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Robot Monster Reviews

The press release called it brilliant, thrill-packed, overwhelming, vivid, and suspenseful, but ROBOT MONSTER (in 3-D) is one of the most hackneyed, and lowest-budgeted, science-fiction films ever made. It concerns the attempt by RoMan Barrows to obliterate the last six HuMans on Earth. Dressed in a gorilla suit with a diver's helmet, Barrows flails his arms and acts generally scary while receiving television-transmitted messages from "The Great One." After killing two survivors, Barrows begins to feel human emotions. He finds himself in a dilemma--he knows he must kill but feels that he cannot. Oh, such a confused monster was RoMan. However, the whole thing is just a dream--or nightmare--depending on your tastes. Budgeted at only $16,000 (though filmmakers announced the budget at "under $50,000" so people wouldn't dismiss it too quickly), the picture grossed over $1 million. Producer-director Tucker didn't see a cent of the profits, however, and, after becoming despondent over his partners' scheming and terrible reviews, attempted suicide. He recovered and moved up through the motion picture ranks to become a top post-production supervisor. Includes stock footage from ONE MILLION B.C. (1940) and FLIGHT TO MARS (1951), as well as an early score from Oscar-winning composer Bernstein (THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE, 1967). Another one of those "so-bad-it's-good" pictures.