The Beast of Yucca Flats
| The Beast of Yucca Flats | |
|---|---|
A theatrical film poster for The Beast of Yucca Flats
|
|
| Directed by | Coleman Francis |
| Produced by |
Anthony Cardoza Coleman Francis Roland Morin Jim Oliphant Larry Aten Bing Stafford |
| Written by | Coleman Francis |
| Starring |
Tor Johnson Douglas Mellor Barbara Francis Bing Stafford Conrad Brooks |
| Narrated by | Coleman Francis |
| Music by | Gene Kauer Irwin Nafshun Al Remington |
| Cinematography | John Cagle Lee Strosnider |
| Edited by | Coleman Francis Austin McKinney Lee Strosnider Anthony Cardoza |
| Distributed by | Cinema Associates |
|
Release date
|
|
|
Running time
|
54 mins. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $34,000 (est.) |
The Beast of Yucca Flats is a B-movie horror film released in 1961. It was produced by Anthony Cardoza, Coleman Francis, Roland Morin, Jim Oliphant, Larry Aten and Bing Stafford. The film was directed and written by Francis.
The film stars Swedish former wrestler Tor Johnson. The plot concerns a Soviet scientist (Johnson), who defects and flees to a Nevada Test Site called Yucca Flats, only to be turned into a monster by radiation, stalking the desert. The film has very little dialogue and most of the speech is done by omniscient narration provided by writer/director Francis.
Some critics have characterized the film as one of the worst science fiction horror films made, and one of the all-time worst films of any kind, even suggesting that it may be worse than Ed Wood's legendarily bad Plan 9 from Outer Space. In 1995, the television comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000 featured The Beast of Yucca Flats, helping the film develop a cult status.
A woman (Lanell Cado) steps out of a shower and is attacked and strangled to death by a mysterious man as the sound of a clock reverberates before going silent.
Later (or possibly before) in Yucca Flats, Nevada, Soviet scientist Joseph Javorsky (Johnson) has defected from Russia and arrives in America with a briefcase carrying various military secrets, including the Soviet moon landing. Javorsky and his American contacts are suddenly attacked by a pair of KGB assassins (Cardoza and John Morrison) killing Javorsky's contacts and bodyguards. Javorsky flees into the desert, walking for a great distance, and the searing heat causes him to discard much of his clothing. When he wanders in range of an American nuclear test, the bewildered Russian is transformed by it into a mindless beast with an uncontrollable urge to kill. He proceeds to murder a couple in their car on a nearby road, prompting pursuit from police officers Jim Archer (Stafford) and Joe Dobson (Aten).
...
Wikipedia