Documentary Review: In Search of Darkness: Part II (2020)

Release Date: October 6th, 2020
Directed by: David A. Weiner
Written by: David A. Weiner
Music by: Weary Pines
Cast: Nancy Allen, Tom Atkins, Joe Bob Briggs, Doug Bradley, Clancy Brown, Lori Cardille, John Carpenter, Nick Castle, Larry Cohen, Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton, Sean S. Cunningham, Joe Dante, Keith David, Robert Englund, Stuart Gordon, Andre Gower, Kane Hodder, Tom Holland, Chris Jericho, Jackie Kong, Heather Langenkamp, Don Mancini, Harry Manfredini, Kelli Maroney, Bill Moseley, Greg Nicotero, Cassandra Peterson, Diana Prince, Linnea Quigley, James Rolfe, Robert Rusler, Tom Savini, Corey Taylor, Gedde Watanabe, Caroline Williams, Alex Winter, Tom Woodruff Jr., Brian Yuzna

CreatorVC, 263 Minutes

Review:

Everything I said in my review of the first film in this series still holds true for this one. Reason being, they’re exactly the same in what they are. It’s just that each one features different films.

I think that I like this one a wee bit better for two reasons.

The first, is that I already know what I’m getting into now. I know that this will just fly through dozens of films and not give them the proper amount of time they deserve. As I said in the previous film’s review, I’d love to see each section spread out into a full episode and have these films actually be a streaming series.

The second reason, is that I like that the films are getting more obscure, as there were a few here I hadn’t heard of. With that, I walked away from this with a list of shit I need to watch and review.

Apart from that, this was more of the same. That’s not a bad thing, at all. I just wish that these documentaries didn’t fly through films and other topics so quickly.

I still like these, though. I know there’s a third one coming, which I look forward to, and there’s also one coming out on ’80s sci-fi flicks.

Rating: 8/10
Pairs well with: the other documentaries in the In Search of… series, as well as other documentaries on ’80s horror.

Film Review: The Being (1983)

Also known as: Beauty and the Beast (US alternate title), Mutant Monster (Germany), The Ultimate Terror (Germany)
Release Date: November 4th, 1983
Directed by: Jackie Kong
Written by: Jackie Kong
Music by: Don Preston
Cast: Martin Landau, José Ferrer, Dorothy Malone, Ruth Buzzi, Marianne Gordon, Bill Osco

Cybelle Productions, Best Film & Video Corp., New World Pictures, Aquarius Films, Crest Films, 82 Minutes

Review:

I have no idea what the hell I just watched but the monster was kind of cool.

The Being is a weird and confusing pile of crap. Since it’s crap, I figured that I would run this turd through the Cinespiria Shitometer. The results label categorize this thing as a Type 4 stool, which is defined as “Like a sausage or snake, smooth and soft.” Well, I guess that puts this in the middle of the seven types of stool, which doesn’t make it as bad as 1982’s Parasite, a deplorable shitfest.

This movie makes little to no sense. Somehow the mayor owns a potato company and there is this big conspiracy. You later find out that there has been a lot of toxic waste dumped in the area. Next thing you know, this big slimy monster with one eye and sharp teeth shows up to kill everything. What we have here is a lowest common denominator low budget 80s horror flick with one of the strangest stories I’ve ever encountered. Radioactive potatoes turn people into weird cyclops xenomorph killers… or something like that.

I feel bad for Martin Landau. Why did he do this movie? At least he would recover and win an Oscar for playing Bela Lugosi in Tim Burton’s Ed Wood 11 years later.

There isn’t really anything in this film that is worth anyone’s time. While the monster is generally cool looking, it is still a pretty immobile creature and other than having a few neat closeups, he’s pretty unexciting.

Rating: 3/10