Surely someone should have seen the gleem in Leslie Nielsen's eyes in this, but he had to wait another 15 years to get to play comedy. There's a tongue in his cheek in this TV pilot that got rerouted to the big screen, and he's a lot of fun to watch. But other than the fact that the plot of this film and many elements about it were things that couldn't be shown on TV at the time, this was not right for big screen viewing either. That's obvious nearly 60 years later watching this on a digital TV that certain elements about the quality of the film makes it appear as if this would be greatly diluted as a big screen entry. It easily could have been moved to late night TV, or aired at 10:00 p.m. With a warning.
The film surrounds a series of Jack the Ripper type murders in San francisco, and it appears that they are going to tie the killings from London in with that other foggy city on the bay. Leslie Nielsen is an expert on the occult who becomes involved with the investigation, aided by the likes of professor Werner Klemperer and friend Peter Mark Richman. The lovely Judith Meredith has a weird sounding voice, like something you would hear on Rocky and Bullwinkle or the Underdog cartoon series.
My issue with this being shown on the big screen deals with the fact that there are a lot of scenes that utilize a fog machine, and that overwhelms the picture. Enlarge a TV screen to even the smallest cinema screen, and it would look painfully blurry. The music is also a negative distraction, almost headache inducing. But they did do a good job with what they had for a budget, and indeed, it is very spooky, especially when you get to see the actual monster and find out its agenda. Obviously they couldn't show anything dealing with the occult on TV in time slots where children might be watching, and this definitely has plenty of moments that are disturbing in a very spiritual way.
The film surrounds a series of Jack the Ripper type murders in San francisco, and it appears that they are going to tie the killings from London in with that other foggy city on the bay. Leslie Nielsen is an expert on the occult who becomes involved with the investigation, aided by the likes of professor Werner Klemperer and friend Peter Mark Richman. The lovely Judith Meredith has a weird sounding voice, like something you would hear on Rocky and Bullwinkle or the Underdog cartoon series.
My issue with this being shown on the big screen deals with the fact that there are a lot of scenes that utilize a fog machine, and that overwhelms the picture. Enlarge a TV screen to even the smallest cinema screen, and it would look painfully blurry. The music is also a negative distraction, almost headache inducing. But they did do a good job with what they had for a budget, and indeed, it is very spooky, especially when you get to see the actual monster and find out its agenda. Obviously they couldn't show anything dealing with the occult on TV in time slots where children might be watching, and this definitely has plenty of moments that are disturbing in a very spiritual way.