THE PROJECTED MAN (1966)
I enjoyed this film quite a bit, so I was surprised to learn that it was roasted on Mystery Science Theater 3000. I was more surprised by the fact that I had not seen that particular episode. It ran during the Mike era, which is my preferred block of MST3K chicanery. I'm going to check it out posthaste, mainly because I'm curious as to how the guys/robots approach excoriating what I consider to be "legitimate" science fiction (as opposed to The Prince of Space anyway). Am I alone on this one? Has my taste degraded so much over the years, that I can't recognize bilge when it's staring me in the face? I know it's trash, but these days, I prefer trash. Hmm, what does it say about me that I'd rather watch The Projected Man than the latest Blumhouse offering? It's a curious flick that borrows a bit of pseudo-science from The Fly. Dr. Steiner has developed a laser beam that can transmit molecules from one side of the room to the other. I'll be using similar technology to transmit the rest of this synopsis to the next paragraph.
The laser is successfully tested on a live subject (a chimpanzee), so Steiner goes under the beam in a bid to validate his experiments to the dodgy fellows who are funding his research. Of course, something goes awry. The transmission is interrupted, causing Steiner to materialize elsewhere as a raging, deformed conductor of electricity. If this sounds like the schematic for a Universal horror film, that's because it's a Universal horror film. It's too bad that The Projected Man was produced a few decades too late. It was released stateside as part of a double bill with Island of Terror, and by all accounts, it was pretty much a flop. But I dug it. The special effects are fun, as we see Steiner char his victims to a crisp by merely touching them. I will usually frown on love triangles in vintage b-movies, but here, the writing is sharp. It doesn't hurt that I liked all of the main players.
Recommended if you thought that The Fly had too many flies in it.
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