Darkstar

DARK STAR-1974-John Carpenter's debut feature film (which he co-scripted and wrote the music for) is a low budget take off on 2001. 

 A spaceship led by a quartet of hippie like astronauts fly around space destroying planets. They have a female HAL type computer and can talk to their commander even though he's dead. An alien prisoner they picked up is an orange beach ball with feet (influenced by THE PRISONER?).

Everyone swears this is suppose to be a comedy but I'm not so sure. Co-writer Dan O'Bannon is Sgt. Pinback who spends a lot of time trapped in an elevator. I don't really find it that funny. It seems to me the filmmakers weren't sure which way they wanted to go with it. The acting is pretty bad. Maybe that accounts for part of it. It was originally a 45 minute short film that Jack H. Harris had the makers expand for theatrical release. 

Carpenter's next film was ASSAULT ON PRECINCT. O'Bannon penned ALIEN in 1979. 

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4 D Indeed!

THE 4-D MAN-1959-This Technicolor sci-fi presented by the producer/director team who made THE BLOB (from the year before) is undermined by long stretches of talk and a love triangle sub-plot. Robert Lansing stars as Scott Nelson, a good workaholic scientist corrupted by his brother Tony’s invention, which allows him to walk through solid matter. When he goes through people they turn old and die while he gets younger. Lee Merriwether co-stars as Lansing’s assistant/fiancée who is stolen away by his bro (played by future soap opera actor James Congdon).

Edgar Stehli and Robert Strauss play a pair of conniving scientists. Interestingly, Stehli’s character is killed while Strauss’ just disappears before the climax! A pre-Helen Keller Patty Duke appears as well but the fairly good (for the time) SFX are no match for the tedious talkfest plot.

Director Irvin S. Yeaworth and producer Jack H. Harris weren’t finished though. Just one year later they re-teamed to make the wacky DINOSAURUS! Harris later produced movies that were expanded from amateur shorts like EQUINOX (1970) SCHLOCK (1971) and DARK STAR (1974) and helped launch a few careers.

He produced a sort of sequel BEWARE! THE BLOB in 1972 which actor Larry Hagman directed. Incidentally, Hagman’s character’s name on TV’s I Dream Of Jeannie was named Tony Nelson...........

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