4D Man (AKA The Evil Force): Review

[@GrandOldMovies]

The Science Advisor rules!

[@l.a.gothro3999]

I kind of have a crush on him, lol.

[@bostonrailfan2427]

@@l.a.gothro3999he’s the grandfather, dad, or uncle that you want: smart and snarky, but in a nice way 😎

[@talkingthetalk3640]

It's fun seeing your dad.

[@earlleeruhf3130]

When the brother fell down the stair the sound track they used for some reason made me expect the spinning Batman symbol followed by narration. "Can Batman get there in time to stop Jokers plans?"

[@ThatJohnKillion1970]

I was fully expecting a finger-snapping street fight between the brothers.

[@bostonrailfan2427]

tonight tonight…

[@willmfrank]

"When you're a Jet, you're a Jet all the way, from your first pencil through a steel block to your last dyin' day..."

[@ashleys9397]

@@willmfrank From a great Alice Cooper tune.

[@varanid9]

With switchblades in an ally.

[@bostonrailfan2427]

@@willmfrank 🎵from your first cigarette to your last dying day🎵

[@bondavebond]

Robert Lansing does a great job in this movie. Some genuinely scary and heartfelt moments. 🤠

[@Philbert-s2c]

I remember seeing this on local television in the 70's. It wasn't bad...just weird. "He's just suffering from Bee-Bop angst." Literally the best kind of angst to suffer from.

[@ashleys9397]

"Be-Bop Angst", you say!? Lord Buckley Still Lives!

[@timeliebe]

I thought this was Be-Bop Angst! kzbin.info/www/bejne/j6KVf2BvetKYmqMsi=5n28zY21UKgcbxc_

[@davidsigalow7349]

In around 1966 - 67, when I was about 12, this movie was re-released to the theaters as part of a double-feature billed as "Master of Terror/Master of Horror." If memory serves, the other film was a trilogy of Poe short stories. I knew Robert Lansing from "Twelve O'Clock High," and thought this movie was pretty good. The ending and the be-bop jazz soundtrack always stood out to me.

[@lakrids-pibe]

You are entering the vicinity of an area adjacent to a location. The kind of place where there might be a monster, or some kind of weird mirror. These are just examples; it could also be something much better. Prepare to enter: _The Scary Door_ . PS I dig the jazz, daddy-o!

[@ashleys9397]

So What's the Lowdown...Brown? So What's the Scoop...Betty Boop? I'm Cake-walkin' into town....

[@epiendless1128]

2:55 Fast Show reference. 👍

[@donnybirney6581]

almost spat out my tea when that happened lol

[@mikehunt4986]

What the hell is Fast Show?

[@christopherlawley1842]

Nice

[@christopherlawley1842]

@@mikehunt4986 It was a UK comedy show full of catchphrases Put "Fast Show" in the YT search and you'll get a whole load of clips. Brilliant!

[@JumpingSpiderDesign]

​@@mikehunt4986A (brilliant!) mid-90s British sketch show.

[@Froggievilleus]

Beebop Angst is a great name for an album.

[@ashleys9397]

It Is!

[@Madmax-rz5hz]

"I admire you more than any man in the world " "how many men do you know that actually admire me?

[@goddessoftransitory2038]

It was the scientific version of Just Friending.

[@daveandgena3166]

Digging the Dark Corners jazz club!

[@grumpyoldwizard]

I found the ending to this far creepier than many actual monster movies. It’s stuck with me for quite a while.

[@davidlionheart2438]

Robert Lansing was a genuinely excellent actor. He deserved a far bigger and better career than he had, but he never sneered at the material. He gave the best performance he could no matter the film, and his best was extremely considerable.

[@williamblakehall5566]

Agreed. I appreciated his regular gig as Control on the original Equalizer show.

[@Scatscar1985]

I never saw Robert Lansing on "The Equalizer"... but I did see him on..."Automan"!

[@timeliebe]

Pity the actor playing his brother didn't feel the same! I had forgotten just how...bad an actor James Congdon is. "Linda, I've done this before - !" Act? I tend to doubt it.

[@ajivins1]

I liked him in Star Trek as Gary Seven.

[@geraldmartin7703]

Always liked Lansing although never saw him in anything memorable. Empire of the Ants was fun, however.

[@jwrush]

Feels like a golden age horror comic

[@ashleys9397]

You're right, I think. It does sorta give off that kinda cool pulp vibe.

[@Victor-gi3dy]

About 20 yrs ago i got to meet Lee Meriwether @ a convention & i was invited to a party with her in the hotel she got a little Tipsy on wine 🍷 & slowly slid out of her chair & fell butt first on the floor 😊😊 Laughing

[@Bigbadwhitecracker]

Miss America - the party girl

[@varanid9]

The Science Advisor had a particularly intense gleam in his eye after the "Noooooo..."

