Miami Golem

A humanoid fetus, cloned from DNA found in a meteorite and nurtured in a petri dish, is stolen from a scientific institute by industrialist John Ireland. Somehow, he will use it to control the world's financial markets. Beings from "ancient Atlantis" recruit a cynical TV reporter (David Warbeck) to recapture it. Warbeck joins forces with alien Laura Trotti (a.k.a. Laura Trotter) to infiltrate Ireland's laboratory fortress and steal the creature.

Except for shots of a disintegrating animal carcass, Sergio Stivaletti's special effects are laughable. The golem fetus looks like a slimy peanut at first, and later resembles Yoda's demented brother. Warbeck deserves a pat on the back for enduring the script, which calls for him to shoot down a helicopter using a teeny pistol and say stuff like, "It's not every day that I get to meet somebody from outer space."

Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of Miami Golem; here's the breakdown of my ratings:

Story: 1.00 Direction: 1.00 Pace: 1.00 Acting: 0.75 Enjoyment: 0.75

TOTAL: 4.50 out of 10.00

So along comes another David Warbeck movie. Boy, this guy had the bad luck to end up in third-rate flicks. Unfortunately, that also goes for Miami Golem.

The story that Gianfranco Clerici, Vincenzo Mannino, and Alberto De Martino delivered to the audience had plenty of scope to be intriguing and engaging. And though they provide a few of those elements, they missed out on opportunities and fluffed a few of the ones they included. The concept of growing an alien from an unknown substance found in a meteorite is magnificent and completely human. Unleash the monster, then stand there stupified as you ask yourself, what have I done? But the trouble with the story rears its ugly head early in the narrative. Why is there only a tycoon after the living alien goo? If it's that important, where are all the guards? Why aren't any governments involved? It's illogical, even when it's explained. Sadly, the irrationality doesn't stop there. The writers introduce us to Joanna Fitzgerald, who can decrypt ancient Atlantian and may not be fully human. Though, it doesn't stop reporter Craig Milford from frigging in her rigging. There's also a mysterious bloke who may be an alien mobile phone as he receives messages from the final frontier. It would have strengthed the story along with the characters had the writers fleshed them out more. In fact, most of the characters needed extra pizazz, but none more than Milford. For a lead character, he's pretty uninteresting - but that could be down to David Warbeck's portrayal.

Martino also directed the movie and, in some ways, did a worse job than with the writing. With the story, he tried to make things fascinating and provocative. Regrettably, he sticks to the tried and tested point-and-shoot style. There's little in the way of inventiveness. His style is the epitome of averageness. However, he attempts to vary the film's flow, especially when we get to the action sequences, but they marginally miss their mark.

The performances are a mix of passable and woeful. Sadly, Warbeck's impassive performance as Milford hinders the movie most. I felt sorry for Laura Trotter because it must have been like playacting a love scene with a 2x4 plank. Martino must have noted his apathy because in the segment where he talks to himself - sorry, an alien caricature of himself - Martino removed the camera from the false Milford. This way, the viewers couldn't mistake one for the other.

Miami Golem isn't a movie I'd quickly recommend to either the Horror or Sc-Fi fans. It's so average and carelessly written that it renders it a leave-your-brain-at-the-door film that is better watched with your sarcastic mates after you've supped a bevvy or three.

Listen! No good will come of growing that alien organism in that test tube, so come here and study my IMDb lists - Absolute Horror and The Final Frontier to see where I ranked Miami Golem - or to find a better movie to watch.

Take Care & Stay Well.

