Body Fever (1969)
* 1/2 (out of 4)
Down on his luck detective Charles Smith (Ray Dennis Steckler) starts to investigate some robberies committed by a woman dressed as a cat. Soon he catches the woman (Carolyn Brandt) but instead of bringing her in the two go to work together for some major cash. BODY FEVER is the only time director Steckler would try to make a movie like this in the detective genre and for the most part it's watchable, although even at 78-minutes the film seems to go on forever. It seems Steckler has a small group of people who find entertainment in his films while another group that looks at them as purely trashy, bad movies that make him one of the worst directors ever. I'm not going to call him one of the worst directors ever because considering the budgets he was working with, I think it's pretty easy to see that he had some talent and at least delivered professional looking films. BODY FEVER has a few interesting ideas scattered around but there's no doubt that the picture simply runs out of gas before the end credits and the viewer has to sit through a plot that often doesn't make too much sense. While he doesn't give a "good" performance, Steckler at least keeps you glued to his detective character because it's simply hard to believe him in the role. There are several nice nods to Humphrey Bogart but there's really nothing else linking the two men. Brandt is decent enough in her role as horror fans will enjoy (or be sad) by seeing director Coleman Francis (THE BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS) in a small role. Is BODY FEVER recommended to anyone? Not really unless you're going through the filmography of Steckler but there are certainly much worse films out there.
* 1/2 (out of 4)
Down on his luck detective Charles Smith (Ray Dennis Steckler) starts to investigate some robberies committed by a woman dressed as a cat. Soon he catches the woman (Carolyn Brandt) but instead of bringing her in the two go to work together for some major cash. BODY FEVER is the only time director Steckler would try to make a movie like this in the detective genre and for the most part it's watchable, although even at 78-minutes the film seems to go on forever. It seems Steckler has a small group of people who find entertainment in his films while another group that looks at them as purely trashy, bad movies that make him one of the worst directors ever. I'm not going to call him one of the worst directors ever because considering the budgets he was working with, I think it's pretty easy to see that he had some talent and at least delivered professional looking films. BODY FEVER has a few interesting ideas scattered around but there's no doubt that the picture simply runs out of gas before the end credits and the viewer has to sit through a plot that often doesn't make too much sense. While he doesn't give a "good" performance, Steckler at least keeps you glued to his detective character because it's simply hard to believe him in the role. There are several nice nods to Humphrey Bogart but there's really nothing else linking the two men. Brandt is decent enough in her role as horror fans will enjoy (or be sad) by seeing director Coleman Francis (THE BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS) in a small role. Is BODY FEVER recommended to anyone? Not really unless you're going through the filmography of Steckler but there are certainly much worse films out there.