Hell Raiders (1968, TV)
Oh. My. God. I think I just saw the world's worst movie. Ever. Hell Raiders is (I'm guessing) supposed to be about a band of army demolitions experts set out to destroy a building where they've stupidly left some very important classified papers hidden away in the floor.
But jeez is this thing terrible. From the opening sequence where they use a bunch of stock footage to get to where they're going, you think "hey, this might be alright!"
Then the acting starts. If you want to call it that. This thing is so full of bad acting, bad direction, bad camera work, bad editing, bad makeup, and a bad soundtrack. Quite honestly there's nothing much I could take away from this that I remembered as good in any way shape or form.
But jeez is this thing terrible. From the opening sequence where they use a bunch of stock footage to get to where they're going, you think "hey, this might be alright!"
Then the acting starts. If you want to call it that. This thing is so full of bad acting, bad direction, bad camera work, bad editing, bad makeup, and a bad soundtrack. Quite honestly there's nothing much I could take away from this that I remembered as good in any way shape or form.
Yeah, lets talk about the acting. Imagine the worst acting you've ever seen, and then double that. Our merry band of demo experts look to all be in their forties through their sixties(!), save for the new guy who gets shot for being stupid straight away. Then there's the journalist Laura Grant (Joan Huntington), looks to be in her forties and is just not attractive in any way. Oh, and her "romance" with the Major (John Agar) is just way over the top, even for a soapy TV mess like this.
The camera work is equally bad, from the slow zooms and unnecessary pans, you can't help but notice it. Whether that's a limitation of the equipment (all video? dunno.) or just hacks behind the lens. There are a lot of shots that you just can't help bust up laughing over, like the Major just stopping and trying to look pensive about something, but it just looks like they forgot to yell 'cut' or something....
If you get the chance to catch Hell Raiders on late-night cable, maybe watch it when you're stone drunk for a good laugh or two, but steer clear if you're looking for a good movie. Even if you're looking for a fair one. Thankfully it doesn't seem to be available on video anywhere. Thank God.
Ick.
Technorati Tags: war movie reviews, 1968, hell raiders, awful, terrible, john agar, richard webb
The camera work is equally bad, from the slow zooms and unnecessary pans, you can't help but notice it. Whether that's a limitation of the equipment (all video? dunno.) or just hacks behind the lens. There are a lot of shots that you just can't help bust up laughing over, like the Major just stopping and trying to look pensive about something, but it just looks like they forgot to yell 'cut' or something....
If you get the chance to catch Hell Raiders on late-night cable, maybe watch it when you're stone drunk for a good laugh or two, but steer clear if you're looking for a good movie. Even if you're looking for a fair one. Thankfully it doesn't seem to be available on video anywhere. Thank God.
Ick.
Technorati Tags: war movie reviews, 1968, hell raiders, awful, terrible, john agar, richard webb
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