Miami Golem aka Miami Horror is a saucy little mish mash of adventure. It's not horror, action or sci-fi; it's really a tacky combo of Hollywood elements &cliches sort of strung together logically. Stars David Warbeck and Laura Trotter put together solid performances. And the rest of the cast is up to task as well. At the end of his career, Albert DeMartino directs what is essentially a cornball script quite well. Some great photography of Miami is exploited by the filmmakers, in order to hammer home the concept that, this is indeed Miami. Which brings us to the issue of the other word in the title; golem/horror. Now, this little fella is ridiculously silly in appearance, yes. But so was Miami in the 80's and did I mention the script? Hilarious. As for the music, other reviewers have noted the obvious borrowing of Beverly Hills Cop motifs. But this happens only during the opening credits montage. The rest of the score works very well for helping to propel the corny script. Why the composer Detto Mariano so blatantly "borrowed" Axel's Theme is anybody's guess, but again, this is only during the very beginning of the freaking movie, so its not as big a deal as other reviewers have noted. Other musical passages are very dramatic and/or intense. Miami Golem is worth a look if you enjoyed such films as Devil Fish, Pod People or Puma Man. It is a charming little action movie that has ambitions which are reached for with endearing failure. Also I think it is interesting to note that Warbeck & Trotter each appeared in perhaps the 2 most special of all the Italian Horror films released in 1981, The Beyond & Nightmare City, respectively. In my mind these films represent the pinnacle of Italian Horror during the final part of its most amazing era. Although Miami Golem does not come near the level of visceral engagement those films create, it is nonetheless solid, this may almost be top notch entertainment.

A reporter, Craig Milford, who works for The James Keller Public Telecommunication Center, has an interview with a German professor of a Floridian university, who made an unknown creature based upon some substance of meteor(s). But then a man named Anderson, who is trying to control the whole planet with the creature, and his man kill the professor and his assistants and plunder the creature. So Craig and his new female psychic partner, Joanna Fitzgerald, who can communicate not only with human being but also with alien friend(s) of the creature, begin to find the creature and try to send it to an alien spaceship... This film has some great casts and staffs. For instance, it has the actor, David Warbeck of THE BEYOND, the actress, Laura Trotter of NIGHTMARE CITY, the special visual effects creator, Sergio Stivaletti of Dario Argento's masterpieces, and the director (and also the story- writer), Alberto De Martino of THE MAN WITH ICY EYES and THE KILLER IS ON THE PHONE. And these talented people make an incredibly bad film, named, nothing but this MIAMI GOLEM which is essentially a confusedly combined film of CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND with E.T.THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL. And this not-only-confused-but-also-crammed film has something worth; genetic engineering with psychical research. Consequently the film has at least one scientific and/or technical flaw; genetic engineering and psychical research are never compatible. (Strangely enough, regarding this strangely childish combination of genetic engineering and psychical research, the leading character, Craig, himself says THERE MUST BE A BETTER EXPLANATION to the short-haired psychic, Joanna. But, after all, the whole story of the film doesn't and can't present any kind of BETTER EXPLANATION.) In addition, this film has something more laughable; its problematic music. What the composer, who is credited as Robert Marry, provides is nothing but the strangely insistent BEVERLY-HILLS-COP-tasted music. I don't want to say this Italianised theme of BEVERLY HILLS COP per se is particularly bad music, but I have to say it seems to be manifestly clear the music does not have the fitness for this film per se at all. Indeed just who can think BEVERLY HILLS COP has the compatibility with genetic engineering and/or psychical research?

My review was written in April 1988 after watching the film on Twin Tower video cassette.

Previously titled "Cosmos Killer" and "Miami Golem", "Miami Horror" is the belated video release of a 1985 Italian horror pic. Disappointing treatment wastes an interesting sci-fi plot line, further done in by bad dubbing.

British thesp David Warbeck plays a tv reporter, reminiscent of Edward Judd in the classic "The Day the Earth Caught Fire", who's covering the story of scientists studying the origins of life by cloning bacteria from meteorites. Gangsters led by John Ireland steal the bacterial culture, which they plan to develop into a superhuman, alien being.

Script injects equal parts sci-fi and mysticism, as Warbeck is befriended by pretty Laura Trotter, who links a weird message he has received to Martians, Atlantis and the ancient Etruscans. Ultimately she concludes that we're being warned by folks from a different dimension of another universe to cool it with these dangerous genetic experiments. The culture develops into a fetus and then a monster baby (nice special effects by Sergio Stivaletti) called a golem. Disappointing ending features a spaceship as well.

Pic doesn't hold together; it needed a few more rewrites and a bigger budget. There is some okay location footage in Florida but not enough special effects.