You had to expect me to write about Zontar: Thing from Venus. I bought the “Beast Collection” set to see it many years ago. In those days I tried to watch the movies through, in order but I didn’t make it through the first disc, even. Well, now my perspective has changed—I figured I bought this to see Zontar, and Zontar I must see. You do know that he controls people, right? Zontar is a notoriously bad movie. I saw it on television as a kid, and it may have even been close to the first run since it was made for television. It’s actually a remake of a cheap Roger Corman movie, so it is a cheap remake of a cheap original. Nostalgia, however, does funny things to a guy. Although I saw it half a century ago, I remembered some lines precisely. Television does funny things to young minds after all, I guess.
In case none of the injectapods has found you yet, it goes like this: Zontar, from, well, Venus, is a bat-like monster with three eyes. He befriends an earthling outsider scientist, through laser communication, and commandeering a satellite, which becomes a passable flying saucer, lands in a cave from which he takes over the small town of Jackson, which has a military base and plans to take over by having a general assassinate the president. Meanwhile, his scientist friend directs Zontar to the four people that he needs to take over the world: said general, the sheriff, the mayor, and his best friend scientist, Curt Taylor. Things don’t quite go Zontar’s way, despite most of the movie’s running time showing him totally in control. It feels like it’s a lot longer than its 80-minute running time.
Still, I have to agree with the TV Guide review that says it isn’t as bad as everyone says. Yes, it is a bad movie but it does have a few redeeming features. Some of the scenery is nice, and you even begin to care for some of the characters. The rogue scientist’s wife—despite her constant nagging—is the first person who tries to kill Zontar, and she does this for love. When Zontar gets her you feel a little sad. At least I did. You see, the injectapods haven’t reached me yet and I still have human emotions. Ironically, it is just such things that drive me to rewatch movies like Zontar all these years later. And the movie ends with a voice-over moral of the story. Those 80 minutes weren’t completely wasted.
