The Being

The Being is a 1983 horror film written and directed by Jackie Kong and starring Martin Landau, José Ferrer, Dorothy Malone, Ruth Buzzi, Marianne Gordon and exploitation film producer Bill Osco, who is billed as "Rexx Coltrane".^[1] It focuses on a detective who is trying to solve a string of grisly murders and disappearances. It was first film directed by Kong, who went on to direct several other films of the same type, including Blood Diner, which has become a cult favorite.^[1]

Plot

People have been disappearing in the town of Pottsville, Idaho. Detective Mortimer Lutz (Bill Osco) thinks it is connected to the toxic dump site near the town, but is impeded in his investigation by the Mayor (Jose Ferrer), who is concerned about the economic impact on the town's potato industry should it turn out to be true. In reality, the toxic waste has turned a young child into a cannibalistic mutant monster, devouring anyone who comes across him. When the existence of the mutant is discovered, Lutz begins a run against time to stop it before it consumes the town's entire population.

Cast

• Martin Landau as Garcon Jones
• Marianne Gordon as Laurie
• Bill Osco as Detective Mortimer Lutz
• José Ferrer as Mayor Gordon Lane
• Dorothy Malone as Marge Smith
• Ruth Buzzi as Virginia Lane

Cast notes:

• Bill Osco, who produced the film, was billed as "Rexx Coltrane" for his acting role.
• Marianne Gordon was married to singer Kenny Rogers at the time, and is billed as "Marianne Gordon Rogers"^[1]

Production

The Being is notable as the first film made by schlock horror film writer and director Jackie Kong. Filming began in 1980 under the title "Easter Sunday", before being put on the shelf for three years before finally being released on November 18, 1983 with the tagline "The Ultimate Terror has Taken Form".^[2]

Reception

The film has been met with negative reviews. On the review website Rotten Tomatoes it has had few but mostly negative reviews.^[3] On IMDb it currently has an 3.3/10 reviewed from 647 viewers.^[4] Scott Weinberg from DVD Talk was among the film's detractors calling the film "Grungy, muddy-looking" he also called it a "blatant Alien ripoff".^[5] J. Read from monstersatplay.com called it "cheap, rushed, and an incongruous mess" stating it as a perfect example of all the bad movies that came out in the 1980s.^[6] Allmovie called the film "abysmal",^[1] with "clumsy, ham-fisted" direction,"lack of focus", "goofy" effects, and a "leaden, noncharismatic" performance from lead actor and producer Bill Osco.^[7] Nevertheless, the reviewer calls it "worthy of note for cinematic trash-fiends", because of its cast, flashes of humor and "oddball qualities".^[7] TV Guide gave the film a negative review awarding it a score of 1 ^1/2 out of 4, stating, "The biggest mystery about this mystery-horror film is how the producer ever managed to persuade two Oscar winners (Dorothy Malone and Jose Ferrer) to appear in such cinematic Valium".^[8]

Leonard Maltin awarded the film 1 ^1/2 stars out of 4 stating that humor was the film's only saving grace, stating that "it wasn't enough to overcome its Z-grade script and production".^[9]

Home video

The Being was released on DVD on September 13, 2005 by Shriek Studio in widescreen format with no special features. Shriek Studio released it again on July 31, 2007 as a part its Mutant Monsters Triple Feature which combined it with The Dark and Creatures from the Abyss.

References

Notes

External links

• The Being at the Internet Movie Database
• The Being at the TCM Movie Database
• The Being at AllMovie
• The Being on Rotten Tomatoes