Laserblast

I recently watched a movie produced by Charles Band called Laserblast and realized how much I enjoyed watching Kim Melford's handsome(..yet melancholy)California teenager respond to his attackers by blowing them to smithereens with an alien blast gun. I mean I just reveled in watching this guy blow shit up. It was like the director had an opportunity to live out his wildest dreams, equipped with the proper means to blow up anything he so wished. A mailbox, Star Wars billboard, gas station, cop car, a desert tree, a couple of other sweet rides owned by a bully who continually heckled him(..and Eddie Deezen, was this guy's partner..no shit, Deezen was a fellow bully!), even a hippy giving him a ride. That was a hilarious scene..the way Milford just blasted this guy right out of the driver's seat and through the door! Haha!

I'm currently hung up on the score by Joel Goldsmith and the great Richard Band. I keep going over the opening and closing credits just to hear the score..it's really catchy and I find myself humming it when I'm washing dishes or making my daughter's bed. The score really, along with the stop motion aliens created by Dave Allen(..I love this guy's contribution to Charles Band's productions, especially the cool robots you later see in Robot Wars and Crash and Burn), is the best thing about the movie.

The plot I found worthless unless you except the revenge angle where a boy, given an opportunity to attack those that constantly bother him(..such as a rotund deputy who basks in the thrills of writing the kid tickets), slowly transforms into a hideous alien version of himself thanks in part to this pendant necklace left over after the previous owner was disintegrated into ash by the alien lizards at the beginning of the movie. Whenever Milford has it on, he turns into, I guess, the alien owner, and goes apeshit, blasting everything in sight such as a pinball machine. Milford hunches over as if his back is weighted down with an anvil, swinging his laser rifle in the air in celebration, understanding the adreniline thrill of having such enormous power.

I was reading into the back story of the attractive leads, Milford and his girlfriend of the picture Cheryl Smith. Both are dead, and rather young to boot. Smith's life is certainly such a tragedy. I haven't seen a great deal of her 70's exploitation work(..although, I plan to), but knowing that her end wasn't exactly the way we wish to die, my heart kind of broke. She's so pretty and sweet in Laserblast, quite petite and soft-voiced. Just a darling. I imagine she probably succeeded in the 70's because of these traits visible in Laserblast. Milford died so young, and even though I know nothing of his other work, it kind of saddened me to see his fallen character with Smith draped over him as the credits rolled, pondering how both would leave in such tragic circumstances.

I was rather flummoxed at the fact that both Keenan Wynn and Roddy McDowell would agree to accept roles so undervaluable, meaning very little to the overall film, despite their status, even if the Hollywood establishment, by this time, had written them off. They deserve more than what is shown in this film. I read somewhere(..maybe imdb)that Wynn shot his scenes like in a day or something. Kind of a bummer that Roddy is like in and out of the picture within a matter of minutes..any kind of actor could fulfill the requirements of such a role, due to the fact that the doctor is so meaningless to the overall plot. Still, we get a good car explosion(..one of like six, I think)so all is well.