Miami Golem (1985)

Director:

Alberto De Martino

Writers:

Gianfranco Clerici (writer)
Alberto De Martino (story)

Release Date:

12 November 1988 (Japan)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Unborn... Undead... An Alien Force they could not control!

Plot:

A Miami TV reporter is sent to a local university to do a story on a professor who is cloning a cell from DNA found inside a meteorite...

Plot Keywords:

Professor | Deoxyribonucleic Acid | Monster | Alien | Meteor

Cast

David Warbeck	...	Craig Milford
Laura Trotter	...	Joanna Fitzgerald
Loris Loddi	...	Dr. Elliott (as Lawrence Loddi)
Giorgio Favretto		(as George Favretto)
John Ireland	...	Anderson
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Giorgio Bonora		(as George Bonner)
Alessandra Canale
Dario Danieli
Sergio Rossi	...	Dr. Schweiker
Sandy Russell
Pat Starke	...	Dr. Janet Stein

Also Known As:

Cosmos Killer
Miami Horror

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

Italy | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Norway:18 (video premiere)

Company:

Filmustang

Not as bad as you think. Quite enjoyed it! Classic Italian Cheese: Eighties Style.

Miami Golem aka Miami Horror is a saucy little mish mash of adventure. It's not horror, action or sci-fi; it's really a tacky combo of Hollywood elements &cliches sort of strung together logically. Stars David Warbeck and Laura Trotter put together solid performances. And the rest of the cast is up to task as well. At the end of his career, Albert DeMartino directs what is essentially a cornball script quite well. Some great photography of Miami is exploited by the filmmakers, in order to hammer home the concept that, this is indeed Miami. Which brings us to the issue of the other word in the title; golem/horror. Now, this little fella is ridiculously silly in appearance, yes. But so was Miami in the 80's and did I mention the script? Hilarious. As for the music, other reviewers have noted the obvious borrowing of Beverly Hills Cop motifs. But this happens only during the opening credits montage. The rest of the score works very well for helping to propel the corny script. Why the composer Detto Mariano so blatantly "borrowed" Axel's Theme is anybody's guess, but again, this is only during the very beginning of the freaking movie, so its not as big a deal as other reviewers have noted. Other musical passages are very dramatic and/or intense. Miami Golem is worth a look if you enjoyed such films as Devil Fish, Pod People or Puma Man. It is a charming little action movie that has ambitions which are reached for with endearing failure. Also I think it is interesting to note that Warbeck & Trotter each appeared in perhaps the 2 most special of all the Italian Horror films released in 1981, The Beyond & Nightmare City, respectively. In my mind these films represent the pinnacle of Italian Horror during the final part of its most amazing era. Although Miami Golem does not come near the level of visceral engagement those films create, it is nonetheless solid, this may almost be top notch entertainment.