Review #1: Zorgon: The H-Bomb Beast from Hell (1972) - Short film

For our first serving, I proudly introduce the gloriously-titled Zorgon: The H-Bomb Beast from Hell, a short film from 1972.

Source: YouTube

Length: 8 minutes

Number of Ratings from IMDb: 11
Country of Origin: USA
Director: Kevin Fernan [Zorgon: The H-Bomb Beast from Hell]

The film begins with a young couple in the throes of love, kissing so passionately that the man forgot to shut his door.

Luckily, as the short is a mere eight minutes, we don’t have to wait long for action, and it is quickly apparent that we watching from the point of view of the aforementioned H-Bomb beast from Hell. The couple notices.

(On a quick side-note, in an odd way, from that angle, the man looks a bit like a young, Grease-era John Travolta.)

The couple die screaming (wait a few seconds, I can prove this), and then like that, up comes the title.

We then go to a suburban area, and a man is distraught to see that more people have been killed, and the police are unable to do anything about it.

He is, in fact, so angered that he phones a few of his friends with the intention of going after the killer themselves. I should note that this short was recorded without sound, and to get these more complex feelings across, the use of intertitles is utilized.

After some more friends were alerted of their plans, the first friend called arrives, and brings a friend: hilarity.

What are we seeing there? It’s seemingly one part gorilla, one part octopus, and one part failed costume designer.

Well, our friend is far more freighted than we are, and runs off. The creature, however, must be extraordinarily quick, as he runs straight into him again, allowing us a clear image of his face.

He is indeed one ugly mo-fo. The unfortunate man is then dispatched with before any additional help can arrive.

Of course, right afterwards, the rest of the posse arrive, and begin searching for the killer. Some comedic jump scares commence within the next few minutes, and then the ending is nigh. I admit, I was a bit surprised it ended the way it did, but it made the short more unique, I feel.

Also, it left no doubt as to why the murders were committed.

I almost expected him to lambaste those “meddling kids” for interfering, but to no avail, sadly. The short ends with the murderer being led away, in costume, to jail.

Now, at first, this short may not appear all-too impressive. However, a little history may have you thinking otherwise.

Do you remember the film Equinox? From 1970? Sure you do – it was sometimes called the pre-cursor to The Evil Dead due to its plot, and the film boasted some rather fine stop motion footage. It’d recommend checking it out, if you’ve not seen it before.

Members of the cast and crew created this short, intending it to be a spoof (which is pretty obvious) on the monster movie sub-genre of horror. Also, I found this interesting, though I am unsure of how truthful it is, but I’ll quote it nonetheless:

This was a film assignment for Kevin Fernan while he was at Pasadena City College, his professor ended up giving him an A- on the project.

If this is true, I do wish it stated what class this was for. If it was for a film class, I sort of find it difficult to believe that it got an A-, but I digress.

This short film is on the 2006 Criterion Collection version of Equinox, which can be bought here.

My opinions of this films are not terribly complex. The film is not bad, but it doesn't really stand out to me in any kind of conceivable way. The ending was sort of nice, as I didn't expect a twist, but that's all. It's not bad, per se - just average.

My rating: 6/10

Check out the IMDb page here.

I hope you all enjoyed my first review. If you have any suggestions on how to improve them, please let me know.

- Michael