LASERBLAST (1978)

Director: Michael Rae

Writers: Franne Schacht, Frank Ray Perilli

Producers: Charles Band, J. Larry Carroll

Cast: Kim Milford, Cheryl Smith, Gianni Russo, Roddy McDowall, Keenan Wynn, Ron Masak, Dennis Burkley, Barry Cutler, Eddie Deezen, Mike Bobenko, Rick Walters, Simmy Bow, Wendy Wernli, Joanna Lipari, Janet Dey, Steve Neill (uncredited), Michael Rae (uncredited), Eric Jenkins, Franne Schacht, Michael Barrere, Melinda Wunderlich 

In the California desert, an extraterrestrial humanoid (Steve Neill) is pursued and disintegrated by two reptilian beings. When the alien assassins depart in their spaceship, they neglect to retrieve the laser gun and the amulet worn by the humanoid they killed. Young Billy Duncan (Kim Milford) discovers the two alien devices and quickly figures out how to wield their destructive power. The troubled youth is sporadically transformed into a monster by the alien technology and goes on a spree of destruction targeting his enemies. 

The Flashback Fanatic movie review

Another usually dismissed and damned flick that I find to be almost too simple to find fault with. It shares the same basic premise with that schlock icon of the '50s, Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman (1958): An unhappy and mundane domestic situation is disrupted by an extraterrestrial contact that empowers someone to get revenge. Instead of a betrayed, rich housewife, Laserblast deals with the neglected and bullied young man Billy Duncan. The situation and motives are basic and direct. We may identify with Billy and celebrate his new power and the payback he indulges in, yet we also realize that he has become a menace far worse than his personal enemies.

 

While the film tells a very simple story, it does contain some ambiguity. We are never quite sure how much of the violence is solely Billy’s responsibility or the result of an alien influence. We never see Billy plotting to take revenge on any of his victims. He suddenly appears in his transformed state ready to laserblast away his enemies. He even claims ignorance about his first act of criminal destruction, and it is never clear if he is sincere or lying. In a later scene, he is hitchhiking while in his human state, but he never says a word and has a malevolent smirk on his face. He clearly is up to no good, but is that his will or the alien’s? When he has transformed into an alien monster he seems bestial and inarticulate as he kills and destroys; yet he seeks out victims that have abused or threatened him in some way. Plot-wise, this ambiguity works either way; all the destruction may be the result of the alien influence and/or Billy’s malice. How tragic you find the film’s conclusion depends upon how much responsibility you want to attribute to Billy Duncan. 

 

Oddly, Billy never wonders where this strange weapon and amulet came from. Again, he may know the answer to that if he is under an alien influence. He sure as hell is not about to discuss it with anyone. Billy Duncan enjoys having the awesome weapon and must know it is something that the authorities would want to take away from him.

Just as ambiguous is the federal agent Tony Craig (Gianni Russo). He seems to be looking for something he expects to be a threat in the area, but we don’t ever find out what his objectives are or how much he knows about the alien visitation and the menace that has made out of Billy Duncan. I appreciate that secretive aspect to this character, but like so many authority figures in horror movies, he has no effect on the outcome. His investigations also provide no further information about the extraterrestrials, their motives, or their technology. However, Tony Craig does excel at being a demand-respect asshole. The way he treats the local sheriff (Ron Masak) makes you hope he winds up in the laserblaster’s crosshairs. 

Mike Bobenko and Eddie Deezen play a macho lout and his nerdy sidekick that are both at the top of Billy’s shit list. They are so one-dimensionally obnoxious that I enjoy their presence even as I hope that they get blasted out of the cool cars they cruise around in.

Barry Cutler and Dennis Burkley are the Laurel-and-Hardy cops that harass Billy and provide some comic relief. Unfortunately, Billy does not find them amusing until he is brandishing his laserblaster. 

Veteran actors Roddy McDowall and Keenan Wynn each put in a day’s work to add a little vintage star power to Laserblast. 

The leads Kim Milford, as Billy Duncan, and Cheryl Smith, as his girlfriend Kathy Farley, are simple characters simply played. Again, I find this simplicity an asset to the film. Scriptwriting 101 may dictate that everyone should have a character arc and that a bunch of contrived plot twists make great filmmaking. I say that such so-called complexities had better be pretty inspired or else they become insincere clichés that distance anyone that has seen more than a couple of hundred movies, because they know they are being fed more “movie stuff.” This whole film is about just a few days in the lives of this young couple that is complicated by alien technology.

Laserblast sets out to do little more than give the popcorn crowd a science fiction menace and lots of explosions in a youth-centric storyline. Whether by intent or accident, the simplicity of the story provides only enough information to allow the viewers to follow along. Our scant knowledge about the science fiction aspect of the story is still far more than what all of the characters know. Again, we have more ambiguity that plays out a bit more like real-life. The story is simple, but it also refuses to tie up all the loose ends. The characters, as well as the audience, are left with the unease of not knowing how and why this all had to happen. There is a fine line between a sense of the unknown and senseless bullshit that can make or break a fantasy film. I think Laserblast stays just on the right side of that line. 

The best thing about Laserblast is its music score. As soon as the film begins, the main theme grabs me. It was the first film score for both Joel Goldsmith (son of soundtrack legend Jerry Goldsmith) and Richard Band. I doubt this movie would have made half as much of an impression on me without this music. 

Laserblast is a Jekyll-and-Hyde story for the Star Wars (1977) era. The question it raises is: Does power corrupt or does power only get abused by bad people? Give me that cool laserblaster and I’ll blame it all on the damned aliens.