LouHomey From my favorite movies..

Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

O2D Watching these movies is such a mind numbing waste of time.As boring and terrible as this movie is, I still can't help but notice how similar the plot is to Bride of the Gorilla.The only difference is that Perry Mason got poisoned by a native and the fool in this movie gets whacked in the dome with a meteorite.The rest is the same.They go out at night and kill and we never really see what the monsters look like.But the similarities are only in the plot.Everything else about this movie is inferior.The acting is terrible, there's no action at all and almost everything that happens doesn't matter.The only good thing is that there is a hot chick that always wants to make breakfast.How can you not like that?Two stars, one for the hot chick.

Andy McGregor Quite a few other reviewers are understandably laying into this seemingly traditional monster movie, After all, it is very easy to dislike something with very little to offer in the way of redeeming qualities. I totally agree that it is hampered by a poor script, bad directing, terrible performances and generally awful production value. I also cannot stress enough how rubbish the musical interlude actually is - I wouldn't torture my worst enemy with it. At this point, you'll be sensing a "however" looming on the horizon - and you would be correct!This movie has a ropey blend of sci-fi and horror, and given a Native American historical connection which neither makes sense or gives any greater understanding to the very shallow plot. But it's this connection, mostly delivered by the equally likable Johnny Longbone, which gives the whole film any originality at all. As most monster movies are, so this is too, rather silly and any attempt to inject "scientific" explanations appears futile. I believe at some point it is even suggested the monster is somehow related to a T.Rex!Despite all of it's many failings, I somehow enjoyed this movie. Perhaps that says more about me than it does about the film itself! It kind of reminds me of the sort of stories I used to read when I was a kid and used to attempt to copy them when having to do essays at school. My teachers always seemed to like them! But that was because I was 8 or 9 or 10. Maybe this underlines part of the problem with Track Of The Moonbeast - it looks like it was written by a young kid!

geminiredblue Oh the poor Native Americans, they have a rich heritage of myths, superstition and tales. Sadly, Hollywood has to come along and steal them to turn into crappy movies. TRACK OF THE MOON BEAST came out in the mid-70s and went virtually unnoticed. Somehow MST3K tracked it down and afterwards I came across a non-Mysty version on a DVD four pack. Without their comments, the movie is pretty bad. Here's the story: A mineralogist named Paul (an unlucky name to have in a horror film) is hit by a meteorite containing a weird radiation that causes him to turn into a lizard man, or Moonbeast, which is apparently based on Indian superstition. His friend, Johnny Longbow, tries to figure out a way to stop him. In the middle of these two is Cathy, a pretty but talentless news reporter. Yes, Paul and Cathy fall in love (all-too-conventiently in my opinion.) Their scenes are some of the worst as the two actors have absolutely no chemistry and the actress playing Cathy is clearly much older than Paul... can you say "cougar"? The Moonbeast, obviously a man in a rubber suit, is an early attempt by Joe Blasco. The special effects are overall ho-hum, and the occasional severed body part is unconvincing. Of the actors, I liked Johnny the best. Everyone else falls flat next to his acting. The same could be said of the dialogue. Perhaps with a little more pizazz, it could've been better. But as it is, take my advice, stick with MST3K or take a mountain of caffeine in order to watch it. Once again, here's one I wouldn't mind seeing Hollywood remake!!!

Bloodwank I gather this film gained prominence through mockery on Mystery Science Theatre 3000. Understandable I guess, laughter is a quite reasonable defence against the coldness of the universe, its scorn for our trouble. Paul is a lonely man, we see him first biking to a ridge for mineralogical study, he finds some kind of relic and is assailed by howls and a ceremonial mask. A disturbance in the force we might think, man drawn inexorably to some ill fate but it turns out to be a prank. The tension lifts but respite is temporary, as he makes his moves upon a lovely new friend a cosmic cock-block strikes down to deny even brief pleasure. See, a meteorite has recently collided with the moon, unleashing a swarm of fragments, one of which becomes lodged in his brain. And hence he is doomed to become the titular moon beast, and even make tracks. Well one. What makes this film really work is the way nothing is urgent before it gets too late. No one gets too bothered about Paul's injury, so it takes a while before he goes to a hospital. There are improbable murders, but people just go with the flow at the even more improbable explanations. An folk rock tune appears (California Lady) and even though the plot starts moving again before the end of the song they keep playing it over the drama. Its a cracking song and I like that they kept it in. Paul's new gal is devoted to him even though they only just met. Photographer, blonde, only a couple of expressions and even that may be an exaggeration. They're nice expressions though and she's quite a sweetheart, I felt for her. Paul is something of a tragic character, I felt for him too. He doesn't have much presence on screen, but that didn't detract. Aren't we all pretty fleeting on the screen of life after all?Then there's Johnny Longbow, American Indian professor and all round cool customer, with a great soup recipe. He's awesome, and if there were any justice he would be the star of a chintzy TV series about his ongoing exploits. People keep cool and its all soothing and strange, but then the downers kick in. The horror set pieces are too short to impress so its difficult to get a bead on where the film is going for most of the way, but then it all becomes clear. To the vastness of space people are an irrelevance, the lonely even more, mere specks of dust for arbitrary games. And as things built to an end I became rather sad. Afterwards I tried to laugh but somehow it ain't coming. The sky is no comfort to the lonely ladies and gentlemen, so throw down your telescopes. B minus film, but worth a watch.