IMDb RATING
2.3/10
4.7K
YOUR RATING
Thousands of years ago, aliens visited Earth and fathered the Pumaman, a man-god with supernatural powers entrusted by a gold mask with the ability to control people's minds, which in presen... Read allThousands of years ago, aliens visited Earth and fathered the Pumaman, a man-god with supernatural powers entrusted by a gold mask with the ability to control people's minds, which in present-day London, falls upon the wrong hands.Thousands of years ago, aliens visited Earth and fathered the Pumaman, a man-god with supernatural powers entrusted by a gold mask with the ability to control people's minds, which in present-day London, falls upon the wrong hands.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
Donald Pleasence
- Kobras
- (as Donald Pleasance)
Miguel Ángel Fuentes
- Vadinho
- (as Miguel Angel Fuentes)
Geoffrey Copleston
- Sir George Bradley
- (as Jeffrey Coppleston)
Omero Capanna
- Kobras Thug
- (uncredited)
Marco Stefanelli
- Kobras Thug
- (uncredited)
Marcello Verziera
- Kobras Thug
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaStar Donald Pleasence once cited this as the worst film he'd ever been in.
- GoofsVadinho refers to himself and his people as Aztecs from the Andes plateau. The Aztecs lived in central and southern Mexico. The Incas were the primary Native American empire in the Andes, which are entirely located in South America. Even at their greatest extent the Aztec Empire had never come anywhere close to South America.
- Alternate versionsThe Greek video version has parts of the scenes at the start rearranged.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Pumaman (1998)
- SoundtracksL'Uomo Puma (Puma Man Theme)
Written and Performed by Renato Serio And His Orchestra
Featured review
"MST 3000" strikes again....
I pride myself in my knowledge and appreciation of bad films. Back in the late 1970s, Harry Medved wrote an amazingly funny and brilliant book called "The 50 Worst Movies of All Time" and it kicked off the craze to see and appreciate bad films. I actually found and watched all fifty of the films from the book and then went in search for more awful films and decided to try watching IMDb's infamous Bottom 100 list. Not all of them are available and several have no subtitles or dubbing, so I cannot possibly see them all. However, I've seen a huge number of them and have noticed an annoying trend--nearly all the American films on the list were skewered on "Mystery Science Theater 3000" and MANY really bad films were never on this show--mostly because they couldn't get the royalties for all the films. Plus, other bad films have come out since the show ended. As a result, many absolutely horrid films NEVER appear on the list even though they are much worse than those featured on "MST 3000"...such as "Plan 9 From Outer Space", "They Saved Hitler's Brain", "Robot Monster", "The Room" and ALL of the films of Larry Buchanan, William Grefe and Ted Mikels! Clearly this list is NOT even close to being the 100 worst films...just the lowest rated and apparently the TV show's fans vote!
So is "Pumaman" worthy of being on this infamous list? Well, not...not at all. Sure, it's bad...but not THAT bad. While the story is silly and the special effects god-awful, there is a certain fun kitschy quality that made it much easier to watch than most bad films.
When the film begins, you hear about some weird Aztec-like cult that has great power--and some baddies want to destroy them and their emissary of goodness, Pumaman. But who is Pumaman? Well, no one really knows as he's soon to be revealed. Unfortunately, the dopey guy in England seems a very unlikely candidate to be a superhero...but he cannot help but believe something is up when he falls out a window yet lands safely on his feet! Soon, an American- Indian believer arrives and announces to the guy that he is Pumaman...and at around same time, so do the baddies who want to destroy him.
The plot is very much like the TV show "Americas Greatest Hero" (which it pre-dated)--with a naive new hero who has a hard time believing and then controlling his super powers...so the idea COULD have worked. Unfortunately, the film appeared to have a budget of about $64.38 when it came to special effects!! The scene where the guy falls out the window is just sad to see...as it is when he is supposedly flying. Heck, back in the 1950s "The Adventures of Superman" had MUCH better superhero effects...so why does it look so terrible in the 1980s?! And why does the musical budget appear to be even smaller--with really cheap and craptastic electronic keyboard effects that become VERY repetitious?! And, why does Donald Pleasance agree again and again to be in crappy films?! After all, he once was a respected actor!
The bottom line is that although this is a crappy and ugly looking film and the writing is occasionally very goofy, there is a grain of something NOT miserable or awful in it as well. No way would I put this in any Bottom 100 or possibly even Bottom 1000 list!
So is "Pumaman" worthy of being on this infamous list? Well, not...not at all. Sure, it's bad...but not THAT bad. While the story is silly and the special effects god-awful, there is a certain fun kitschy quality that made it much easier to watch than most bad films.
When the film begins, you hear about some weird Aztec-like cult that has great power--and some baddies want to destroy them and their emissary of goodness, Pumaman. But who is Pumaman? Well, no one really knows as he's soon to be revealed. Unfortunately, the dopey guy in England seems a very unlikely candidate to be a superhero...but he cannot help but believe something is up when he falls out a window yet lands safely on his feet! Soon, an American- Indian believer arrives and announces to the guy that he is Pumaman...and at around same time, so do the baddies who want to destroy him.
The plot is very much like the TV show "Americas Greatest Hero" (which it pre-dated)--with a naive new hero who has a hard time believing and then controlling his super powers...so the idea COULD have worked. Unfortunately, the film appeared to have a budget of about $64.38 when it came to special effects!! The scene where the guy falls out the window is just sad to see...as it is when he is supposedly flying. Heck, back in the 1950s "The Adventures of Superman" had MUCH better superhero effects...so why does it look so terrible in the 1980s?! And why does the musical budget appear to be even smaller--with really cheap and craptastic electronic keyboard effects that become VERY repetitious?! And, why does Donald Pleasance agree again and again to be in crappy films?! After all, he once was a respected actor!
The bottom line is that although this is a crappy and ugly looking film and the writing is occasionally very goofy, there is a grain of something NOT miserable or awful in it as well. No way would I put this in any Bottom 100 or possibly even Bottom 1000 list!
helpful•51
- planktonrules
- Jan 6, 2016
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Puma Man
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 30 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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