Incredibly Strange Creatures...: Bad Movie Review

[@gingataisen]

"It's like David Lynch directed a 1950's musical..." "...which I'd love to see!" 🤣

[@AABB-bm9kk]

A MSTK3 tour de force ✌️ “Ortega Taco shells are made out of people! “ 🙂

[@davidlionheart2438]

Damn, now I want tacos from a seedy carnival.

[@ashleys9397]

@@davidlionheart2438 Corn dogs for me. But beef only.

[@jeraldbaxter3532]

Now, there's an idea, though it would require a time machine: have Dr. Clayton Forrestor and TV's Frank, or Pearl, Dr. Bobo and Brain Guy, send Dark Corners to the Satellite of Love and have him join Joel, Mike, Tom Servo, Crow T. Robot and Gypsy to make witty and caustic remarks. Now that would be classic tv!

[@cpuuk]

"Look Jerry, your horribly scarred face helps take the focus off your thinning hairline... every cloud dude"

[@WaxWingedAvian]

I’ve got an idea for a sequel, I’ll call it The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies Who Stopped Living Again Only to Be Revived Into Mixed-Up Zombie Zombies.

[@willmfrank]

"...Part Two: The Sequel"

[@AndyWilliams8]

Not Elizabeth Taylor's best role.

[@jeraldbaxter3532]

I'm thinking the Gypsy Fortune Teller was trying to channel Chita Rivera, with maybe a soupcon of Elizabeth Taylor. Or, maybe Gypsy Fortune Teller giving an impression of Elizabeth Taylor trying to imitate Chita Rivera? Oh, god, I am so confused...

[@celinhabr1]

@@bananasayswhat Exactly. The love child between Elizabeth Taylor and Ida Lupino.

[@Hykje]

"Yo fiiify piiieg."

[@Bigbadwhitecracker]

A young dr. Ruth

[@AliceBowie]

Dennis Ray Steckler had a fascinating career. He kind of invented music videos. He directed a bunch of "Scopitones", which were music videos for these italian video jukeboxes. The music is usually weird Italian and German pop singers. His movies are so bad, they're almost transcendent.

[@ashleys9397]

I read that he made a music video for Jefferson Airplane's '67 hit "White Wabbit". Honest; that's what I read somewhere.

[@diverguy3556]

​@@ashleys9397it's on his Wikipedia page and has several footnotes that lead to obituaries which make those claims. I guess it must be true, but it does sound unlikely.

[@Bigbadwhitecracker]

Mancy sinatra did one ghose for “These boots…”. Very cute. Kay Starr did one for “wheel of fortune” Very kinky

[@KirkWilliamsIsBroken]

One of the Weirdest Films ever made...but MST3K made it worth watching.

[@raulcruz716]

Mixed up zombies are the ones that say Brians instead of Brains.

[@tuckerbowen4626]

"budget Fagan"? YOU PUT SOME _RESPECT_ ON ORTEGA'S NAME, GODDAMMIT!

[@ashleys9397]

ORTEGA: "Hey, meeester...you want to smoke some dope? Watch donkeeee show? Eeeh? Maybe take chance on theee noombers? Si? No? Heeeey...maybe you like meeeet my sis-teeer? Sheee real virgin. I ought knooow. I try her myseeeelf...." And yes...that is disgusting. Sorry.

[@Dagon3369]

According to Steckler, he originally intended the movie's title to be The Incredibly Strange Creatures, or How I Stopped Living and Became a Mixed-up Zombie. Then, he got a call from lawyers representing Columbia Pictures saying that his title was too similar to CP's Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. To avoid the threatened lawsuit, Steckler changed the title to that which we all know and love today.

[@bentilbury2002]

The Big Hungry Fish That Swam About In The Ocean And Munched Up Lots Of People With Its Big Sharp Pointy Teeth Until It Bit The Wrong Thing And Got Blowed Up Into Lots Of Icky Gibs: The Revenge

[@TheRealNormanBates]

it's the ":The Revenge" that seals it.

[@jeraldbaxter3532]

Part XVI...

[@carlwilkerson9722]

The real message of this enigmatic film: "Long Beach Sucks."

[@patriciadilday447]

Was this filmed at the old Pike in Long Beach?

[@carlwilkerson9722]

@@patriciadilday447 I don't know of the "Pike." I recall reading somewhere that it was an actual amusement park in Long Beach. The film was shot in the early 1960's, FWIW. The park attractions, and especially the roller coaster, were popular, even beloved, by visitors from throughout metro LA.

