I gather this film gained prominence through mockery on Mystery Science Theatre 3000. Understandable I guess, laughter is a quite reasonable defence against the coldness of the universe, its scorn for our trouble. Paul is a lonely man, we see him first biking to a ridge for mineralogical study, he finds some kind of relic and is assailed by howls and a ceremonial mask. A disturbance in the force we might think, man drawn inexorably to some ill fate but it turns out to be a prank. The tension lifts but respite is temporary, as he makes his moves upon a lovely new friend a cosmic cock-block strikes down to deny even brief pleasure. See, a meteorite has recently collided with the moon, unleashing a swarm of fragments, one of which becomes lodged in his brain. And hence he is doomed to become the titular moon beast, and even make tracks. Well one. What makes this film really work is the way nothing is urgent before it gets too late. No one gets too bothered about Paul's injury, so it takes a while before he goes to a hospital. There are improbable murders, but people just go with the flow at the even more improbable explanations. An folk rock tune appears (California Lady) and even though the plot starts moving again before the end of the song they keep playing it over the drama. Its a cracking song and I like that they kept it in. Paul's new gal is devoted to him even though they only just met. Photographer, blonde, only a couple of expressions and even that may be an exaggeration. They're nice expressions though and she's quite a sweetheart, I felt for her. Paul is something of a tragic character, I felt for him too. He doesn't have much presence on screen, but that didn't detract. Aren't we all pretty fleeting on the screen of life after all?Then there's Johnny Longbow, American Indian professor and all round cool customer, with a great soup recipe. He's awesome, and if there were any justice he would be the star of a chintzy TV series about his ongoing exploits. People keep cool and its all soothing and strange, but then the downers kick in. The horror set pieces are too short to impress so its difficult to get a bead on where the film is going for most of the way, but then it all becomes clear. To the vastness of space people are an irrelevance, the lonely even more, mere specks of dust for arbitrary games. And as things built to an end I became rather sad. Afterwards I tried to laugh but somehow it ain't coming. The sky is no comfort to the lonely ladies and gentlemen, so throw down your telescopes. B minus film, but worth a watch.
Review of Track of the Moon Beast
