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Trog, 1970
An expedition into a previously unexplored cave uncovers the presence of a troglodyte, a missing link between ancient and contemporary man. Dr. Brockton (Joan Crawford), a scientist at a nearby institute begins to work with the captured creature, believing that he can provide answers about the course of evolution. Brockton is opposed by the very vocal Sam Murdock (Michael Gough), who is convinced the creature should be destroyed.
Has this Hall totally warped my brain? Because I ended up, dare I say, enjoying Trog a lot more than I expected to.
There's an okay, if a bit goofy, film buried in there.
Unfortunately, there are just too many silly things in the way. I mean, Trog's initial communications sound like someone grunting into a kazoo. The mask worn by the actor makes all but the most basic facial expressions impossible. And let's not even get into Trog's protracted flashback sequence, in which, amazingly, his memories manage to perform zooms and pans as if it were a camera.
There's also just a lot of plot-level absurdity. Maybe my favorite example of this was the ludicrous number of times that Murdock heckled the judge in a public hearing about Trog, with him finally being ejected after what felt like half a dozen warnings. When the film gets to its final act, it really doesn't know what to do with itself, and ends up with sort of a King Kong/Frankenstein mish-mash.
I did enjoy the opening sequence, as I find caves and water in caves to be very scary. Those images of the men disappearing into the darkness were spooky looking. There were also some themes about "greater good" arguments against "progress" and sexism within the science community that could have been interesting if they weren't presented so ham-fistedly.
Infamy:
1/2
Trog, 1970
An expedition into a previously unexplored cave uncovers the presence of a troglodyte, a missing link between ancient and contemporary man. Dr. Brockton (Joan Crawford), a scientist at a nearby institute begins to work with the captured creature, believing that he can provide answers about the course of evolution. Brockton is opposed by the very vocal Sam Murdock (Michael Gough), who is convinced the creature should be destroyed.
Has this Hall totally warped my brain? Because I ended up, dare I say, enjoying Trog a lot more than I expected to.
There's an okay, if a bit goofy, film buried in there.
Unfortunately, there are just too many silly things in the way. I mean, Trog's initial communications sound like someone grunting into a kazoo. The mask worn by the actor makes all but the most basic facial expressions impossible. And let's not even get into Trog's protracted flashback sequence, in which, amazingly, his memories manage to perform zooms and pans as if it were a camera.
There's also just a lot of plot-level absurdity. Maybe my favorite example of this was the ludicrous number of times that Murdock heckled the judge in a public hearing about Trog, with him finally being ejected after what felt like half a dozen warnings. When the film gets to its final act, it really doesn't know what to do with itself, and ends up with sort of a King Kong/Frankenstein mish-mash.
I did enjoy the opening sequence, as I find caves and water in caves to be very scary. Those images of the men disappearing into the darkness were spooky looking. There were also some themes about "greater good" arguments against "progress" and sexism within the science community that could have been interesting if they weren't presented so ham-fistedly.
Infamy:
1/2