[@patriciadilday447]

Yep that's it. I live in Long Beach and the Pike was a very popular attraction for decades, but it was getting seedy by the 60's. Even worse by the70's. Google ' Long Beach CA mummy' sometime. They were filming a TV show in the early 70's and found a real mummy in the spook house. No joke 😀

[@DDlambchop43]

@@patriciadilday447 oh yeah; the mummy of Elmer McCurdy. Such a weird story.

[@bostonrailfan2427]

@@patriciadilday447it was indeed according to Wikipedia

[@ThreadBomb]

_Horror Express_ was known as _Pánico en el Transiberiano_ in Spanish, and I think the English release would be better known if it was called something like _Terror on the Trans-Siberian Express._ BTW, "Films set on the Trans-Siberian Railway" is a Wikipedia category, but it only includes four films.

[@Nosregni]

The Incredibly Big Ship That Hit An Iceberg And Sank

[@steealconwyrick1999]

1:19: “Did you guys see that or did I imagine it?” - Crow T. Robot When I saw this on MST3k, I spent basically the entire movie with my head buried in my arms. It’s arguably worse than _Manos_ for me, and saying that it’s not as bad as _Red Zone Cuba_ really isn’t saying much. Fun fact: _Close Encounters of the Third Kind_ cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond was a camera operator on this film. A paycheck’s a paycheck, I guess.

[@thrashpondopons8348]

Carol Brant (Mrs. Cash Flagg at the time) is also in this!

[@bpark222]

And smokin as well!

[@20th_century_Ghost]

A new Dark Corners video on a crappy Monday makes everything seem somehow less crappy. 🖖🏼

[@travisrygg3317]

Cheers to that!🍻

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

GET YOUR TICKETS! GET YOUR TICKETS HEEEEAAAR!! 😂😂😂

[@l.a.gothro3999]

Oh geez, can you imagine David Lynch's interpretation of the pre-code works of Busby Berkeley? And in color!

[@ashleys9397]

Ohhhhhhhhh...the human mind totally buggers itself.

[@l.a.gothro3999]

@@ashleys9397 I just watched "Footlight Parade", "Gold Diggers of 1933", and "42nd Street" over the weekend. And I totally agree with you.

[@LolliPop2000]

Forget about the name. What other movie was photographed by BOTH Laszlo Kovacs AND Wilmos Zigmond?

[@mephosto]

that one time a bunch of space truckers found a weird egg, then a spider did inappropriate things to a guy's face, and it just gets crazier from there.

[@RussLudwig]

B-52 hair styles & a bloodhound cameo, most excellent 👍

[@TinaBiebe]

This was a MST3K classic. What a train wreck. 😂😂

[@imnoone492]

When I was a child my mom took me to a midnight showing of this movie and during the dance scene the film stopped and on stage two of the mutants were on stage. I found out years later one of them was Ray Steckler(Cash Flagg). I love this movie they filmed it at the pike in Long Beach California, I went there all the time..

[@edwardburek1717]

This version must be a special edition - the one I'm normally used to has a shadow of seats at the front with a guy making snarky comments along with a bowling pin-beaked robot with a lacrosse net as antennae and a red fireplug that has a very impressive singing voice.

[@alp-1960]

Bowling pin beaked robot? You mean the golden spider duck named Art?

[@edwardburek1717]

@@alp-1960 That's him, yes

[@l.a.gothro3999]

Estralla (?) looks like a low-budget Elizabeth Taylor when Liz was in BUtterfield 8.

[@mikehunt4986]

I thought it was her at the beginning!

[@ashleys9397]

Probably not one of Liz's best roles. Skip the movie & read the John O'Hara novel instead.

[@l.a.gothro3999]

@@ashleys9397 I actually watched it once. She got her Oscar for that to make up for not getting in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?", I guess.

[@stevengabbard930]

I've seen this film twice. I can never remember the plot. And, watching this review, I don't remember seeing any of this before. That should tell you everything you need to know about this film.

[@bostonrailfan2427]

one of those films you watch then a few minutes later forget the entire plot

[@julietfischer5056]

There was a plot?

[@Nosregni]

⁠The plot was so good they used it for the title!

[@willmfrank]

That's assuming there's a plot to forget.​@@bostonrailfan2427

[@termsofusepolice]

Elizabeth Taylor's turn as the fortune teller is the only thing that saves the movie. Though it also marked perhaps the lowest point in the actress's career.

[@ashleys9397]

Weeellll...actually that might be the '67 DOCTOR FAUSTUS, another of her collaborative efforts with acting hubby Dick. Burton played the titular role; Liz played Helen of Troy. Don't ask me to explain, thank you.

[@jeraldbaxter3532]

​@@ashleys9397The mind boggles!

