Kamillions

With some of the most hilarious box art I've ever seen and a back cover making references to the Fly and Gremlins, I was expecting a cheap knockoff film... with a cool cover. Instead, what I got was something that is not only as entertaining as those two films mentioned on the back, it actually might be BETTER than than those two films, combined! This film is about a fat guy doing experiments, something we've all seen before. In fact, it starts out just like any other horror-comedy... but quickly turns into some bizarre art film... the whole film kind of turns upside down as we suddenly see eyes through the life of some kind of weird bug, who crawls around and searches out the lab and spits acid at people. Then, the "film" (with all the plot and such) restarts, and nothing is the same anymore. We see insane penis monsters, people's whole bodies horrifically shoved inside fishbowls, people being violently electrocuted, and more! There is not a boring moment to bad had, especially when the lead "kamillion" chews up the scenery... this guy looks a really young Bruce Campbell meets a really young Jim Carrey, and he has to be one of the best characters to ever appear in a film. He just kind of stalks around, killing people for no apparent reason, using his fingers as sharp knives, teleporting all over the place, making his face turn completely blue, and throwing knives into turkeys. It's worth seeing the film just for this character.

You know, it's a shame that this isn't available on DVD. Rarely does one find films more imaginative or more entertaining -- there are more good ideas in this single 90 minute film than Hollywood releases in one year! All the effects were really well-done; you can tell a lot of heart went into this release. It's a shame it's not more well-known; see it at all costs.

On the night of his birthday party, scientist Nathan Wingate discovers another dimension through a contraption he's built in his basement. Unfortunately, just as the guests begin to arrive, the good doctor gets sucked into the other world and two shape-shifting bugs with magical powers enter ours. One is good-natured, the other's a sadistic prankster, and the Wingate family and their eccentric guests are unknowingly caught in the middle.

Every once in a while, I'll see some old movie and say, "WHY have I never heard of this before?!" That was certainly the case here. Don't get me wrong, on the surface it looks like "MST3K" material - the acting is generally bad, the FX are super-low-budget, the pacing is off, and some of the gags fall flat. But man, the characters have enough individuality that you wanna root for them, the FX are impressively inventive, and a lot of the stuff is genuinely funny (it was co-written and directed by a now-longtime alum of "The Simpsons"). It's intentionally campy but teeters on a tightrope where it's simultaneously creepy and it boasts a clever twist too (assuming you haven't read the film's tagline!?!).

If Scream Factory or some other distributor would unearth and complete the director's cut of this endearing obscurity, there's a huge audience out there which is waiting to discover it. Until then, it's worth seeking out online if you're into '80s movies with extra corn!

Kamillions is a great film for practicing your skills at studying a film for general narrative flaws. It's a welter of poor scenario and character development work, tepid writing, and fine-to-merely-OK acting held together in a pudding of pretty good technical production work (e.g., good editing, OK music/sound).

It's a disconnected series of comic/spooky/horror scenarios loosely derived from an opening, "kick-off" premise involving a portal to another world, with invaders coming from that world.

I've seen a few films that fill out the same contours, failing on the same grounds, and with even better production values (e.g., "John Dies at the End"), so there appears to be a strange market that directs funding to produce this kind of low-budget drek. Its one saving grace is that it gives budding film folks an opportunity to exercise and refine their chops.

By-the-by, I dug seeing Hal Robins, and love hearing his voice.

This movie reeks. No money, no acting, no nothing. I caught this on on the 3am late show movie tonight and felt compelled to comment on it. This movie has nothing to recommend it. I can't believe it ever got released to US television! Nobody in this movie can act their way out of a paperbag. The lame attempts at comedy fall flat on their face, the special effects consist of a worm-like handpuppet "monster"... I can't even begin to tell you how rock-bottom this production is. It looks like it cost maybe $50,000 to shoot, but only because it is on 16mm, and that is probably a generous estimate! Anyway, I lost interest rapidly and had to settle for watching "Matlock" reruns instead of finishing it. That's how BAD this movie is!!!

The critics hate it... but only the ones with no sense of humor. This film will probably be to our generation what Plan Nine From Outer Space was to our parents. It's so bad it's good, deliciously good! The mad doctor is frumpy and completely self absorbed. The monster is-- well-- beyond words! The first time you see it, you think "what the f--" But by the second time, it gets to be like the Rocky Horror Picture Show. You want to shout out replies and retorts to the actors! If you're a fan of the weird and wonderful, this is a must-see film! I had the same feeling after seeing "Eraserhead". I hated it. But I felt I had to see it again, despite my better judgment. Now I look forward to any opportunity to see either film again and again. These dark comedies are an acquired taste, but well worth it.