An interesting, unusual premise marred by excessive padding and Dr Stone's illogical choices. He actually witnesses Eck right from the start, yet proceeds to withhold this information from the authorities - with which he had been working on solving the case. Hayes is a respected professional, so why would he be so fearful of telling everybody about his findings? Especially after that building-being-cut-in-half event: after that, ANYTHING seems plausible. Instead, he proceeds to work alone, which only jeopardizes the lives of countless innocent people - and stretches out the story needlessly.
He is so irrational that he doesn't even tell the only other witness, a distraught hospital patient who shouts agonizingly how nobody believes him. Instead of comforting him, revealing to him that he too saw this creature, Hayes remains silent, which proves that not only is he unwise but a dikk too. ("Eck & Dikk": a good alternative title.)
Later on, when there are only 24 hours left to save Eck - and mankind too, apparently - he STILL refuses to come clean to the detectives about what he knows, which is a lot by that point because he talked to the creature hence knows what the problem and the solution are. All he had to do to avoid the incredibly dumb intrusion when the cops arrest him, was to inform them (earlier, when he had the chance, and he had plenty of chances) that a special lens was needed to allow Eck to go back to his world - and save the city. Instead, Hayes's secretiveness and recklessness very nearly destroy the entire city (or the entire world; this isn't very clear), hence Hayes who is supposedly the hero comes off as an arrogant moron instead.
As a result, the epilogue's narration is much closer to cretinous than to poignant, because it praises "brave men like Dr Stone" i.e. Pompous nitwits who want to save the world without anyone's help. The narrator sounds like an idiot because he accuses the authorities of ignorance and fear; but how could the cops help out if Stone i.e. Hayes refused to co-operate!
Eck doesn't exactly help remove his image as the "bad guy" monster. Even after he and Hayes agree that Hayes will help him by making the lens, Eck still decides to venture outside, totally needlessly, on a rampage of sorts, randomly scaring bystanders, and nearly killing one. WHY would this allegedly superior creature be so stupid and reckless? Why not just WAIT in the lab while Stone makes the lens... Just another example of very sloppy writing.
Stupidly enough, Hayes only gets "temporarily arrested" or whatever we can call this nonsensical type of detainment, because he is FREE to walk around the charred building right after the cops thought they'd killed Eck! From the cops' perspective Stone is a felon, a traitor who was hiding an alien enemy, hence his release makes zero sense. Even sillier, Stone walks around the burnt building HUGGING his young secretary, like some opportunistic nasty old pervert: what a goofy scene.
There is a slightly (unintentionally) comical scene in which the creature rushes like a moron to "talk" to the guy in the television set, then right after he makes physical contact with the TV Eck turns into a star-shaped Christmas tree! I jest now, but I do actually like the cheesy special effects, the way Eck is presented, which I can't say of many of TOL's ultra-low-budget creatures. I much more prefer these other-dimensional beings to the ultra-cheesy stupid-looking standard aliens cobbled up using throwaway props from TOL's non-existent special-effects budget.
The actor playing Hayes' brother seems to be doing his role for laughs. (And about as funny as you'd expect a 60s "comedian" to be.) It's as if he is under the mistaken delusion that this is a comedy. Well, it can't be, because a woman got murdered, and the world is under threat. And most importantly, none of the other actors is playing it for laughs.
Even worse is Hayes himself. A bland, dull, poker-faced actor whom I immediately suspected of nepotism. I checked his bio, and sure enough, he is one. A better actor cast in this pivotal role would have improved things considerably, although he wouldn't have been able to save the lame script from doom, obviously.
How daft is it that the glasses allow the wearer to HEAR the monster. Or are the creatures sound-effects intended only for the audiences? I am also rather annoyed that nearly every TOL creature/alien/monster has a run-of-the-mill human voice. A lack of a budget for costumes is one thing, but all it takes is a little imagination to come up with unusual i.e. More weird-sounding voices, even with 60s technology.
Eck has a bit of a snippy attitude, early on, which is amusing and which I am convinced is completely unintentional. It comes up during the first conversation when he snaps ever-so-slightly at the humans whenever they don't fully understand something he says. He also says rather patronizingly "you wouldn't understand" to them. Hilariously enough, Hayes then says the same thing - "you don't understand" - to the detectives a little later. (A sort of "intellectual pecking order" perhaps being established here?) As an icing on the stupid cake, Eck then AGAIN tells Hayes "you wouldn't understand" just a minute later! (As a reminder to his friend Stone that Eck is still the "intellectual giant" in this story?) Plenty of arrogance and patronizing all-round in this episode, all unintentional of course i.e. A result of bad writing.
This episode is so needlessly stretched, it could have EASILY been reduced to 30 minutes.
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