Movie review - "Robot Monster" (1953) No stars... or ****

How good is this movie! Many films of the "so bad its good" school aren't that fun - for instance, I'm not the biggest fan of Plan 9 from Outer Space. But this is terrific - its got a confusing plot, which starts with a couple of kids running into scientists, then jumps to a post-apocalyptic world where there are only eight people left due to the efforts of Ro Man. Ro Man is the star of the film - a man in a gorilla suit and deep sea diver's helmet. And the filmmaker's don't hide it... they show him out in the open. That is the core of the film's genius but there is much else to admire: the fact that Ro Man has wiped out the world except for eight people but lives in a cave, the irritating kids, the soliloquies, Ro Man communicating to his boss back home via a television set, the male lead played by gay Rock Hudson wannabe George Nader (soon to be a bit of a name ), his squabbling sexual tension relationship with Selena Royle (the world's just ended but there's time for a squabble), the scenes where there is no sound (a love scene between Nader and Royle... where its implied they have some pre-maritial sex), Ro Man falling in love with Royle and the humans arguing over whether she should give up her body to him/it (!), the soliloquies by the humans, the fact the two women of the future wear matching outfits, Ro Man discovering his soul. For all the dodgy effects, poor acting, slightly bewildering plot and One Million Years BC stock footage, it's never totally dismissive: I mean, the whole world has been wiped out, Ro Man kills a young girl and almost kills a young boy, Ro Man's boss ends up killing Ro Man and the whole world gets wiped out... its full on (it turns out to be a dream). The film is fascinating and tremendous fun.