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Sting of Death
USA 1966
produced by Richard S. Flink, Joseph Fink, Juan Hidalgo-Gato for Essen Productions
directed by William Grefé
starring Joe Morrison, Valerie Hawkins, John Vella, Jack Nagle, Sandy Lee Kane, Deanna Lund, Lois Etelman, Blanche Devereaux, Doug Hobart, Judy Lee, Robert Stanton, Tony Gulliver, Ron Pinchbeck, John Castle, Barbara Paridon
written by Al Dempsey (= William Kerwin), music by Al Jacobs, Lon E. Norman, songs by Neil Sedaka, special makeup effects by Harry Kerwin
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
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Karen (Valerie Hawkins) pays a visit to her father, marine biologist
Dr. Richardson (Jack Nagle) on his island where he studies the local
marine wildlife, and she has brought her friends (Sandy Lee Kane, Deanna
Lund, Lois Etelman, Blanche Devereaux) for company. And while she soon
falls for her dad's new assistant John (Joe Morrison), her friends make
fun of his other assistant, disfigured and deformed Egon (John Vella), who
apparently only Karen has sympathy for. It gets even worse when a bunch of
students from the nearby college come over to celebrate Karen's arrival,
and all humiliate Egon for his looks, upon which he takes off in his boat.
Not long after, a giant jellyfish with a humanoid body (Doug Hobart) hides
in Dr. Richardson's pool, and when one of the partying students takes a
swim, he attacks her, and also the guy who tries to save her. The students
take off in a hurry, but the jellyfish monster has sabotaged their boat,
and she sinks in the midst of a jellyfish field, which are quick to kill
everyone. Back on the island, Dr. Richardson and John take two of the
girls (Deanna Lund, Lois Etelman) to the remote lab where Egon actually
lives - but the two girls are killed by the jellyfish monster - which it
has been revealed to the audience (not to any of the protagonists though)
is actually Egon who has a machine that turns him. Panicked, the Doctor
and John return to his home, where they find another of the girls (Blanche
Devereaux) murdered by the monster. Apparently, the monster has also
sabotaged the Doctor's radio - as in his only means of communication with
the outer world - and while Richardson and John try to fix the radio, they
leave Karen in the care of Egon, which really wasn't the smartest move ... Ok,
so this is a low budget monster movie from the mid-1960s that despite the
obvious influences from the already waning beach party craze has a very
1950s vibe to it - so in other words, if you look for originality or
ingenuity, you might want to look elsewhere ... but if you're up for a
good time with a movie that's clearly a child of its time, then this one's
just the walk down memory lane you've been looking for, a film that's
entertaining despite of or maybe even because of its shortcomings -
including a silly looking monster that's not entirely convincing, some
pretty wooden acting not at all helped by stilted dialogue, and clichéed
and flat characters with very little in terms of arc. On the plus side,
the film moves at a steady pace, really tries to deliver the excitement it
promises, and at least some of the shots of the Floridian Everglades are
pretty cool. So basically, not great, but if you're into this kind of
movie at least great entertainment!
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