[@toughbutsweet1]

"She's a mean drunk." Hahaha!

[@ashleys9397]

Yeah. As in "Suck ass, big sis! I'll drink as much as I want, bitch! And oh by the way, you're running low on Smirnoff's"....

[@rhettmiller3842]

I enjoyed the Jazz Club reference...."Mmmmmm...Nice."

[@fembotheather3785]

The soundtrack reminds me of the show Police Squad.

[@heidifedor]

Scott’s boss was “The Animal” from Stalog 17.

[@ericalbany]

Robert Strauss - one of the great character actors

[@BarryHart-xo1oy]

One of the things l love about horror and science fiction movies from the 1950s and’60s are the jazz-influenced soundtracks.

[@PoffinFresh]

“Now dig on this,” he said before demonstrating the science.

[@ashleys9397]

After saying: "Hipsters! Flipsters! Lend Me Your Lobes & Dig This Gig!"

[@KRhetor]

I LOVE this movie! Robert Lansing is absolutely superb.

[@timeliebe]

He usually is, it's just a pity he wasn't cut out to be in series television for more than a season. The one show he had that lasted longer, 12 O'CLOCK HIGH, they fired him at the end of Season One because he "looked too old" (he was playing a General!).

[@mariakelly90210]

​@@timeliebeFun Fact: His replacement, Paul Burke, not only got hate mail from Robert Lansing's fans about the switch, he got hate mail from his OWN fans about it! He was also 2 years older than Lansing.

[@timeliebe]

@@mariakelly90210 - what a mess that was.

[@tskmaster3837]

"Police Baffled by Confusion at Crime Scene." Not to be confused with "Police Confused by Bafflement at Crime Scene." There's enough bafflement as it is.

[@schillermusik2040]

Seriously, I admire your commitment. Chapeau.

[@RussLudwig]

Dig that crazy beat during the warehouse fire! Thank you DC & the Science Advisor, you both rock 👍

[@Gappasaurus]

5:38 Robin’s delivery is on point here 😆👍

[@gregevans6044]

Robin, we need to get you up to at least 100k subscribers. You’re channel’s really great

[@bayonnetenor]

Nice to see your dad again

[@turntheblueiris4626]

Man, that review was solid, you cats ain't cartoonin'

[@JohnMartin-ys1kn]

Always a pleasure to see Dark Coners dad.

[@Torgo-and-the-Lucifer-Cat]

Thanks! And that appears to be a vintage gas detector our science advisor is using? I love trying to guess this stuff, lol 😊

[@DarkCornersReviews]

Geiger counter

[@travisrygg3317]

​@@DarkCornersReviewsI seriously thought that was a vintage radio.

[@bostonrailfan2427]

@@DarkCornersReviewsthe way he turned it on just as you asked i thought that it’s a lie detector 😎🤣

[@bostonrailfan2427]

it’s not a lie detector to show that he’s not lying to us? 🤣😎

[@Torgo-and-the-Lucifer-Cat]

@@bostonrailfan2427 lol, how dare you impune the greatest scientist ever, 😆

[@MISHKINPUSH]

As a kid, this was one of my favorite Friday night/Saturday matinee movies on TV. Thanks so much for bringing it back to mind. I can't wait to watch it again. And the music is FANTASTIC!

[@AROBASPARK]

Get them Cats of RiffTrax to dig on this one, Daddy-o😎

[@DDlambchop43]

they did projected man, why subject them to more?

[@TheRealNormanBates]

@@DDlambchop43 "We bring them cheesy movies, the worst.. we can find! _La LA LA!"_

[@suedenim]

I can't remember who said it, but someone said the Blob feels like it was made by people who had never seen a movie, but heard lots of people talk about them and thought it would be fun to make one. That Jack H. Harris and company ignore or don't know any of the unwritten rules of movie making, both for good and for ill. The jazz score fits that analysis perfectly.

[@timeliebe]

Except their effects people are always surprisingly good-better than the bigger effects houses at the time. Watching this movie reminds of just how much effort went into making Robert Lansing's body go through things head on (not just at an angle which could be easily faked).

[@suedenim]

@@timeliebe yeah, it's not necessarily a bad thing.

[@Bigbadwhitecracker]

Maynard G Kreps probably bought the soundtrack LP the moment it hit the stores.

[@JeffreyDeCristofaro]

"NO!" The most direct answer given by a science advisor.

