The Lucifer Complex

Near-abominable tale of an intelligence agent (Vaughn) assigned by his boss (Leo Gordon, uncredited) to infiltrate an island outpost where he discovers a shocking plot to clone world leaders in an audacious plan to resurrect the Fourth Reich, forty years following the end of WWII.

Vaguely reminiscent of its contemporary "Boys From Brazil" has a great cast that aside from Vaughn sleep-walking through his role, includes Keenan Wynn, Aldo Ray, the lovely Lynn Cartwright (in a distinctly unlovely role as a sadistic Nazi), Kieu Chinh as a female prisoner, Victoria Carroll as a double agent and Corinne Cole ("The Party") in a frivolous bit part as a potential one-night stand, though our secret agent is so inept, he manages one corny pick-up line ("you need less bump and more grind"), before duty calls.

And let's not neglect William Lanning in the ostensibly unrelated scenes that punctuate, as he narrates the tale watching it unfold from a laser-read time capsule. If you're confused by that plot synopsis, you're starting to appreciate what "The Lucifer Complex" has to offer the patient viewer.

The film is absolute dross, pure guff, atrocious in almost every department, totally bereft of suspense, thrills or coherency, BUT, in my opinion it does qualify as 'so bad it's funny' and for that reason, coupled with the distinguished cast of Hollywood A-listers and B-movie personnel (Cartwright was always a scene-stealer, and she alone earns this turkey one star for pure camp value), it's essential for any film buff's burgeoning collection.

A reviewer here on the IMDb said this is what THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL would look like if directed by Ed Wood and I have to say that assessment is pretty dead on. A young guy wanders around an island before heading into a cave with computers that have history on laserdisc. After checking out WWII and Vietnam, he heads to the "big war" of 1986 and the movie begins proper. Government guy Glen Manning (Robert Vaughn) catches wind of the Fourth Reich when his plane crashes on a small island off the coast of Florida and he finds Nazis working on a clone of Hitler. With the help of April Adams (Merrie Lynn Ross), Manning manages to escape and blows lots of stuff up with a tank and stop the bad guys. The end. Cut back to the guy in the cave who says something like, "Will man ever learn? I've got to explore this island more." Vaughn has a filmography that extends to over 200+ movies and TV series, but I'm going to boldly claim this was the worst thing he has ever been it. It was a production rife with problems and I'd say the Vaughn material amounts for maybe 65 minutes of the 90 minute running time. The wrap around screams of padding and doesn't make a lick of sense (man had the ability to record every single moment on laserdisc?). Keenan Wynn and Aldo Ray show up for a few scenes.

If ever a film deserves obscurity this one should be completely eradicated from the first to the last frame, to prevent cruelty to viewers, to film making professionals, and to the actors trapped therein. Watching snails mate IS much more entertaining.

An obvious attempt to "rescue" already shot footage from some aborted movie project, the result is the best demonstrative excuse to outlaw cloning yet devised ...referring to the movie, not the biological process. Even worse, you can tell when the editors intentionally "stretched" the film by repeating the same scenes over and over and over and over and .... sow on. It is shocking to see reference to "script" personnel in the closing credits. I suspect this was an attempt to perpetrate a fraud. In the film there is no evidence of a script, nor coherence or continuity. The only plot possible for this film is the one into which it should be put.

Bury this movie, don't view it.

Why did I view this film? I cannot think of a single good reason other than stupid disbelief ...sort of like a deer frozen motionless in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle.

But it has its moments. Not a great sci-fi flick, but not a total waste of time either. I thought the choreography was poorly done, and certain special effects, principally blowing stuff up, weren't done to well. But Robert Vaughn was, as always, cool. The "Nazi bitch" with the bride of Frankenstien hair style was kind of campy. Aldo Ray, and I've always enjoyed his work, didn't have much of a part or come across that well. The premise is okay but the plot, not to mention the characters, is never really developed. And the guy in the cave, watching all of this via computerized film footage? Well, lots of what he sees, which is what we watch with him, took place behind closed doors and in swamps and ... Who was holding the camera? Ahh, nothings perfect. This is OK sci-fi if you don't set your expectations to high. Its worth a watch.

I was one of the clones! The curly haired guy in a few scenes behind Robert Vaughn. He didn't say much, just smiled and did what he was told. Many of us were acting students from the Lee Strasberg Drama Institute - so much for method acting. It was filmed across the street from Paramount at a small sound stage we entered through a back alley. They feed us from MacDonalds! I never got paid for it, so I guess I might as well not hold my breath anymore. You'll notice there is a strip across where our private parts would be, so you couldn't see our bathing suits or underwear, and we just grabbed the feeding tubes and stuck them in our navels.