The Flesh Eaters DVD Review

Written by Steve "Alien Redrum" Pattee

DVD released by Dark Sky Films

Directed by Jack Curtis

Written by Arnold Drake

1964, Region 1 (NTSC), 87 minutes, Not rated

DVD released on October 25th, 2005

Starring:

Byron Sanders as Grant Murdock

Barbara Wilkin as Jan Letterman

Rita Morley as Laura Winters

Ray Tudor as Omar

Martin Kosleck as Professor Peter Bartell

Movie:

When a movie star, Laura (Rita Morley), convinces a seaplane pilot, Grant (Byron Sanders), to fly her and her assistant to Provincetown, he thinks it's easy money.  Heck, it's a routine flight, so what could go wrong?

Well, everything.

When something goes wrong with the plane, and with hurricane-like weather right on their tail, they are forced to land on a seemingly deserted island—deserted except for the ornery scientist and the skeleton that washes ashore shortly after they land.

Oh, and the flesh eating bacteria that seem to be creeping up the beach.

To make things even more difficult, Grant's seaplane has floated off, stranding them on the island.

Being stuck on an island with a mysterious scientist and flesh eating bacteria is bad.

But that’s only the beginning of their problems.

Review:

Toted as "...being one of the first gore films," on the back of the box, The Flesh Eaters has its gory moments — two of them, to be exact.  While it may have been a gore-fest 40 years ago, it is quite tame by today's standard.  But that's okay, because it makes up for it in fun.

This is a fun movie.

Eaters is not going to win any posthumous Academy Awards.  The special effects, at times, made me wish for a decent bottle of Merlot to go with the exquisite cheese.  The story "Nazi Scientist Continuing Experiments on a Deserted Island" is as implausible as they come.

But make no mistake, kids; The Flesh Eaters is a damn fun Saturday-matinee-esque monster movie.

Sure, the acting goes over-the-top at times, but isn't that expected?

Sure, some of the special effects were created by scratching the negative of the film — something I had only heard of before I saw this movie, but immediately knew when I saw it.

Sure, chances are Nazi scientists aren't living in a tent on an island in the Pacific.

But sometimes, you need to throw reality out the window and enjoy the movie.  And The Flesh Eaters is a sure place to start.

Video and Audio:

While a bit on the soft side, Eaters’ 16:9 presentation is virtually blemish free and looks fantastic.

The mono soundtrack is also fantastic.  You only hear what you are supposed to hear, with no distortions, and everything comes out crystal clear.

Special Features:

There is a deleted scene that shows Nazi scientists, presumably during World War II, forcing naked women into a pool of water containing the flesh-eating monsters.  The scene seems completely out of place with the rest of the movie, and I am glad it was cut.

Outtakes from the same sequence follow.

Two trailers for Eaters are also included.

Grades:
Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Features:
Overall:	– Old-school monster movie fans will love to give this one a spin.

Conclusion:

Like Without Warning, Dark Sky Films has unearthed another winner.  The Flesh Eaters is a great tongue-in-cheek old-school monster movie that makes you yearn for the days of the drive-in.

(Equiopment includes a Mitsubishi WS-48613 48” HDTV, Sony DVP-NS50P DVD player and Onkyo HTS-770 Home Theater System and, in some cases , a Sony 27” WEGA TV and a Cyberhome CH-DVD300 DVD player.)

Want to comment on this review? Head over to the Horrortalk Review Forum.

© 2005 HorrorTalk.com. No use of this review is permitted without expressed permission from HorrorTalk.com.