Body Fever

You really need to hand it to Mr. Steckler...the man could turn a thin dime into a thoroughly watchable motion picture. In BODY FEVER, Steckler stars opposite his gorgeous wife Carolyn Brandt as a private eye hired to find a female drug-runner who has disappeared with a massive heroin inventory. In truth, she is in hiding from the cartel after being robbed of the stash. Steckler hunts her down through a dot-to-dot network of various underworld miscreants, and the search leads him straight to her bed.

Odd, colorfully written characters played with surprising motivation help make this noir-inspired film worth a look, though viewers preferring a mainstream Hollywood polish will find the grainy minimalism off-putting.

5/10

Body Fever (1969)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Down on his luck detective Charles Smith (Ray Dennis Steckler) starts to investigate some robberies committed by a woman dressed as a cat. Soon he catches the woman (Carolyn Brandt) but instead of bringing her in the two go to work together for some major cash. BODY FEVER is the only time director Steckler would try to make a movie like this in the detective genre and for the most part it's watchable, although even at 78-minutes the film seems to go on forever. It seems Steckler has a small group of people who find entertainment in his films while another group that looks at them as purely trashy, bad movies that make him one of the worst directors ever. I'm not going to call him one of the worst directors ever because considering the budgets he was working with, I think it's pretty easy to see that he had some talent and at least delivered professional looking films. BODY FEVER has a few interesting ideas scattered around but there's no doubt that the picture simply runs out of gas before the end credits and the viewer has to sit through a plot that often doesn't make too much sense. While he doesn't give a "good" performance, Steckler at least keeps you glued to his detective character because it's simply hard to believe him in the role. There are several nice nods to Humphrey Bogart but there's really nothing else linking the two men. Brandt is decent enough in her role as horror fans will enjoy (or be sad) by seeing director Coleman Francis (THE BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS) in a small role. Is BODY FEVER recommended to anyone? Not really unless you're going through the filmography of Steckler but there are certainly much worse films out there.

A rare occasion here, Steckler being semi-serious.

His attempt to make a classic P.I. film succeeds admirably. That said, he didn't avoid humor either.

This had it all, cynical statements, dry narration, a dame that's 'not afraid to let you know what a rotten night's sleep she's had.' A low budget version of the 40's films. He even did a direct homage to 'Breathless.'

Tension built slowly but never really took off. That didn't hurt the film in any way though. Steckler has this gift. You just want to stick around and see what's next.

And he did play the role well.

Co-writer / director Ray Dennis Steckler pays homage to film noir with this straight faced little drama. He also stars, as low rent private eye Charles Smith, hired by a man named Ferguson (Alan Smith) to locate his former secretary Carrie Erskine (played by the sexy Carolyn Brandt, who was at one time Mrs. Steckler), who absconded with $150,000 worth of heroin that Ferguson was holding for big cheese mobster Big Mack (Bernard Fein). Big Mack actually doesn't seem to care that much about the theft; he just wants Ferguson dead. And a lowlife bad guy associate of Carrie's, Frankie Roberts (Gary Kent), wants in on the action.

It's interesting to see Steckler, he of the notoriously limited budgets, actually take himself somewhat seriously. The result is a moderately entertaining movie, one with no real fireworks but a story that proves to be at least watchable. It comes up short in terms of exploitable elements - there's no gore and no nudity, and the few sex scenes that occur are done rather tastefully. The cast does some good work. Steckler is likable enough in the lead, and Ms. Brandt, who wears a Catwoman-like costume for the theft, is certainly easy on the eyes, as are the other ladies such as Dina Bryan as Charles's secretary Stella, Bret Zeller as drug addict Carol Hollister, and Pat Jackson as model Julie Richards. Fein and Kent are effective antagonists, and there are also roles for Ron Haydock as the slimy photographer and Coleman Francis (director of the classic "The Beast of Yucca Flats") as Charles's old friend.

B movie aficionados may find this to be a refreshing change of pace for Steckler as it keeps silliness to a minimum.

Five out of 10.

Ray Dennis Steckler is the fascinating film maker behind the amazing mid-60s films "The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies", "Rat Pfink a Boo Boo", and "The Thrill Killers". This, a lesser known effort, is none the less entertaining.

Steckler stars as "Charles Smith", a private eye hired to track down a woman who stole a big bag o' heroin (played by Steckler's real life wife, Carolyn Brandt). Charles Smith falls for the dame, of course, and they plan a double cross (actually a triple or quadruple cross. It gets complicated.)

Steckler has a wonderful, self-depreciating humor in this performance (a charm missing from his "Creatures" acting job). He plays much of the movie for laughs (like the scene in which a gal jumps on top of him to kiss him, knocking over the entire couch Steckler is sitting on). Brandt is not as entertaining as Steckler, and looks very bored throughout all her scenes, which makes the couple's love scenes interesting to watch.

The movie also contains one of the greatest actor/film makers of all time, Coleman Francis, the man behind the legendary "Beast of Yucca Flats", "Skydivers", and my personal favorite "Night Train to Mundo Fine". Steckler gave the part to Francis as a favor, as Francis was down on his luck at the time. Coleman is natural and likable in his three brief scenes as a laundomat owner that Smith confides in.

Over all, Body Fever has several loose ends, poor acting, and silly dialog, but these add to the charm. If you are a fan of all things Stecklerian (and you should be) check this movie out.