| Laserblast (1978) Cast:Kim Milford,Cheryl Smith,Mike Bobenko,Eddie Deezen,Roddy McDowall, Keenan Wynn A teenaged misfit finds a lasergun in the desert and decides to take out his frustrations on the world, however aliens are after him because they want their gun back but will this teenaged misfit destroy the world first in this dull sci-fi thriller. People have said that the special effects have ranged from great to awful, I myself found the effects to be competent but never anything dazzling. The special effects are easily the best thing about this movie, especially since Laserblast labors to tell an underdog story so lame it just inspires brain trauma. Indeed the hero in this movie doesn't have all that bad of a life, okay his mother is constantly out but he has a hot girlfriend who is willing to put out. (Indeed what more can a male teenager ask for?) He has his own car and he seems to live in a very nice house. What's his problem? Also Milford isn't all that convincing as a teenager, especially since he looks like he's pushing 30. The movie itself suffers because it never justifies the hero's means, if they had gone and truly developed Milford's life as hell, this maybe would've worked and therefore convinced us of his need to take vengeance on the world. There is a rather ironic twist however, in which Milford grows metal around his heart and after a doctor performs heart surgery, Milford kills the doctor. In 1988 Milford died due to complications from a botched heart surgery and it's only this scene, knowing ahead of time that makes this have slightly more impact then it would. The movie on the other hand is just too boring and unconvincing to get the required effect it intends to snatch from audiences. Also ironically a lot of the main characters in this movie are all dead in real life and both the main stars died under tragic conditions. This does add a creepy atmosphere to the enterprise however it still doesn't make the movie worth seeking out. Now that this movie is almost 30 years old, the dated look might make it entertaining in a campy way. I however was too depressed at why a teenager who has everything a teenager could possibly want (A hot girlfriend who puts out, for crying out loud!) would want to destroy the world and innocent people. Also we never learn why the gun makes the teenager into a zombie-like creature. In other words there are just too much unanswered questions to make this a credible thriller. D.Michael Rae *1/2 |