I mean it ain't no masterpiece that's for sure but one of the 100 worst films ever made? I don't think so, I really don't. Then again if all you're used to is Hollywood films with budgets that consist of 10's of millions of $'s then yeah I suppose I could see how someone like that might see Laserblast as a pretty crap film. Anyway here's my opinion, I'm in two minds over Laserblast as it's a pretty bad film but there was just about enough in it for me to enjoy it on a basic level. The script by Frank Ray Perilli & Franne Schacht moves along at a reasonable pace, I certainly didn't think it was boring or dull so that's something positive I can say about it. Unfortunately there's plenty of negatives as well, it takes itself far too seriously, the narrative is poor throughout & character's are very underdeveloped & stereotypical including two dumb comic relief Deputies. How did that Government agent guy know what was going on? The old army buddies thing with him & Kathy's Father goes nowhere & serves no purpose whatsoever. What were the human alien & lizard aliens fighting over in the first place? Why did the lizard aliens leave the laser-gun behind? What actually happens to Billy? Why does he change? What is he changing into? You will not find the answer to these & many more questions in Laserblast. Laserblast was released shortly after the much better Star Wars (1977) to try & cash in on it's success & at one point Billy uses his laser to blow a Star Wars advertisement billboard to pieces! Make of that reference what you will. The film is basically all about underdog empowerment & in this sense owes as much to the also then recent & also much better Carrie (1976).
Director Rae doesn't do anything special & he seems to have some sort of fascination with blowing cars up & showing the same shot from different angles. The film has flat & bland cinematography & the dull, repetitive desert locations are instantly forgettable. The films distinctly underwhelming climax has Billy blow up a newspaper stand & letterbox along with, yes you've guessed it, a couple of police cars. The lizard aliens are realised using stop-motion animation & are pretty cute if I'm honest, I want one as a pet although it goes without saying I'd have to take his laser-gun off him otherwise he'd probably zap me. The other special effects are poor & won't impress anyone.
Technically Laserblast is pretty rough & not that well made, I counted at least two shots where the boom mike was clearly visible at the top of the screen & generally speaking you can tell it was a low budget effort. The acting was average, no one's going to win any awards for it that's for sure.
Laserblast is a terrible film really but there was a certain something that I liked about it, something that kept me watching right through to the bitter end. It has many problems, a badly underdeveloped script, clichéd character's, awful special effects & low production values but I found a certain charm, a certain amount of entertainment value & at the very least I wasn't bored. Sure it's a mess but it's a watchable mess as far as I'm concerned.