The Being (1983)

A mutated creature is wreaking havoc in a small town in Idaho. A police chief and a government scientist team up to save their rural town from its menace.

Director:

Jackie Kong

Writer:

Jackie Kong

Stars:

Martin Landau, Marianne Gordon, Bill Osco

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Martin Landau	...	Garson Jones
Marianne Gordon	...	Laurie
Bill Osco	...	Mortimer Lutz (as Rexx Coltrane)
José Ferrer	...	Mayor Gordon Lane (as Jose Ferrer)
Dorothy Malone	...	Marge Smith
Ruth Buzzi	...	Virginia Lane
Murray Langston	...	Arn
Kinky Friedman	...	Willis
Johnny Dark	...	John
Kent Perkins	...	Officer Dudley
Ellen Blake	...	Jenny
Roxanne Osco	...	Suzie (as Roxanne Cybelle Osco)
Jerry Maren	...	Monster (as Jerry Marin)
Eric Helland	...	Doper #1
Bill Rawlinson	...	Doper #2

Storyline

Toxic waste dumping in a small Idaho town turns a young boy into horrible mutant monster. The town's police chief and a government scientist team up to stop the monster, which is quickly killing off the town's citizenry.

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Plot Keywords:

monster | toxic waste | cult film | disfigurement | radioactive | 

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Taglines:

The ultimate terror has taken form

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 November 1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

Beauty and the Beast

Filming Locations:

Boise, Idaho, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bill Osco Productions, Bad Dreams

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film was made in 1980 as "Easter Sunday," but sat on the shelf for three years and finally received a brief theatrical release as "The Being."

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Goofs

In the first scene where the creature is chasing the boy it starts off in broad daylight, but when he reaches the junkyard and steals a car it is night time.

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Quotes

Garson Jones: Dumping toxic waste into the aquaduct does not, and will not, affect the water supply for this town.
Detective Mortimer Lutz: [watching Garson on the TV] Yeah, right. Pretty soon we'll all be glowing in the dark along with that fool.

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Crazy Credits

Bill Osco is credited as Rexx Coltrane twice in the movie, and as Johnny Commander once.

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Connections

Referenced in Adjust Your Tracking (2013)

User Reviews

Whatever happens, blame it on the stormy whether!

Okay, "The Being" is probably one of the absolute crappiest and cheesiest low-budget horror productions the 80's decade ever spawned (and that is saying a lot), but who can honestly bring him/herself to slamming it so harshly and even discourage other people to watch it? If nothing else, this film guarantees tremendous fun and it's never boring; not even for half a second. Surely the basic concept is unoriginal, the script is unimaginably incoherent and the acting performances rank among the absolute hammiest we have ever witnessed, but you could pretty much derive all that from one short peek at the DVD-cover, so don't come complaining afterwards! "The Being" is (unintentionally?) hilarious, with insane and totally irrelevant sub plots, unnecessary narrative voice-overs, stereotypical small-town USA rednecks, and grotesque splatter effects. The small town of Pottsville, Idaho (self-acclaimed potato capital of the world, mind you) has an unwelcome new arrival in the shape of a gooey & bloodthirsty mutated monster. He clearly likes cars, as he always hides in them, and he's undeniably the result of years of pollution even though the local scientist openly claims that it's safe to dump toxic waste in the water reservoirs. But Pottsville is dealing with more issues than just the slimy monster. The mayor's wife is on a sole mission to banish all pornography, the potato export business may under no circumstances get in danger, there's a lonely woman wandering around the streets without apparent motives, the deputy is too busy arresting Mexican immigrants who're fishing without a license and the local radio DJ blames all the missing person files on the tornadoes even though I didn't notice the slightest sign of bad whether. At one point, I was even suspecting the DJ to be the monster in disguise, because he seems to know who vanished before they're even reported as missing persons. In case cheesy gore and bad dialogs is what you crave, "The Being" certainly won't disappoint! We're already treated to a fabulous decapitation moment during the first five minutes, and there are several more delightfully gross massacres to enjoy throughout the rest of the film. Martin Landau receives top billing but his role is rather small. Good call, because he clearly wasn't very interested in the lines he had to speak and I suspect he just signed up because he had nothing better to do. Rexx Coltrane – his name makes him sound like a porn actor – is probably the most wooden actor I ever saw and his lack of talent particularly becomes transparent when he tries to convince the mayor something stinks in Pottsville. Honestly, feel free to watch this demented sick puppy in case you're looking for a couple of laughs and a handful of undemanding smut effects. Please do avoid if you have low tolerance for poorly scripted and inane 80's trash movies. "The Being" anonymously remained lying on a shelf for three years before it got released and the same director was also responsible for "Blood Diner" … How's that for bad omens? I guess the term "guilty pleasure" was invented exactly for movies like this.