The Being (1981)

The Being (also released as Beauty and the Beast and Easter Sunday) is a 1983 monster splatter film directed by Jackie Kong in her directorial debut.

Plot
"In the distance, the town of Pottsville, Idaho. A small town, not much different from any other mainstreet USA. Strange and unexplained events are occuring. Some people are missing, among them, a little child. The ultimate terror has taken form, and Pottsville, Idaho will never be the same."

- Narrator The small town of Pottsville, Idaho has been experiencing some unexplained disappearance ever since the mayor allowed toxic waste to be dumped near town. Two people have gone missing, and it has been raining profusely. A young man was also found decapitated in someone's car. The town's detective, Mortimer Lutz, believes that something evil has entered town. Meanwhile, a young couple along with a pothead are brutally torn apart by quote "a man in a monster suit" in a drive-in theater

The state's health inspector, Garson Jones, claims that everything is fine, and that the radiation in the water is very weak and shouldn't harm anyone. Lutz is called to investigate the murders at the drive-in theater. He notices a strange green substance at the scene of the murder. He goes home only to find a strange creature, which chases him away from his home.

On Easter Day, a toddler named Suzie witnesses the creature while egg hunting, but since she can't speak, no one is notified about the creature. Jones continues to assure everyone that nothing is wrong with the town's water. He states that pornography is the real evil in town, and that it should be banned. Later, a local police officer is murdered, and he is reported missing.

That night, Lutz visits his girlfriend, Laurie, at her diner. As they walk to their car, a fleshy creature jumps into the car. They run back into the diner and hide in the kitchen. Laurie manages to trap the creature inside of the freezer while Lutz calls the mayor. The mayor, Gordon Lane, arrives only to discover nothing out of the ordinary. The creature somehow escaped, and the only thing left is a puddle of unknown substances.

A few blocks away, three friends break into an abandoned building to secretly read a nude magazine. Two of them are quickly killed. The last one, Arn, escapes from the building, only to be pulled through a shop window. A few hours later, Mayor Lane quickly speeds off in his car for an unknown reason. His wife tries to look for him, only to be killed by the creature.

The next evening, Jones calls Lutz to help him investigate a strange tunnel he found near the dumpsite. When he and Laurie arrives, Jones is suddenly attacked by the creature. Laurie severs the creature's tentacle and they all escape. Even though Laurie wants to help them, Lutz drops her off at the police station. At the police station, Laurie sees a strange woman outside calling for her son. The cops explains that her name is Marge Smith, and that she had been trying to look for her son, Michael, after he disappeared near the toxic dump.

Meanwhile, Jones explains to Lutz that the creature was once a man, but he was horribly mutated by the toxic waste. The man is now extremely intelligent, but also psychotic. Suddenly, the creature appears behind their car. They try to drive off, but the creature holds on to the car. Lutz and Jones decide to jump out of the car and blow it up, their plan works and they make their way to Jones' lab.

At the lab, Jones quickly packs everything, planning to escape Pottsville. He packs all of his things, only to discover that his pet cat has been mutilated. The creature returns and tears Jones apart, scattering his body parts around the lab. Lutz attempts to escape through the roof, but he falls. He resorts to throwing random chemicals on the being. This causes a chemical reaction which blows up the creature. Lutz escapes and we see another creature breaking out from the ground.

As the film closes, we learn the faith of each of the main characters: Mayor Lane is elected president, Mortimer Lutz became a stunt coordinator, Laurie moved to Ohio, Marge Smith disappeared, Virginia was never found, and Garson Jones' body was donated to a medical school.

Cast

 * Bill Osco - Detective Mortimer Lutz
 * Martin Landau - Garson Jones
 * Marianne Gordon - Laurie
 * José Ferrer - Mayor Gordon Lane
 * Dorothy Malone - Marge Smith
 * Ruth Buzzi - Virginia Lane
 * Murray Langston - Arn
 * Kinky Friedman - Willis
 * Johnny Dark - John

Production
Kong, a recent college graduate, was given a $4.5 million dollar budget from then-husband Bill Osco to write and direct a film, despite the fact that she had no professional film-making experience. She stated that she impressed Osco with storyboards and shot breakdowns. Kong wooed Martin Landau by pretending to be an actor interested in his theater workshop, and using the opportunity to give him her script. Impressed with her straightforwardness, he accepted the role. It would mark producer and occasional actor Osco's departure from his previous sexually explicit films such as the 1974 sexploitation film Flesh Gordon. Principal photography began in 1980 under the title Easter Sunday.

Theatrical release
During the film's production it was intended that the film would be released on Easter in 1981. However, the film could not find a distributor for three years, and was finally released on November 18, 1983 under its new title. The Being was a commercial failure, performing poorly at the box office.

Home media
The Being was released on DVD on September 13, 2005 by Shriek Studio in widescreen format with no special features. Shriek Studio released it again on July 31, 2007 as a part its Mutant Monsters Triple Feature which combined it with The Dark and Creatures from the Abyss. It was last released by Code Red as a double feature alongside Cop Killers.

Critical response
Critical response for The Being has been mostly negative, with many criticizing the film's acting, script, editing, and poor lighting. Scott Weinberg from DVD Talk was among the film's detractors calling the film "Grungy, muddy-looking" he also called it a "blatant Alien ripoff". J. Read from Monstersatplay.com called it "cheap, rushed, and an incongruous mess" stating it as a perfect example of all the bad movies that came out in the 1980s. Allmovie called the film "abysmal", with "clumsy, ham-fisted" direction,"lack of focus", "goofy" effects, and a "leaden, noncharismatic" performance from lead actor and producer Bill Osco. Nevertheless, the reviewer calls it "worthy of note for cinematic trash-fiends", because of its cast, flashes of humor and "oddball qualities". TV Guide gave the film a negative review awarding it a score of 1 1/2 out of 4, stating, "The biggest mystery about this mystery-horror film is how the producer ever managed to persuade two Oscar winners (Dorothy Malone and Jose Ferrer) to appear in such cinematic Valium".

Robert Firsching from New York Times panned the film, calling it, "abysmal". Leonard Maltin awarded the film 1​1⁄2 stars out of 4 stating that humor was the film's only saving grace, stating that "it wasn't enough to overcome its Z-grade script and production". Jack Sommersby from eFilmCritic.com gave the film a negative review, writing, " it's not the worst of its type but not quite good enough to warrant a recommendation". Brett Gallman from Oh, the Horror! wrote, "The Being manages an odd, offbeat quality despite its familiarity. It’s a film that features an amorphous killer alien but also takes the time to consider Pottsville’s other plights, such as the impending arrival of a massage parlor that has the moral majority in a tizzy. Osco’s voiceover narration and interior monologues abruptly stop midway through the film,  and even the Easter setting is entirely incidental".

Legacy
In spite of the film's critical and commercial failure, The Being would gain a small cult following over the years since its release. Kong would go on to direct Night Patrol (1984) and the 1987 cult horror film Blood Diner.