[@Gamma870]

"STELLA"!!!!! 😄

[@walterfechter8080]

"Get your tickets here - get your tickets here!" Whoa! 🐵

[@ashleys9397]

Freaky mechanical monkey. But I dug it.

[@travisshallenberger9486]

Okay, that gag at the end was priceless!

[@FailSonOfAnarchy]

5:40 At this point I'm asking WHERE are the zombies?

[@andrewalderman9489]

The audience ?

[@willmfrank]

@@FailSonOfAnarchy You can't see them because they are mixed up.

[@nessiesearcher]

I have never seen this but it doesn't seem any worse than many others in the "Carnival Sleeze Horror" subgenre. Might be worth a look one time. I like how the cops are portrayed honestly as trigger happy maniacs.

[@darkchashy2663]

The incredibly polite but dangerous italians who killed all the other italians and moved to Vegas.

[@ashleys9397]

I say All Hats Off to Ray Dennis Steckler: The still unheralded & still unchallenged cham-peen of what can only be called "quasi-wannabe art house indie horror/exploitation". If you require confirmation of such, I suggest digging up & giving a read to Lester Bangs' fantastic "Village Voice" essay on this most unique of low budget auteurs. YOWZA! If you seek further proof of Ray's uniqueness you may wish to check out THE THRILL KILLERS, RAT PHINK A-BOO BOO, SINTHIA THE DEVIL'S DOLL, and THE HORNY LIFE OF A HOT VAMPIRE, among others. In your otherwise sterling review, you somehow neglected to give mention to the striking contributions of cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond & montage artist Laszlo Kovacs; it was the latter who came up with the acid-drenched color saturated dream sequence. Kovacs went on to lend his technical talents to EASY RIDER, FIVE EASY PIECES, PAPER MOON, & other distinguished titles. Zsigmond later handled the cinematography for John Boorman's DELIVERANCE, Altman's McCABE & MRS. MILLER, Spielberg's CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE 3RD KIND, THE DEER HUNTER, & a whole lot of others. It really is striking to note the number of prominent cinematographers, production designers, film editors, music score composers, etc., who originally cut their teeth in the exploitation field. The Moral Here (I guess): Support Bad Cinema.

[@jeraldbaxter3532]

Oh, "The June Taylor Dancers" were atleast trying...😉

[@isabellacarta1120]

How can you resist tò such ENTHUSIASTIC dancers and ballet!!

[@cinemafanaticreviews]

I love it when something like this is referred to as one of the worst films ever made, when I've seen much worse. At least it's visually interesting and has some cool moments.

[@WilliamChico-m6r]

For me, Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell is one of my favorite Hammer horror flick of 1974, and it's even much, much better than the incredibly strange creatures who stopped living and became mixed-up zombies (1964).

[@Nosregni]

The Incredibly Strange Man Who Stopped Living After Saying ‘Rosebud’

[@andrewgwilliam4831]

"It's not as much fun as you want it to be" is sadly applicable to too many of these films. 😕

[@WaverBoy]

But happily, not applicable to this one, which is a helluva lotta fun. Dark Corners is dead wrong this time.

[@ChristianCanterbury]

@@WaverBoy I love this movie. Long Beach native!

[@WaverBoy]

@@ChristianCanterbury Me too, it’s so fun and totally whacked out!

[@madahad9]

I judt cannot find much hate for a Ray Dennis Steckler joint. They're so wonderfully daffy-even if they make very little sense (or because they make so little sense). On TCM Underground they had a Steckler double feature: The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Died and Became Mixed-Up Zombies and Rat Pfink A Boo Boo. I watching both for the very first time, although I read about them in the snotty Golden Turkey Awards by the equally snotty Medved brothers. They weren't as bad as I was led to believe. They can be dull at times, but his movies have a tendency to turn at a moment's notice and veer off into another direction. I like these movies for another reason, specifically the exterior scenes where we get to see locations during the period in which they were filmed. Even if the scene itself is dull I'll start looking at the background. I find his movies a lot of fun.

[@ThreadBomb]

Yeah, looking back, the Golden Turkey book, like the Golden Raspberry awards, is somewhat simplistic and mean-spirited, rather than clever and funny as it imagines itself to be. Still, I credit it for introducing me to the fun world of underground B movies.

[@ikd3240]

As bad as this movie is, I still love it. It's a guilty pleasure of mine.

[@Ray-M59]

I like the way she’s rocking that Sybil Fawlty hairdo!

[@TheGodzilla713]

MST3K best line cinematography by Zapruder

[@AquamentusLives]

Glad to support your channel guys!

