Jack Harris follows up The Blob with the same team which made us all believe that Steve McQueen was a teenager (not really). After the success of The Blob, Harris had more sway in getting his next movie off the ground and found funding a bit more easily. He says the story was inspired by a cover of Weird Tales, but I can't find a cover that he describes and at around the time 4D Man was being produced, the long published Weird Tales was in suspension I think, so it may have been another magazine.
This 1959 movie boasts a grand cast led by Robert Lansing who lights, smokes and tosses aside cigarettes as fast he can in an hour and half. Lee Meriwether is her gorgeous self as she unknowingly (perhaps) pits two brothers against one another for her affections. The object of her desire is James Congdon who has invented a way for things and people to pass through solid material.
Lansing, a man losing his girl and his reputation is desperate and finds the ability a convenient way to get what he wants. The side effect is that he ages swiftly and ends up needing the lifeforces of those he touches to keep him running. The shenanigans are weird as the police for once seem to accept the impossible premise though it doesn't make them more capable to stall the threat.
Actually, truth told this movie takes a dang long time to get rolling with exposition upon exposition holding forth in the first thirty minutes. Then things get interesting and sadly the ending sort of falls apart. I don't know this to be true, but it seems they might've forgotten to film some crucial scenes, and we get some strange off-screen demises. I'm all for movies that keep you in suspense and I also believe that less is more, but less ain't nothing and this movie goes there at least once.
Lansing, a man losing his girl and his reputation is desperate and finds the ability a convenient way to get what he wants. The side effect is that he ages swiftly and ends up needing the lifeforces of those he touches to keep him running. The shenanigans are weird as the police for once seem to accept the impossible premise though it doesn't make them more capable to stall the threat.
Actually, truth told this movie takes a dang long time to get rolling with exposition upon exposition holding forth in the first thirty minutes. Then things get interesting and sadly the ending sort of falls apart. I don't know this to be true, but it seems they might've forgotten to film some crucial scenes, and we get some strange off-screen demises. I'm all for movies that keep you in suspense and I also believe that less is more, but less ain't nothing and this movie goes there at least once.
For fans of The Blob this one is interesting if only for its style. Next time it's more from Jack H. Harris with Dinosaurus!
Rip Off
Rip Off
I'm in a minority in that I like 4DMAN better than either THE BLOB or DINOSAURUS. Maybe it's Lansing's perf more than anything else.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a more coherent telling. The moviemaking is more sophisticated for sure. Lansing is distinctive. I think the weak point actually is a score that's lively, but on my copy overwhwelming.
Delete