Studly Grant Murdock (Byron Sanders), alcoholic star Laura Winters (Rita Morly) and her assistant Jan Letterman (Barbara Wilkin) are forced to land their plane (after it malfunctions) on an isolated island. There they meet German Dr. Peter Bartel (Martin Koslek) who seems to be examining marine life...but is he? They're soon joined by the incredibly annoying beatnik Omar (Ray Tudor) and find they're fighting "flesh eaters"--tiny little glowing bugs that love eating flesh.
There's a lot wrong with this film. For starters the plot is silly with some really questionable "science". The characters are all annoyingly predictable--the square-jawed hero, the good girl, the bad (alocoholic) girl and the odious "comic" relief. With the sole exception of Morly the acting is terrible and Omar has GOT to be one of the most grating characters I've ever seen. It gets dull too. But this has (for 1964) some pretty explicit gore--two deaths especially are pretty bloody and gruesome. This is also a prime example of an early 1960s exploitation movie. It was made on next to no budget with pretty unknown actors and (I heard) barely released. It's acquired quite a cult following over the years (more for the gore than anything else) and it was beautifully restored on DVD back in 2005. Horror fans will want to take a peak but it's no great shakes.
There's a lot wrong with this film. For starters the plot is silly with some really questionable "science". The characters are all annoyingly predictable--the square-jawed hero, the good girl, the bad (alocoholic) girl and the odious "comic" relief. With the sole exception of Morly the acting is terrible and Omar has GOT to be one of the most grating characters I've ever seen. It gets dull too. But this has (for 1964) some pretty explicit gore--two deaths especially are pretty bloody and gruesome. This is also a prime example of an early 1960s exploitation movie. It was made on next to no budget with pretty unknown actors and (I heard) barely released. It's acquired quite a cult following over the years (more for the gore than anything else) and it was beautifully restored on DVD back in 2005. Horror fans will want to take a peak but it's no great shakes.