[@DarkCornersReviews]

Thank you!

[@glenmcculla6843]

This was the third Steckler joint I saw and - unhinged though it is - it was a let down after 'Rat Pfink a Boo Boo' and 'The Mad Love Life of a Hot Vampire'.

[@tmrezzek5728]

Nice one! We can all use some Ray Dennis Steckler now and then. "Those prepper youtubers lied to me!" Ha! Get ready to receive sack-loads of hate mail from prepper youtubers, claiming they were talking about GOLD, not silver.

[@DanDoty-i5n]

But you also have to remember that Ray made his movies without a script. A good follow up to this movie would RATFINKABOOBOO.

[@ashleys9397]

Yes! Yes! Oh YEEEESSS!! I simply love RAT PHINK A-BOO BOO! A thoroughly unique/original piece of American 60s cinema & quite likely Mr. Ray's unacknowledged masterpiece.

[@windangel7720]

I just watched this recently. I don't know about anyone else, but the musical acts really made this movie worth watching. 🤣 For another film with a crappy fortune teller, try Maggie Shayne's Embrace the Twilight. It would make a great double feature along with this mess. I'm going to bug you to roast that movie every chance I get. 😁 It would be worth the monthly membership just to get you to suffer through it, but I don't have the money freed up from bills to do my KZbin fund yet. 🙄 ~insert Gollum voice~ I hates bills. Hates them, precious.

[@tylerskiss]

I never bothered watching the real version of this one. The MST version can’t be undone.

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

And I add: that was the worst fortune teller ever, first she tells Angie her mom won't approve of Jerry when they get married, then predicts his death, lol

[@EclecticDD]

Madame Estrella looks like Liz Taylor in too dark makeup.

[@ericalbany]

Thank you for giving a remarkably straightforward review of this. It's one of those films that sound like a hoot from the description, and look great in carefully selected clips (Thank You Jonathan Ross) but ends up being a slog to watch. Doris Wishman films are much the same - they're technically inept and just plain dull. On the other hand, Wishman herself was quite entertaining.

[@heidifedor]

Now you have to review Ray Steckler’s other masterpiece, Rat Phink A Boo Boo.

[@ashleys9397]

Total unequivocal agreement here. I sincerely love that lousy film.

[@VonWenk]

The thing that bugged me all through this movie was "What was Madame Estrella's motive for what she was doing?"

[@ashleys9397]

"Sounds like the original plot of SOPHIE'S CHOICE". Good one, bro.

[@guillaumebabey4484]

Something that must be noted is that Nicolas Cage lookalike Jerry in the movie is played by none other than the director himself Ray Dennis Steckler (under the pseudonym Cash Flagg), also known for his Batman parody Rat Pfink a Boo Boo. Steckler is somewhat misunderstood as a director, even though most of his efforts are cheap disjointed exploitation. He did make a decent drama set in the world of pop singers starring Arch Hall Jr. with a surprisingly timeless message of producers exploiting their young stars.

[@TheRealNormanBates]

1:57 you could have said "Jerry got eaten by a cat." Pythonesquely complicated titles for other films? Hmm.. what about: *The Terrorists Who Took Over the Corporate Skyscraper and Kidnapped All of the Christmas Partiers Until the Almost Divorced Cop Without Shoes Escaped into an Air Shaft to Seek Revenge: Only This Time it is an Airport*

[@shannondore]

Nice touch with the Statue of Liberty, Graham.😂

[@hippybuddhist]

Let's get the campaign started for David Lynch to direct a 1950s musical.

[@mnky75]

2:09."In my Sphincter, Carmelita...that a turd is coming huh?"...also teenage Nicholas Cage is great!

[@cassie.m.0723]

Thanks for the warning. I have a movie club and we intentionally try to show each other the worst movies we can find. However... The catch is they have to at least be fun-bad, not boring-bad. I think I may pass with this one, but I'll at least show my club the cover 😂

[@mgrzx3367]

Wasn't the long title thing settled by that Night of the Living Dead movie that came with a phonebook length title?

[@DavidTerry-u6y]

This was my first time on your channel. I enjoyed it, but your review of it came down to one comment.

[@johndemeritt3460]

How can you _possibly_ say the phrase "Good news, everyone!" without showing a clip of Professor Farnsworth?

[@buncombeshinola2257]

rock critic LESTER BANGS has a rather amazing piece recounting a hazily inebriated late night viewing of this flick on tv, i highly recommend seeking it out!

[@ashleys9397]

Thank You, Friend! You may wish to check out my above post (somewhere or other) RE: this very thing.

