Michael_Elliott
Revenge of Doctor X, The (1970) * 1/2 (out of 4) A doctor from NASA moves to Japan where he tries to mix a Venus Fly Trap with a man, which ends up turning into a monster. This is a rather weird horror film written by the one and only Edward D. Wood, Jr. and it's probably his best written screenplay but that means we don't get any of that zany dialogue, which made his films "so bad they're good". Overall the film is rather lame with way too much dialogue and not enough action. The look of the monster is pretty good and it's somewhat nice hearing Wood's use of dialogue from the early Universal horror films.
hengir
Now here is a wonderful premise for a film. A scientist from NASA goes on holiday to Japan and while there takes up his old interest in botany. Going on the theory that because life started in the sea thus all humanity is descended from plant life (come again?) the scientist cross breeds a venus fly trap with a Japanese equivalent and creates an artificial man-plant thing.To make it like a Frankenstein film the thing is hauled up to the roof while lightning is conducted down.("The earth is its mother, the sky will be its father!" says the scientist) Then of course the monster gets loose and encounters a child which it murders and aggrieved villagers go around with torches, just like those great Universal films of yore. This almost makes it sound exciting but it isn't. To accompany all this nonsense is a very jolly music score that is totally inappropriate. The version I saw was called "The Revenge of Doctor X" which is about as misleading to the story as you could get. Again it sounds just like an old horror title Universal would use in the 1930s. The monster itself looks hilarious.
phdyr51
The only fault I can find with any of the other reviews here is that they understate the truly appalling quality of this movie, and don't even mention the puppy-swallowing! But the most outrageous part is the score, which mixes everything from ragtime to mazerkas while remaining totally irrelevant to on screen events. Lead (pronounced "led") actor(?) James Craig not only chews the scenery, he re-chews it more often than a cow with cud.The monster looks like a carrot on steroids, but still manages to out-act the rest of the cast. And what's with the entirely pointless opening sequence involving a space launch? There's no Dr. X, no revenge, no logic, and no reason to see this unless your head is in the vicinity of a gun.
solaron2001
"INSECTAVORUS!! YOUR FATHER IS THE LIGHTNING!", exclaims over-the-hill matinée idol James Craig, as his floppy Venus Flytrap man is brought to life in this American/Japanese co- production. Edward D. Wood Jr.'s insane screenplay emerges, for all who may chance to view this opus, as one of his grandest achievements. Nobody else on Earth could have hatched this masterpiece of delirious illogic and absurd cinematic devices.This film exists only in bootlegged form as far as I know, and may be found under the title "Revenge of Dr. X" - with credits which have nothing to do with the feature of record. The direction will not disappoint Ed Wood aficionados - he might easily have directed this himself, though the Japanese section reveals a bit more in the way of technical resources than Wood was ever allowed. There is an extended underwater photography sequence featuring traditionally topless female pearl-divers.Ed Wood originally listed this screenplay on his resume as "Venus Flytrap" (Japan), the title "Double Garden" can only be interpreted as a translation from the Japanese release (if any) - it has a sort of zen sensibility. If you can help it - DON'T MISS IT!!
AD
