Cyclotrode 'X'

I had actually forgotten about this movie. But, how I do not understand, because in the wee hours of the morning over 30 years ago, I was thoroughly amused by this amazingly awful movie. They took an old series of cliffhangers and edited them into what must be simply the worst movie ever created. The acting, if you can call it that, is way beyond pathetic. I am not certain there actually was a director involved and I think they made the lines up as they went along. However, it is the special effects that make this movie one of the all time worst. The Cyclotrode X (okay there must have been a really bad writer involved to have developed this name for such a deadly world threatening machine) is a modern day wonder. It must have taken at least 15 minutes to devise this fiendish device. For the aficionado of truly bad movies, this is a must see.

"Cyclotrode X" was originally a movie serial back in 1946. Then, two decades later, they chopped the serial down by one hour and made it into a full-length film. Considering that the serials were never meant to be seen all at once, this idea makes sense because seeing all 11 or 12 or 15 chapters one after another is incredibly boring-- with lots of repetition. This was actually done with a lot of serials and if you insist on watching one (they are all pretty bad actually), this is the way to do it.

This is pretty much what you'd expect--a silly baddie and an indestructible hero. In this case, the baddie is a masked guy who calls himself 'The Crimson Ghost' and it is funny how many of these old serials featured villains wearing elaborate disguises...as if they're headed to a costume party (such as 'The Scorpion' in "The Adventures of Captain Marvel"). The hero is played by Charles Quigly...someone we've never seen much since. His job is to stop The Crimson Ghost from stealing the Cyclotrode X--a top-secret device to prevent nuclear attacks. And, like a typical serial, there is LOTS of action and not a lot of brilliant dialog. And, like most serials, they COULD simply use guns and shoot each other but inexplicably it almost always ends up with Quigley and some baddies getting into fist fights! There are also innumerable shots of folks jumping out of cars just before they careen off the road and explode! One interesting gimmick in the film is that the villain uses mind-control drugs and an exploding necklace to kill his henchmen if they fail him! Overall, it's a silly film--best seen and enjoyed by children and folks who don't mind the mindlessness of a typical serial...and they are incredibly silly.

FYI--The image of The Crimson Ghost was used later as the symbol on The Misfits albums and t-shirts.

I saw it as a kid in the early '70s. They were showing some old SciFi on Saturday mornings. Just saw it again. The date was 1966 but seemed to be older. I read that it was a bunch of serials made in 1946 edited into a movie in 1966.

Main observation was there were a lot of fight scenes which nobody fought well, I supposed they were academics and not good at fighting.

I enjoyed it as a kid and I enjoyed it now, I'm not going to pick it to bits but I might seek out the other crimson ghost movies.