[@AngelMapper]

"What other soundtracks take over the movie?" Easy: Mesa of Lost Women. It's like a guitarvalanche.

[@DarkCornersReviews]

That guitar becomes all you can think about.

[@chicochiggy4976]

The like button was bebopped! My kids now look at me with even stranger looks... Love your channel keep up the amazing work!!!!

[@DarkCornersReviews]

Thanks!

[@mariakelly90210]

​@@DarkCornersReviewsNo, Thank YOU, Dark Corners!

@2:57 that Fast Show! brings back memories

[@brianfuller757]

This was the screen debut of Lee Meriweather. It's an okay movie.

[@DanDoty-i5n]

She went on to do more science fiction . Star Trek and The Time Tunnel.

[@KarlBunker]

I have a lot of fondness for this movie, and in particular for the loud and intrusive (but _soooo_ cool) music. Perhaps that comes from first seeing it at a young and formative age. And any movie that kills off a very young Patty Duke (though implied and off-screen) earns extra points from me!

[@Alexander_Stern1]

This looks AMAZING.

[@ajivins1]

In Britain, the poster declared it as 'The Fourpence Man'...

[@edwarddormer1103]

This joke’s one deep cut! 😂

[@andrewalderman9489]

Remember..it is the Fifth Dimension that leads to the Age of Aquarius

[@ashleys9397]

Oh Uhhhhhhhh....

[@paulforder591]

'Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In'... I used to dance to that song as a small child! Ahh, a sweet memory. . . 😁💦🌊🌞

[@eliotmccann2589]

Huzzah for the Science Advisor!

[@paultapner2769]

That opening scene with the narration reminds of workplace health and safety short 'Days of our Lives' from Mystery Science Theater 3000. Some of it seems to follow in a similar vein. You know all that frolicking on the fast moving roundabout is going to end in tears....

[@ericjanssen394]

“But what he DIDN’T know was where his experiments would lead him…” It was a rule in our old writing class, “Never let the omniscient narrator tell the reader how stupid the main character is, for not seeing a glaring plot danger that we do.”

[@Oppeldeldoc1]

The "Gentle pressure" short.

[@Marveryn]

actually i was thinking along the line of the twilight zone

[@tuckerbowen4626]

"Flag on the moon. How did it get there?"

[@ericjanssen394]

@@tuckerbowen4626 Thank you….Btw, what does that Mike-zombie MSTie fan quote have to do with ANYTHING? 🤔

[@GaryAa56]

This is still one of my favorite childhood movies, I always love the soundtrack. Maynard Krebbs on the Bongos.

[@TomRozel]

Though it’s a great film, I find myself gritting my teeth when I watch Creature from the Black Lagoon. The blare of trumpets whenever the creature appears really grinds my gears.

[@Sleestak_Krankor_Addams]

And worse, that music entered Universal's music library and was rented out. It shows up in far too many movies of the 50s and 60s from sci-fi to horror to at least one Italian Hercules movie. Talk about overused.

[@boardskins]

That was my favorite part as a kid

[@GorillaLancaster]

Love that shirt my man!

[@scottguerin5741]

The jazz soundtrack is there as a metaphor for addiction like other films of the time like man with the Golden arm. The leads character does not relate to those around him establishing how he could fall prey to the lust for greed and power. Your own review points this out. I think Robert Lansing gave an outstanding performance.

[@peterkelley7160]

For all the curious viewers that wondered what happened when science went to Birdland .

[@Skizziks_MAD]

The soundtrack to 1982's "Liquid Sky" is... divisive, I guess. Composed on a Fairlight synthesizer it fits the New Wave/Avant Garde idea the movie is trying to go for. I like the soundtrack by itself, but I agree with people who think it sounds like a barbershop quartet of dentist drills. (Did Robin ever review Liquid Sky? Tiny alien junkies!)

[@robertchamberlain3481]

The music score for "Liquid Sky" is certainly discordant and loud, but such was the ambiance of punk clubs in the early 1980s--as you note in your post. In fact, the music in punk clubs was much louder. I remember one punk club where glasses on tables shook like a T-Rex was descending on the patrons. There was even an eight-minute short avant garde film, "Deaf/Punk" (1979; it is available on KZbin), about San Francisco's "Deaf Club" where deaf patrons could dance by feeling the vibrations in the floor. But I very much like both the film and the music score, which I recently acquired. To my surprise, I learned that a lot of the songs are punked versions of classical sources. "Noon" is an adaptation of "La Sonnerie De Sainte Genevieve Du Montt De Paris" by Marin Marias. "Alien's Theme I" is an adaptation of an Excerpt from "Trionfo Di Afrodite" by Carl Orff. "Margaret's Childhood Theme" is an adaptation of "Laurel Waltz" from "The Elssler Dances" by Anthony Philip Heinrich. Most of these pieces are available online, and you can compare them with the "Liquid Sky" adaptations. I had never before heard of Heinrich, and I've gotten interested in his work.

