THE MILPITAS MONSTER - Robert R. Berry Jr. - "The Mutant Beast" (1975)

I'm wrapping up my part of this Halloween Countdown with what I feel is one of the indiest of the indie movies, "The Milpitas Monster" aka "The Mutant Beast"! What started out as a high school project somehow turned into a classic example of D.I.Y. film making!!

"The Mutant Beast" has many unintentional things in common with our own film, "The Creep," but that's what happens when you film in a small town, and give some of it's residents a chance to make a movie!! That's just the nature of this beast!!!

The stars of both films are Trash Cans!!!

The main characters in both films smell like garbage!!

There's lots of local colour! (Except "The Creep" was in Black & White!)

And they both have a scene where a kid's sitting in a car reading an issue of Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine!!

But that's about where the comparisons end because "The Milpitas Monster" was able to secure some club/bar interior shots and a rockin' band! The pretty dang cool music was written by Robert R. Berry Jr. (too bad the sound is so muddy and warbly in spots, but it just kind of adds to the overall effect!)......Some of the grungiest rock we've heard since "Driller Killer!"

They had the added bonus of a carnival to use as a backdrop, and also, they came up with a pretty damn good monster!!

I'm going to go out on a electrical high wire, and say I think Toho might have even approved!!

Check out this shot!! It's beautiful, and would make a killer oil on black velvet painting!!!

If you go rummaging through the credits, you've not going to find very many names who ever did anything in the movies again, but one major exception, was the fellow who got credit for the special effects, Ben Burtt! Ben went on to do a number of things, including getting the credit for original sound effects (Droids and all) in the Star Wars movies, and the voice of Wall-E. and E.T. and also the sound designer on all the Indiana Jones movies!! I guess that pretty much makes up for everybody else!!

I think they actually dumped Priscilla House unceremoniously from about half way up that tower, as a very real effect, by the look of things!!

All the big cheeses in Milpitas have to figger out how to deal with the big stank, so they call the authority, the only man who knows anything about crap like this....

And, it's none other than Bob Wilkins and his signature stogie, the local Bay area horror icon and "Creature Features" TV host. (Unfortunately, Bob just passed away in January of this year.)

Bob tells them to use the "Odorola" and that's pretty much all it takes to wrap this stinker up!!!

Final credits roll to expose the names of practically every proud business and organization in town!!

Have an insane Halloween!!