Cataclysm

An aging Jewish man calls upon a detective to investigate the mystery of an unscrupulous Dorian Gray-style scoundrel who, despite his youthful appearance, may be a notorious Nazi war criminal.

In addressing this film, I must begin by saying that it will not be well received by most viewers. If, however, you possess a willingness to extend impunity to poverty-row cinema, then you might find a blink or two of mildly amusing frippery in this dicey little three-dollar-bill.

That this flick was committed to cheap, ashen filmstock is an immediate indicator that this was an empty-pockets production. Quite simply stated, there's a discernable messiness to the entire mechanical wheel of the film, yet it does manages to catalyze a shadowy, spectral veneer, and inject a few moments of trashy David Lynchian surrealism.

A page ripped straight from the manual on how to quash a perfectly good prospect. 4/10.

When I was a teenager, though I wasn't really big on sitcoms (if I watched TV, I primarily enjoyed crime/police/detective stories), I must admit I loved the occasional episode of 'Night Court', though by no means did I watch it enthusiastically or with any regularity. My favourite actor in it was Richard Moll, who had that unique presence of a Richard Kiel, yet was better both in charisma and comic timing.

A few months ago, I saw a crappy horror portmanteau from the 80's ('Night Train to Terror'), of which directors' Marshak, McGowan and Tallas' segment, 'The Case of Claire Hansen', was by far the most interesting and best realized (thanks to 'Hollie Horror' for the info!), yet in the panoramic jetsam of my mind, in watching 3+ films a day, I wondered why I was getting this strange sense of deja vu. It was neat to see the entire work. Moll's face and voice were very familiar, yet he had a full head of hair (he was bald in 'Night Court', for those who don't remember), and his name was listed as 'Charles Moll' in the credits, so I was a tad confused--perhaps it was a brother?--but it ended up being the same person.

The film itself plays upon the same chord as horrific greats from its preceding decade, such as 'The Exorcist', 'The Omen' and 'The Amityville Horror', in which the classic conflict of good vs. evil is fought, and demons from the underworld are its root cause. For a no-budget film, it has a decent sense of atmosphere and mood, interesting actors and cinematography, and a really outstanding climactic scene. The special effects are uneven: Sometimes they are decent, yet sometimes laughingly bad--probably due to having THREE directors involved--usually NOT a good omen for a film, if simply one story is being presented (too many cooks DO spoil the broth, at least cinematically). One exceedingly bad aspect was Faith Clift as the female protagonist, Claire Hansen. Though for her age she was beautiful, her monotone voice was dreadful.

I recommend the film wholeheartedly and with no reservations, if you like horror films and want a good time some evening for 94 minutes.

I rented this film under the title of 'The Nightmare Never Ends'. On the surface this film appears to be pure amateur. The acting is quite horrendous on many occasions. The character of Weiss played Marc Lawrence is a Nazi hunter, who mumbles throughout the picture (that's until he's bumped off). Cameron Mitchell plays a detective who investigates Weiss's death. He starts to follow a rich playboy, played eerily by Richard Bristol. He begins to suspect that Olivier is responsible. Another subplot involves Charles Moll who plays a professor. He writes a book called 'God is Dead', which starts a controversy. Rich playboy, Olivier, approaches him. Bristol is basically the devil's representative on earth. A crazy monk approaches Moll's wife, played by Faith Clift (who could not act if her life depended on it). He warns her that her husband is being seduced by satan. People start dying left and right as they attempt to stop Olivier and his minions. Even though the film suffers from poor dubbing, synching (it feels like you're watching an old Hong Kong Kung Fu flick), the film has a sense of dread from beginning to end that grabbed me. It doesn't have a happy ending. And that's the way I like it.

I had originally seen this on video as The Nightmare Never Ends, and recently watched it on video as Satan's Supper. Evidently these two versions, and the version titled Cataclysm are all slightly different. Additionally, this movie was edited down to form one third of the wretched horror anthology Night Train to Terror.

Night Train to Terror can be found on DVD. Nightmare Never Ends is on DVD in a "Troma Triple B-Header" box with two other movies.

I'm not sure how the versions all differ. Evidently Cataclysm begins with James and Claire Hanson going to Las Vegas, where Claire gets hypnotized and had visions of Nazis killing some musicians at a dinner other Nazis are having. I don't recall if Nightmare Never Ends began that way; Satan's Supper begins without the Vegas trip and with the Nazis, and Claire waking up from it as a nightmare.

A Jewish Nazi hunter sees Mr. Oliver on TV who looks like the head Nazi from Claire's dream. He gets a police detective played by Cameron Mitchell to take him to see the man in person. They must spend ten minutes with the Jewish guy insisting he's found his man, and Mitchell saying the man is too young to be the guy from the photo he was shown. The Nazi hunter is incredibly annoying, the worst sort of Jewish stereotype personified x100. He repeats himself incessantly, stuttering and gesturing like an idiot. Not that Mitchell is on the top of his form here either.

Of course, their bad acting has a lot of company in this movie. Moll is pretty dreadful as James Hanson, and Faith Clift playing his wife is like a lobotomized deer in headlights.

The guy playing Mr. Oliver is pretty awful too. He's evidently Satan himself. The monk who tries to warn Hanson is quite awful as well. A number of these people acted in other movies together, including a movie about Joseph Smith and Brigham Young! I can't imagine the horror! James Hanson has written a book "God is Dead" that took him four years. It's a runaway best seller, and he's even allowed time on TV to pitch his message, which is hardly new. Whole families appear to watch him.

For some reason, Mr. Oliver thinks Hanson would like to work for/serve him. Since an atheist no more believes in the devil than god (as Hanson in fact repeatedly says), this makes not a lick of sense.

The movie is terribly shot, terribly edited, terribly acted, and at the base of it all, terribly scripted. It is a worthless movie. I'm quite curious as to the story behind its making, how it wound up with three directors, and how there came to be so many versions of it.

First off, don't watch this film alone! Don't make the same mistake I did, and be sure to watch "Cataclysm" in the company of at least one good buddy, or preferably a whole group of friends. Not because the film is so petrifying, obviously, but for the complete opposite reason. "Cataclysm" is so dumb, so incoherent and generally "so-bad-it's-good", that it'll make guaranteed entertainment for a bunch of like-minded horror lovers! All the necessary ingredients are there, trust me: horribly bad acting performances, totally absurd storylines and plot twists, cheesy early 80s make-up effects, a washed-up Cameron Mitchell, nonsensical dialogues ("I've been staring at these walls so much that I begin to see swastikas in my oatmeal"), Nazi-orgy flashbacks, wooden disco-dancing moves, and the reincarnation of Satan himself in the shape of an Udo Kier look-alike with a very gay haircut. I had seen bits and pieces of "Cataclysm" before, as they got edited into "Night Train to Terror" for some reason, but the full-length version is definitely worth seeking out. Oh, and it's available on YouTube! What are you waiting for? WhatsApp your friends!