Evil Town

At least that's how I was hoping this movie would end. I managed to NOT absolutely hate this movie, although the rental synopsis was misleading. The only reason I tried "Evil Town" was my weakness for zombie movies, and this movie promised to be about a doctor who creates an army of the living dead. Not quite.

I regard "Evil Town" as an ultra-cheap "Pulp Fiction" of B-grade horror movies. It basically has three plots, all involving the same group of people in a sleepy town. (If anything, watch this one to see the sign in the opening minute of the movie - Smalltown, Pop. 666, Elev. 13) One plot involves two perverts who get a kick out of kidnapping girls who are passing through. Another is about an escaped patient from the local hospital. And the third and major plot is about the aforementioned doctor performing experiments at the same hospital, creating an army of the brain-dead who don't end up doing anything anyway.

So the acting is terrible. So the gore is non-existent. So the directing is flat and talentless. (The movie had 3 - count 'em, three - directors!) So the entire thing could be made by a group of friends and their immediate families. Hey, I know I've never seen a movie involving a town of rampaging senior citizens! If you want to see a movie where the only thing that sets the hero apart from all the other characters is his willingness to beat up old people, I say give "Evil Town" a quick view.

Wretched film was the result of three (or two) unfinished films being edited together in order to create one film. The final results are a choppy and dull. What little plot there is, is about a crazed doctor bringing the dead back to life in order to create an army of zombies in a small town. Virtually no gore is present in this so called zombie outing and the film doesn't even entertain in a so bad it's good way. One of the absolute worst horror films to ever be made. Rated R.

The most interesting thing about Evil Town was most definitely the presence of breasts, big huge bouncing breasts at that. I couldn't stop laughing when the woman is being chased through the forest and as she runs, her boobs wobble up and down like a yo-yo. There's plenty of shots of them too. After this is over the story soon gets dull. The deaths are goreless and the plot seems to be going nowhere...until the end, when all is revealed.

The overall story is vaguely interesting, but it's the sort of thing that's been done before. I notice someone else described this as a zombie film, which is untrue. There are no zombies to be found at all. The only good things going for Evil Town are breasts, as mentioned, and a fairly good musical score.

This movie is for B horror movie lovers only. The idea of the film is really good, though the execution is awful. The acting is terrible, though you might recognise a few actors. Dean Jagger, who plays the evil doctor looks the spitting image of Arthur C Clarke, which in itself is creepy. Surprised this hasn't been remade, in the right hands it could be good.

From what I understand this film was actually started in 1984 and completed in 1987. However, it used segments of other films which were produced earlier such as "God Bless Dr. Shagetz" and I suppose this is the reason "Evil Town" carries a production date of 1977. Regardless, this movie is essentially about a scientist named "Dr. Schaeffer" (Dean Jagger) who has invented a serum extracted from the pituitary gland which can extend a person's life. This is great news for the elderly residents of the small town who benefit from Dr. Schaeffer's research. Unfortunately, it is terrible news for any unlucky travelers who have the misfortune to stop there for gas as they are subsequently abducted and used as donors. This results in their becoming mindless creatures who are incapable of supporting themselves. That's not to say that they are necessarily "zombies" but rather poor souls who are reduced to a semi-vegetative state. As such, I don't consider this to be a "zombie movie" by any current standard. In any case, although the movie certainly had potential, there really wasn't any great horror or suspense which might have made this movie stand out and as a result I have rated it accordingly. Slightly below average.