Zontar: The Thing from Venus

I guess when John Agar came to Hollywood, they thought he was going to be the next Cary Grant. So what does he end up doing: cheap monster movies. He was adequate as the doctor in "Tarantula." In this one, he must be embarrassed. He is so stiff and must act opposite dreadful people. The mad scientist who makes contact with Zontar is about as emotive and unappealing as one can get. His wife is even worse. Don't try to think about the believability of all this because it absolutely defies even the most primitive logic. Who are these people and why are they so important? How do you get Venus on an old time radio? They even refer to it as a "set." Zontar is, himself, just an ugly bat guy. Of course, fortunately, the scientist just happens to own a "ruby plutonium laser gun" which is the one thing that can kill Zontar. If he's that nutty about the good intentions of the alien, why does he have this? Did he build it? Don't ask. I did love the arguments between the guy and his wife, but that's because it's the most dreadful acting one has ever seen.

Zontar comes to Earth, hides in cave and communicates with a confused scientist who can't act. Bat like creature then implants mind control devices in people's heads. Good scientist, who can't act either, thwarts Zontar's carefully laid plans. There's actually a scene where one of the characters tells Zontar- "I hate you guts." Incredibly, this is a remake of a 1950's movie of the same name.

Zontar is a being from Venus who has been communicating with Keith--telling him about the pending invasion of the Earth. However, instead of trying to stop him, Keith aids Zontar with promises that he'll make the Earth a paradise for all. The invasion involves turning off all human machines as well as injecting key officials with little pins in the back of their necks--making them slaves to the will of Zontar.

I am a "bad movie junkie"--I love watching grade-z horror and sci-fi films of the 50s and 60s, so it's natural I'd watch ZONTAR. However, even for a bad movie, this one is really, really bad--B-A-D, bad!! Most of the reason for this is that it was apparently directed by a monkey, as it got the absolute worst performances from everyone. Rarely will you hear and see more robotic acting--with many "actors" clearly having difficulty reading their cue cards!! Keith, the idiot who works for Zontar and is the key actor is particularly inept. His delivery is just bizarre--like he's reading and has no idea what the context is--with no emotion or conviction. The General ain't much better--as, once again, he's clearly reading from a script and it's badly dubbed over his actions on several occasions. It's sad when perhaps the best acting is done by John Agar--the uncrowned King of Bad Films. He overacts and yells some of his lines, but at least he had emotion and energy--some things that few others in the film showed. The only other emotional actor is Keith's wife, who seems to think she's playing Ophelia from "Hamlet"--as she makes little soliloquies and behaves as if she's stark raving mad! As for the rest of the film, the plot has been done better many other times (especially in INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS and an episode of "SCTV"), the sets are cheap, the "monsters" look like stuffed owls and the entire project has the look of a film made for YouTube by 12 year-olds! The only reason to watch this film is if you LIKE bad movies and want to laugh and marvel at the total ineptness of the film. Also, try watching Peter Graves in IT CONQUERED THE WORLD. ZONTAR is a remake of this earlier film, but it, too, is pretty silly stuff--and you have to see the monster to believe it!!

The best part of the movie is knowing it was filmed in Dallas in 1966. Actually, the exterior shots of the scientist's headquarters were filmed at my childhood home in Dallas -- it was quite contemporary for its time. One Sunday morning the producers knocked on the door wanting to use our home, we consented, and 2 days of muddy footprints and dirty coffee mugs later, the actors and filmmakers left. We enjoy watching the familiar scenes shot at White Rock Creek and Casa Linda Shopping Center -- particularly the mass chaos scenes of a running mob. Not a great plot and especially bad props -- Zontar looks like a black plastic bag stuck on a wire that flaps in the air.

Zontar, the Thing from Venus (1966)

* (out of 4)

Incredibly bad science fiction film has an alien attaching itself to a scientist in hopes of taking over the world. Will it or will John Agar save the day? This thing has a pretty big cult following but I can't see why. The film is just downright bad without any of the laughs that usually come from these types of films. Poor acting, poor special effects and just an overall poor movie. I'm sure some kids enjoyed this when they watched it on television back in the day but nothing in it holds up today. This film belong in Uranus, not Venus.