Written by the director of a 3D softcore porno, directed by a conman and starring its own investors, this creature feature has little enough going for it even before the monster appears on screen. Described by Harry and Michael Medved as a man-eating carpet from outer space, our antagonist is just that a carpet draped over several students, whose feet we can see at the bottom of the screen. The opening sequence sets the tone: bad acting, bad lighting and bad cinematography topped off with mismatched stock-footage and stale narration. Director Art J. Nelson (who also plays the lead under the alias Vic Savage) either shot the picture without sound or lost the soundtrack in post-production; either way, he brought in a local newsreader to narrate the picture, leading to several scenes where conversations between characters are paraphrased in voice-over. Any movie where a girl wears a bikini for a picnic in the woods isnt aiming for High Art, but that doesnt excuse the level of technical incompetence on display here. Along with all the visible ropes, wires and crewmembers, were also treated to the sight of the cameramans cigarette smoke drifting into shot following an onscreen death, making you wonder what Nelson actually did.
Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'