[@helenj4902]

Love when your parents make an appearance!! ❤

[@AdamqK]

I used to watch this film on TV as a kid and always liked it. Oddly, I have no memory of the live triangle at all. Still, I thought the acting, particularly Robert Lansing as the 4D man, was excellent, and the ending left a deep impression on me.

[@peterbailey6930]

I saw this movie in mid 70s on Creature Feature. Laughed at a lot, but I was a big fan of Robert Lansing. 12oclock high. And Star Trek TOS

[@marSLaZZ66]

"He's soon suffering from Be-bop angst" !! 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😅

[@nylaandrew]

The soundtrack for Ed Wood's JAILBAIT drives me nuts.

[@ashleys9397]

That's the one with all the flamenco guitar? Am I right? Yeah, I know what you mean. Music that's completely ill-suited for the movie's "subject focus", or whatever you wanna call it. But that's Mister Ed for you. A true American primitive.

[@verdiguy]

Love the shirt Robin! I know it might be a pain in the derriere but is there any chance you could a create a playlist of videos that feature the Science Advisor? We love his cameos, whether he's making subtle corrections to the science of one of the films or just crushing them with a dismissive, withering "No"

[@DarkCornersReviews]

We already have one! kzbin.info/aero/PL1DHoBtqR2tOuUnHPja3u5TubV6Xdgzqn

[@verdiguy]

@@DarkCornersReviews Awesome! Thanks very much!

[@allannewell2089]

This was a terrific ep. I need to see this film!

[@mariakelly90210]

You really do!

[@ericjanssen394]

The jazz score, hysterical TV style acting and use of Lee Meriwether suggest that this actually IS supposed to be an Americanized remake of The Projected Man, only blasting sax and bongos at us to tell us “We’re not British, REALLY!!”

[@bostonrailfan2427]

except it’s the other way around: Projected Man came seven years after this movie, it’s a ripoff if this movie

[@christopherwall2121]

​@@bostonrailfan2427 And both of them are basically _The Fly_ without the bug-man and man-bug

[@varanid9]

This movie was made 7 years before The Projected Man.

[@ericalbany]

There's the germ of a good movie in there - and the actors play it absolutely straight.

[@kildogery]

I'm already sad that my own dad isn't going to be around forever. It's like Adam Buxton's dad all over again. "Baaad Dad" Great video. Your dad rocks.

[@ElTio.45-70]

And we have even The Fast Show reference!

[@epiendless1128]

Great!

[@kylepetersen9521]

Wild to see, Animal from Stalag 17, as a scientist.

[@hneugiii1245]

Two 👍👍 for the Science Advisor.

[@smacksalad]

4D, man. 4D!

[@andrewgwilliam4831]

Robin and his bloodhound in the ladies' halls of residence at 3 o'clock in the morning, with his reputation?

[@newking70]

1980s Flash Gordon had the same question mark ending.

[@MadJens0]

When I saw that in the cinema back in 80, I would definitely be up for that 😀

[@morgangallowglass8668]

YAY DAD!!!!!

[@smacksalad]

I think you'll find those are Be-Bop Delusions, she's my baby. Be-Bop Delusions, she drives me crazy.

[@euansmith3699]

6:34 "Police Baffled By Confusion At Crime Scene" 😲 I believe that the soundtrack is capable of penetrating solid objects.

[@Shockwave-ob2tx]

Ah, so that’s where Batman ‘66 got its soundtrack from…

[@georgemetcalf8763]

The voice-over introducing the 4D Man sounds like a cheaper non-union Mexican equivalent of Rod Serling.

[@equusquaggaquagga536]

Señor Serlingo

[@Oppeldeldoc1]

I haven't seen it in some time, but I know that the little girl is played by Patty Duke.

[@MrBschwarz]

Two other films where the music is intrusive that come to mind are "Mesa of Lost Women" and "2,000 Maniacs" (also Ed Wood's "Jail Bait" which reuses the music from "Mesa of Lost Women").

[@DanDoty-i5n]

I like this movie for the same reason I liked THE BLOB. Its original. Yes, its like the PROJECTED MAN, the same way THE BLOB was like X THE UNKNOWN and THE H MAN. But people don't tslk much about those films as they do THE BLOB. 4D MAN is one of the best Science Fiction movies of the 50's.

