Retro Review: Monster A Go-Go

July 10th, 2010 by Robert Rosati

Today, we take a look back at Monster A Go-Go. Monster A Go-Go was released in July of 1965. Monster A Go-Go was directed by Bill Rebane and Herschell Gordon Lewis. The film was produced by Herschell Gordon Lewis. Monster A Go-Go was written by Herschell Gordon Lewis, Bill Rebane, Jeff Smith, and Jeff Smith. The movie is narrated by Herschell Gordon Lewis. Monster A Go-Go stars Henry Hite, Phil Morton, and June Travis.

This movie starts with the narrator saying. “what you’re about to see may not even be possible within the narrow limits of human understanding” which is the first clue that this movie is going to a tough one to get through.

The plot of Monster A Go-Go revolves around Frank Douglas, American astronaut, who some how disappears from his spacecraft as it parachutes to Earth. The vanished astronaut is evidently replaced by or turned into a large, radioactive, humanoid monster. Military men as well as a team of scientists attempt to capture the monster. At one point the military successfully captured the monster, however the monster escaped. It is worth noting that neither the capturing of the monster or the monster escaping is shown. The audience learns that this has taken place through narration.

The rest of the plot is a little hard to follow and is nonsensical. Frank is about to be sent up into space, and is given regular doses of something called “Radiation Repellent” prior to the launch. For no particular reason, just prior to the launch, the astronaut’s doctor switches to a totally different Radiation Repellent that wasn’t tested as much. For some reason he does this without telling any of his superiors or getting their approval. The test that was conducted resulted in an animal doubling in size right before that animal died. For some reason they not only give the new repellent to the astronaut, but doubled his dosage. So, the astronaut’s capsule crashes in an empty field. The astronaut, thanks to the untested repellent, is now incredibly tall and is killing random people. Until, that is, one scientist locks him up in a storeroom for eight weeks and gives him doses of an antidote. Just like before he does this without telling any of his superiors. Additionally, the entire cast was replaced by other actors or actresses with the exception of the gentleman who plays Frank’s brother, and he had a very noticeable haircut which makes him look nothing like he did in previous scenes.

At the end of the film, the team of scientists receive a telegram which states that Frank Douglas alive and was rescued in the North Atlantic. The narrator claims that a monster never existed in the first place:
“As if a switch had been turned, as if an eye had been blinked, as if some phantom force in the universe had made a move eons beyond our comprehension, suddenly, there was no trail! There was no giant, no monster, no thing called “Douglas” to be followed. There was nothing in the tunnel but the puzzled men of courage, who suddenly found themselves alone with shadows and darkness! With the telegram, one cloud lifts, and another descends. Astronaut Frank Douglas, rescued, alive, well, and of normal size, some eight thousand miles away in a lifeboat, with no memory of where he has been, or how he was separated from his capsule! Then who, or what, has landed here? Is it here yet? Or has the cosmic switch been pulled? Case in point: The line between science fiction and science fact is microscopically thin! You have witnessed the line being shaved even thinner! But is the menace with us? Or is the monster gone?”

The script for Monster A Go-Go is awful. This film is edited very badly. The bulk of the actors playing characters were replaced by other actors and actresses half way through the movie. Replacing actors and actresses with different people but having the character continued without reason or explanation is a reason is why so many sequels are bad, so it makes it three times worse since this took place within the same movie. Additionally, Frank’s brother has a completely different look in the middle of the movie then he did at the beginning. It’s as if he had a hair cut in between scenes. This movie relies heavily on narration to progress the story. Monster a Go-Go is incredibly boring. During some of the night scenes it’s so dark that it’s hard to tell what is going on. The acting is horrible. The title makes no sense, unless it’s making a reference to an unnecessary scene where there was some dancing was taking place. The ending makes absolutely no sense. Monster A Go-Go earns negative 75 stars and has the distinction of being the worst movie I have ever seen.

One Response to “Retro Review: Monster A Go-Go

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