[@tommydarbe1524]

They're acting is as dead as zombies too.

[@davidlionheart2438]

By far, the most frightening thing about this movie is just how incredibly eerily Brett O'Hara as Madame Estrella resembles legendary actress and director Ida Lupino. I'm talking mirror image clone resemblance. If Lupino had ever seen this she could've sued O'Hara for face infringement.

[@EclecticDD]

No, Elizabeth Taylor

[@BGNOLA]

Steckler was married to Carolyn Brant, the dancer, so he must've been doing something right.

[@martincann5052]

Wait, monster closet? So this movie is a DOOM clone then!

[@peterbailey6930]

Great video... Them damn KZbin prepers...that's was funny dude.

[@Dale_The_Space_Wizard]

Shouldn't Jerry's Hoodie be caked in blood after stabbing someone through the head?

[@kimdreyer4970]

I had to look up if the fortune teller was indeed called 'Ash-traya', but apparently my hearing is just bad and her name is Estrella.

[@Gappasaurus]

In the pantheon of B-movie second bananas, Ortega is right up there with Torgo and Groton in my book 😁

[@spilladabaliaaa]

Check the side-splitting review music critic Lester Bangs wrote about this movie, it's in his book Psychotic Reactions And Carburetor Dung (which'd be a fantastic title for a bad movie)

[@galloe8933]

This movie could have been the best, if they just gave Jerry big bugged out plastic hypno eyes.

[@JohnSmith-x8s5g]

Those KZbin peppers. "Take it off !"

[@idahomike4254]

Trigger-happy cops in what appears to be Southern California? No way!

[@dannystaton5386]

You found one I never saw

[@varanid9]

Hey, you re-did this. It's even better!👍👍

[@RavenHouseMystery]

"David Lynch directs a musical." Another brilliant observation by Robin. How about retitling my favorite film "The Untouchables" with the name of "Eliot Ness Battles The Al Capone Mob In A Bloodbath Of Violence Throughout Chicago".

[@general1362]

This was the best one ever. 10 thumbs up.

[@tigerheart3824]

“And so do half the audience!” 😅 The Story of a Little Girl who was very very good until Old Scratch made her vomit pea soup and cast aspersions on the virtue of a priest’s mother.

[@ashleys9397]

Not a movie title, but a band name: There's a band calling (or having once called) themselves "You Will Know Us by the Trail of Our Dead". I would love to see a rival band come out & re-name themselves something like "You Will Know Us By the Sheer Length of Our Awesomely Long Name".

[@williamcrowe2576]

"What do you think we came here for, to eat?"

[@MrChuckbackus]

Say what you will about "The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies!!" However, the Director of Photography for this film was Joseph V. Mascelli. Mr. Mascelli literally wrote the book on cinematography with his masterpiece "The Five C's of Cinematography."

[@alp-1960]

My favorite character is all American good guy and nerd without glasses, Madison. Where did you find such a clear print? 👌

[@DarkCornersReviews]

It's on Amazon Prime

[@WaverBoy]

I gotta say you’re dead wrong on this one, it’s a helluva lotta fun and not remotely boring. Excellent drive-in classic weirdness with never a dull moment.

[@kali3665]

I absolutely HATED this movie. There is not one character worth rooting for; "Cash Flagg," alias Ray Dennis Steckler, is a lousy actor (not to mention director); and no one else can act either. I just could not watch this thing. Not even Mike and the Bots could save THIS monstrosity! And even Ortega, who became a poor-man's Torgo for the Sci-Fi era, is simply not a very interesting character. Mostly because he doesn't talk, and also because ... well, Torgo was a lot more fun.

[@DennisAlexis]

"STELLA!!!!!!!!!"

[@alandhopewell]

This is a "must see" flick.

[@elennapointer701]

If anything, I feel sorry for anyone who had to put that movie title on a marquee.

[@Armphid]

Best way to watch this is with MST3K, for sure. I couldn't stand to watch it normally.

[@alanduff4984]

With a title like that I just had to watch I just hadda Ps excellent review

[@abbdabs67]

i actually saw this film at the drive in w parents . now i have the dvd

[@bloodrunsclear]

I remember this principally because in the Golden Turkey Awards official book they admitted to including one fake movie among all the real films they reviewed...and for the longest time I thought it was this movie because of the dumb title!

[@1kylecurry]

It's as if David Lynch filmed a low budget american style version of a loose adaptation of Dr. Caligari. Next stop is MST3K / Rifftrax.

[@char1737]

She fell all the way down too! YES GOD!

[@martinmowbray4304]

Jerry looks a lot like Nicholas Cage. Also, where are the zombies ?!