As far as weird little films go, you may need to look long and hard to find anything quite like The Omegans. Directed by Billy Wilder's less well-known brother (one W. Lee Wilder for those of you that are interested), this American-Filipino co-production is one of the most bizarre movies ever committed to celluloid. Sadly, "weird" doesn't always mean "good"
and The Omegans sounds a lot more intriguing than it actually ends up being. It's nice to catch Ingrid Pitt in an early starring role, before she found cult appreciation in a succession of Hammer films, but that's about as interesting as things get in this one.
Acclaimed artist Valdemar (Lucien Pan) travels the globe in search of inspiration, dragging his buxom wife Linda (Ingrid Pitt) from one remote country to another in the name of art. Linda is outwardly supportive of her husband, but secretly she is thoroughly fed up with all this aimless wandering around the world. She is deeply involved in an adulterous affair with jungle guide Chuck (Keith Larsen), and together they plan to murder Valdemar once his paintings have netted a healthy sum of money. Their plan falls apart when Valdemar accidentally discovers the truth. But rather than confronting the deceitful lovers, Valdemar comes up with a much more vengeful way of getting his own back. He has recently learned during his explorations about a strange radioactive river which causes any creature than bathes in it to age rapidly. He persuades his wife and Chuck to pose in the river for a painting, keeping them in the poisonous waters for hours on end, day after day, on the pretence that it will inspire an amazing new work of art. Only when it is too late - and their bodies are literally crumbling apart - do the treacherous lovers learn that their dirty little secret has been found out
Is The Omegans science fiction? Is it lurid melodrama? Is it a revenge fantasy? To some extent it wants to be all three, yet is handled so feebly that it never really catches fire as any. It's more than feasible that low budget movies can turn out more intriguing and memorable than their big-budget counterparts if handled right, but this one completely disproves that notion. Everything looks cheap, from the wobbly camera work to the wooden performances. Pitt would go on to far bigger and better things (heck, she even got a significant supporting role in Where Eagles Dare the same year as this), but in The Omegans she can do little to enliven her role. She parades around in a variety of figure-hugging outfits, but posturing alone isn't enough - her performance itself is amateurish and unengaging. The others fare even worse, especially Pan as the infuriated artist-husband this performance belongs in an unrehearsed end-of-term pantomime, not a serious film. To make matters worse, the film ends at an irritatingly peculiar point, leaving many unresolved questions and a mixed moral message about the righteousness of bumping off your missus if she has been having her way with other fellas. Two stars, then, for the curiosity value of seeing Pitt in a bad early role and the sheer wackiness of the plot but in every other aspect The Omegans should be avoided like the plague.
Acclaimed artist Valdemar (Lucien Pan) travels the globe in search of inspiration, dragging his buxom wife Linda (Ingrid Pitt) from one remote country to another in the name of art. Linda is outwardly supportive of her husband, but secretly she is thoroughly fed up with all this aimless wandering around the world. She is deeply involved in an adulterous affair with jungle guide Chuck (Keith Larsen), and together they plan to murder Valdemar once his paintings have netted a healthy sum of money. Their plan falls apart when Valdemar accidentally discovers the truth. But rather than confronting the deceitful lovers, Valdemar comes up with a much more vengeful way of getting his own back. He has recently learned during his explorations about a strange radioactive river which causes any creature than bathes in it to age rapidly. He persuades his wife and Chuck to pose in the river for a painting, keeping them in the poisonous waters for hours on end, day after day, on the pretence that it will inspire an amazing new work of art. Only when it is too late - and their bodies are literally crumbling apart - do the treacherous lovers learn that their dirty little secret has been found out
Is The Omegans science fiction? Is it lurid melodrama? Is it a revenge fantasy? To some extent it wants to be all three, yet is handled so feebly that it never really catches fire as any. It's more than feasible that low budget movies can turn out more intriguing and memorable than their big-budget counterparts if handled right, but this one completely disproves that notion. Everything looks cheap, from the wobbly camera work to the wooden performances. Pitt would go on to far bigger and better things (heck, she even got a significant supporting role in Where Eagles Dare the same year as this), but in The Omegans she can do little to enliven her role. She parades around in a variety of figure-hugging outfits, but posturing alone isn't enough - her performance itself is amateurish and unengaging. The others fare even worse, especially Pan as the infuriated artist-husband this performance belongs in an unrehearsed end-of-term pantomime, not a serious film. To make matters worse, the film ends at an irritatingly peculiar point, leaving many unresolved questions and a mixed moral message about the righteousness of bumping off your missus if she has been having her way with other fellas. Two stars, then, for the curiosity value of seeing Pitt in a bad early role and the sheer wackiness of the plot but in every other aspect The Omegans should be avoided like the plague.