Few are the films that literally defy description, but surely Monster A-Go Go (1965) is one of them. Not because of the uniqueness of the filmmakers' artistic vision, but because of its absolute incoherence. Its multi-layered meaninglessness is the result of a tangled production history that is in many ways more interesting than the film itself. The most remarkable aspect of a film as ramshackle as Monster A-Go Go is that it has managed to survive some 40+ years and continues to be circulated today.

Monster A-Go Go was begun by low-budget filmmaker Bill Rebane, then completed, several years later, by a slightly more competent low-budget filmmaker: Herschell Gordon Lewis. Rather than strive for continuity, Lewis stuck his tongue in his cheek and turned Rebane's alien invasion drama into a Rod Serling-style exploration of humanity's inability to comprehend fate and physics.

It should be noted that an accurate plot description of Monster A-Go Go is impossible to write, and there is not enough information to link actors to specific roles. Much credit for ironing out the character names and convoluted details is due to Albert Walker, who provided a lengthy tongue-in-cheek analysis of the plot on the website The Agony Booth (www.agonybooth.com/recaps/Monster_A_Go_Go_1965.aspx).

The film begins as scientists investigate the wreckage of a space capsule, "in a wooded area not far from the space agency Astrophysical Laboratories in Chicago." Two military officers in a car find the capsule, with no sign of astronaut Frank Douglas. The pilot of a helicopter also investigates the wreckage and drops dead in the process. Many of the plot turns -- such as the pilot's death -- are difficult to comprehend because they occur off-camera, and are only referred to in the dialogue or narration.

A bit later, we peep into a wild dance party, and are treated to several gratuitous shots of twisting hips and bouncing breasts (as well as some even more shapely beehives and bouffants). One couple gets into a mild tiff and leave suddenly, then find a secluded spot to kiss and make up. Once the petting gets too heavy, the girl leaves the car, then screams at the sight of something horrible. A second group of military investigators (Dr. Manning, Colonel Connors [Phil Morton] and a general) discover the pompadoured boyfriend's body and find the girl moaning in the weeds nearby.

"I think she's alright, general," says Manning, "She's in shock."

"Good," replies the general, "Let's get her right back to the lab."

The next victim of the mysterious creature is Dr. Henry Logan, who wanders solo into the woods with a Geiger counter, and soon finds the shriveled hands of a humanoid, crater-faced beast wrapped around his neck.

A higher-ranking G-man known as Dr. Brent arrives to get hard answers to these puzzling events. Connors gives him the hard truth, "We have a radioactive something-or-other, ten foot tall, four hundred pounds."

A complex conversation follows, in which Connors explains that the lab has been experimenting with a radiation repellant known as Antidium-50 (and its variant, Antidium-51). They follow the trail of clues to Dr. Logan's brother Conrad, who confirms that astronaut Douglas may have suffered some sort of overdose of the substance, and that he is the alien aggressor.

In one of the film's sensational plot twists (conveyed via narration), we learn that the giant alien creature formerly known as Douglas has been captured by Dr. Conrad Logan and is locked, "in a storeroom in that very building. Logan had learned that massive doses of the antidote brought about an almost human appearance, but with such unpredictable side effects that enough tranquilizers to subdue ten ordinary men had to be given each day." The monster rampages through Logan's lab and escapes -- alas, another action that occurs off-camera.

Fortunately, we do get to see the lumbering mutant menace a group of bikini-clad sunbathers in a nearby park.

Dr. Brent calls for military reinforcements, and trigger-happy soldiers begin causing chaos in a Chicago suburb, firing their weapons at shadows. This is followed by a genuinely wacky comic interlude in which a truck-driver comes to the aid of a flirtatious stranded motorist, filling her tank with a can of gasoline he apparently keeps on the passenger seat of his rig. Later, the truck-driver (portrayed by a different actor, driving a different truck) drops dead.

Because no one can get near the radioactive monster, Dr. Logan devises a plan to post remote Geiger counters in a perimeter around the creature's location. When the mutant disappears into a manhole, Col. Connors slips into a radioactivity-proof suit and tracks it through the sewers of Chicago. At which point Douglas/the monster suddenly vanishes.

The film starts to explain the inexplicable by revealing (via telegram) that the real astronaut Douglas has been rescued in the North Atlantic -- suggesting that the ten-foot creature was an alien imposter. But, rather than expecting the viewer to comprehend all that, Lewis (director #2) spreads a layer of metaphysical double-speak over the denouement.

"Then who -- or what -- has landed here?" asks the narrator (Lewis himself), "Is it here yet -- or has the cosmic switch been pulled? Case in point: the line between science fiction and science fact is microscopically thin. You have witnessed the line being shaved even thinner. But is the menace with us? Or is the monster gone?"

Producers: Sheldon S. Seymour, Bill Rebane
Director: Bill Rebane; Herschell Gordon Lewis (uncredited)
Screenplay: Jeff Smith, Dok Stanford, Bill Rebane; Sheldon Seymour (additional dialogue)
Cinematography: Frank Pfeiffer
Cast: Phil Morton (Col. Steve Connors), June Travis (Ruth), George Perry, Lois Brooks, Rork Stevens, Peter Thompson, Robert Simons, Barry Hopkins, Stu Taylor, Lorri Perry, Del Clark, Art Scott, Leonard Gelstein, Aviva Crane, Dean Tompis, Jim Bassler, Rick Paul, Henry Hite (Frank Douglas/monster)
BW-70m.

by Bret Wood