Orgía de terror

Watched this movie recently and overall it was better than I expected. The general storyline and acting was quite good and the special effects - e.g., walking through solids - were actually pretty decent. Robert Lansing and Lee Meriwether were pretty good especially considering this was their first film. The other actors were OK.

However there were a number of shortcomings and unintentional funny moments: 1) The soundtrack was totally over the top. Very 'hip' beatnik jazz orchestration with bongos etc. This cartoonish music often played during some of the tenser moments of the film, effectively ruining the suspense. 2) The sibling rivalry subplot at the beginning of the movie was really unnecessary. It was probably added to heighten the drama and give the characters more depth, but in the end it was all rather pointless. 3) The funniest moment of the film occurred when 'Tony' was working on his fourth dimension theory at the restaurant table. When the camera showed his notebook, instead of mathematical calculations or a scientific diagram, it was simply a sketch of a block of metal with a pencil going through it. It was like something straight out of a Leslie Nielsen movie.

Overall, it is an OK movie and worth watching if you enjoy old sci-fi movies. It won't change your life, but you won't regret watching it either.

I saw this movie when it first appeared in theaters. I was 12 years old and a fan of the ilk. However, the methods used for special effects in that era always seemed so obvious. This movie was a novel experience: I could not imagine how the effects were done. My only reservation was that they talked of slipping through the fourth dimension AND speeding up the natural process by which an object might slowly penetrate another. These are two different ideas. The second scenario accounts for the "horror" of the movie as people are rapidly aged. It was an unforgettable film. I would like to see it now and determine whether it holds up as well as my memory of it.

Robert Lansing plays a scientist whose brother is trying to perfect a way to make solid objects pass through each other. Lansing finds out about his brother's radical concept and tries some experiments of his own. He succeeds so well that he takes the idea a step further: he makes himself pass through solid objects.

The process has an adverse affect on his mind, and he starts walking through the walls of banks at night, stealing the cash. Unfortunately, the use of his new power causes him to age rapidly, and the only way he can rejuvenate himself is to absorb life-energy by passing through another human being -- even though this kills the victim.

Robert Lansing's performance is quite good, and so are those of co-stars Lee Meriwether and Patty Duke (age 12). Robert Strauss ("Stalag 17", "The Seven Year Itch") is sadly miscast as an unscrupulous fellow scientist. Director Irvin S. Yeaworth, Jr. created a good film on a meager budget, just as he did with "The Blob".

The special effects are impressive (and in color), devoid of any cheap "see-through" superimposed images. Whenever Lansing walks through a wall, he looks like he's stepping into an opaque liquid. Watch for an eerie scene in which Lansing walks slowly across a room towards an intended victim, passing through tables and chairs.

Wow, I searched for years to get this on DVD. I first saw it back in High School on one of those midnight horror shows in Australia (Deadly Earnest was the host...anyone from Australia remember him??).

I remember being obsessed with the walking through walls special effect, the way in which bits of his clothing would appear first, then the rest of him.

It's funny how a film can stay with you from childhood. The day I got the DVD, I was stoked. Not the greatest film ever made, but I am a die hard fan. I admit to being surprised by the score, very jazzy for such a dark story. I thought Robert Lansing and the rest of the cast were cool. They gave some considerable depth to what was after all very much a 'B' movie.

Check it out!

The second Jack H. Harris-Irwin S. Yeaworth collaboration is a more cerebral effort (being an outright sci-fi piece) than its more famous predecessor THE BLOB (1958). Typically for the genre, it deals with a scientist becoming accidentally endowed with some form of superhuman ability (in this case, passing through solids) – the downside to this is that he ages every time this feat is accomplished…but, then, coming to contact with other people, he is able to sap their energy and bring about his own rejuvenation! Robert Lansing – whom I fondly recall from the TV series AUTOMAN (1983-84) that I used to watch during childhood – is adequate in the title role but his brash younger brother (who is actually the catalyst for the transformation) is less likable; as a result, while Lee Meriwether makes for a lovely conflicted heroine (being engaged to Lansing but falling for his younger sibling), their budding relationship sorely feels like a plot contrivance. Besides, Robert Strauss is cast against type as a scientist who is not above appropriating a colleague's work for his own advancement. Even though boasting variable effects (particularly the aging make-up) and ending somewhat inconclusively, the film remains an eminently watchable and thought-provoking piece that should please fans of the genre and the era which spawned it.