Drive-In Massacre's Movie Review of The Beast of Yucca Flats

COMMIES MADE HIM AN ATOMIC MUTANT!
Drive-In Massacre - wrote on 05/05/09

Well, first off I should say that I almost hesitate to give it a 1 out of 10 rating, considering I had so much fun watching the film for the first time. I know for a fact that I will watch it again somewhere down the road....but the keyword is that I 'almost' hesitate. It should be noted that although I happen to be a HUGE fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000, I have yet to see the episode (I'm going to watch it very soon) that features this film, so this review is entirely from watching the movie by itself.

The first thing I think someone has to look for when calling a movie, "one of the worst films ever made" is that it doesn't really resemble a movie, and trust me "The Beast of Yucca Flats" does NOT resemble film-making. It honestly feels like some strange dream/nightmare. Everything feels out of place, out of sequence, and confusing. It's like a really bad David Lynch film. That is if David Lynch somehow lost 80 IQ points and yelled out groaning yelps as direction. Thank God the film clocks in at under an hour, because I think I would have probably not finish it, if it were the length of a 'real' film. Every 5 minutes you'll ask yourself "Wait. What? Who's that? Really, who is that person? what's going on? Why is this happening?".

Put it this way: The opening scene, in which a woman comes out of a shower and gets strangled, has absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the movie at all. Seriously, I've checked. It is entirely pointless.

Although, I do have to say, this is my all-time favorite role by Tor Johnson. I especially love that his character at one point was a brilliant scientist, because that fits him perfectly. Truly, his character, (that is, his character post-nuclear explosion) is extremely entertaining and made me and my friends laugh harder than almost any intentional comedy we've ever seen. I'd debate on whether or not I should add him to a list of my top 100 favorite movie characters. Okay, even though it does deserve it's 1/10 rating I'd recommend seeing it, because you'll be very entertained for at least 20 of 54 minutes, and you can also say "Yes. I have seen the Beast of Yucca Flats!". Now that is something to be proud of.

So, all in all, I think that what my review is trying to say is that: The Beast of Yucca Flats is true cinematic excellence, made from master filmmaker, Coleman Francis (Night Train to Mundo Fine, The Skydivers) who's works rivals that of Orson Welles, Akira Kurosawa, and Stanley Kubrick.... Seriously though, it's bad, much worse than Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959)

OH, I ALMOST FORGOT. The Beast of Yucca Flats just so happens to be in the public domain. Do you know what that means? It means that it's completely free and legal to watch it online, so go out and watch it.

1/10