[@Martyn2021]

The soundtrack makes it feel like a episode of The Man From Uncle

[@willmfrank]

Headline: "LOCAL BANK IS ROBBED OF $50,000 -- Police Baffled by Confusion At Crime Scene" Police: "So...This guy got into the bank undetected, and got out undetected...and all he took was fifty grand?" Bank: "We're confused." Police: "We're baffled."

[@langleymneely]

You don’t need to understand what is happening or expect quality! 4D Mans soundtrack, like the film, is all syncopated vibes man! Groovy heady stuff man! Vibes baby, ALL VIBES!🎶🎵🎼🎵🎶🎺

[@AquamentusLives]

1:43 “Holy Heartbreak”

[@stillhuntre55]

Cool review, Daddio. ;)

[@marlasotherchannel9847]

I dig that crazy be-bop music!

[@walterfechter8080]

The soundtrack to "Danger: Death Ray!" is hard to forget (unfortunately). Personally, I think that Jack H. Harris should have stuck to blobs and dinosaurs.

[@ashleys9397]

More grievously still, ol' Jack partially ruined John Parker's DEMENTIA in the process of t urning the original (great) film into the more commercially viable DAUGHTER OF HORROR (Now there's a worthy subject for a possible DC streaming review).

[@jamesbramwell6547]

Bluebeard - starring John Carradine - is a great film marred by an intrusive music score. It would have worked better with more silence, in my humble opinion.

[@TheUluxian]

"He's soon suffering form Be-Bop angst." Gee Robin, what do you mean by th.....? Oh...okay.. Nevermind

[@1kylecurry]

A decent watch with a crazy soundtrack man.

[@dolphin66]

That film obviously is crying for a remake. Really! The basic idea of passing through objects and becoming part of them (or something) sounds brilliant.

[@JohnDrummondPhoto]

I must protest the use of the term "bebop" for what is clearly West Coast jazz. They're only tangentially related. West Coast jazz was in fact very popular in the late '50s and was used in everything from "Peter Gunn" to "Courageous Cat". 4D Man was a decent movie IMO. I think you were a bit hard on it. BTW you gave Lee Meriwether a mention but never a word for Robert Lansing, the movie's lead and a solid character actor with a long, successful career.

[@ashleys9397]

You sound like a bonafide Jazzbo. If so, I salute you hip sir.

[@JohnDrummondPhoto]

@@ashleys9397 thank you, sir! Or ma'am. With a name like Ashley I can't tell.

[@timworley3058]

I dig this film, AND the soundtrack.

[@paintnamer6403]

I don't remember the music track as loud as you played it. I think it's a good fun movie!

[@mariakelly90210]

FINALLY! THANK YOU ROBIN!

[@Nedski42YT]

I liked this movie. It did have the most "Beatnik" music I've ever heard! Bongos, finger snaps and blaring trumpets galore. Robert Lansing did a Twilight Zone episode where he also had a problem with aging and his girlfriend, S5.E15 "The Long Morrow."

[@KnowsHisSong]

Bebop Angst is my band name now

[@robertchamberlain3481]

"What other sound tracks take over the movie?" "Runaway" (1984) is a near future science fiction action film (written and directed by Michael Crichton) about a police force department that tracks and disables any of the various robots that have malfunctioned and are creating hazardous conditions. (In this world, robots have become ubiquitous, and, no, they are not androids; they are designed to perform specific functions.) In a lot of ways, it is a pretty good movie, but the producers decided to use a Moog Synthesizer/electronic music-type score that was dated ten years earlier. ("Switched on Bach" came out in 1968 for Pete's sake.) Additionally, Jerry Goldsmith, a good movie-music composer, was apparently not up to scoring with electronic music. Far from making the movie seem more futuristic, the score actually dates it and is pretty annoying in the bargain. Also, I really like "4-D Man." I've seen it several times, though I admit the score is annoying. Robert Lansing's character has real pathos because he does not want to kill people, especially with his off-screen offing of Marjorie Sutherland, a very young Patty Duke.

[@christopherwall2121]

That's weird, because movies like _Gremlins_ showed Jerry was very much up to the task of using synths

[@brianmills5302]

I remember the movie well, I remember the soundtrack more!! Great job!

[@ROMANTIKILLER2]

This movie looks like a great unintended comedy.

[@Splendiferous42]

Love a surprise Fast Show reference 😆

[@parisgreen4600]

Wow, the effects look really good. And thank you, Science Advisor! For intrusive soundtracks - the noir movie "D.O.A." has an actual wolf-whistle sound every time the protagonist sees a pretty girl! I didn't stay with it long, which is a shame because it's supposed to be a great flick.