Manos 2 the Wrath of Buchanan
It’s Alive (1969): 1 out of 10: Nostalgia is a dangerous thing. I often look back on movies from my childhood such as Damnation Alley or The Punishment of Anne (I had a strange childhood. Hey it was the Seventies the rules were different back then) and wonder if I can view the films objectively. (Death Race 2000 is, in reality, not the best film of all time).
I have the feeling that those who look back fondly on Larry Buchanan’s made for TV masterpieces are remembering their old dog, their mother’s cookies and the comforts of childhood rather than the film in question. Because the film is awful.
I didn’t like Manos: The Hands of Fate and this film is almost a shot for shot remake of the said film (Complete with endless opening drive in the Ozarks of all things.) Except it doesn’t have Manos’s bizarre sex fetish undercurrent and no Tor.
Instead, we get talentless former child actor (How is that for a redundant statement) Tommy Kirk and some unknowns.
We have an unconvincing monster, death march style pacing, and witless dialogue that is almost impossible to describe. It pales compared to the great films of my childhood like Massacre at Central High and Blood Beach. (Hey, we had cable what can say.)