This is a very poor attempt at a horror thriller in the "golem" genre. The story is wafer thin, the script and character development is dire and the special effects are certainly not special. There are so many disappointing things in the film, you'll feel completely unsatisfied at the conclusion of it - that's if you've lasted that long Where to begin...? Well, plot wise, a fire at a warehouse reveals a previously hidden statue that is promptly put on display in a museum by assistant curator Arthur Pimm (Roddy McDowell). Pimm is a twitchy, suspicious man who lives alone - except for the corpse of his dead mother, dressed up in gown and wig and propped up in a chair! Right from the start you need to know that this element of the plot is one of the most throwaway aspects of the whole story - there is no explanation or background on this, it's just there. Presumably it is just to re-enforce the idea that Pimm is a bit crazy, but they really could have explained it.
Right from the start, Pimm starts to wonder about the statue, especially as it seems responsible for a death in the first few minutes of the film. More deaths occur (not very dramatic ones), and Pimm starts to uncover the truth about the statue - that it is in fact a Golem which can be brought to life and controlled. Pimm is an unhappy man with a crush on a pretty museum worker, who dumps him for an altogether more macho American museum curator...I'm sure you can guess what happens next.
Well what happens is, a pretty shabby attempt at a "golem on the rampage" film. The film barely shows anything of the creature coming to life. The statue isn't bad, it's actually very ugly and quite creepy, but apart from moving it's arms and walking about slowly, very little mayhem is ever seen on camera. This is a huge fault of the film as a whole, it takes the cheapest way out of every big scene by cutting away from every major event. The golem destroys a bridge...we see it walk under the bridge...raise it's arms in close up and rattle some rubber girders...cut to Pimm and policeman looking shocked...cut back to a PAINTING of a collapsed bridge (the worst effect in the entire movie). The golem springs Pimm from a police hospital. We see...the golem bash down one fake brick wall (from the inside, we don't see stone arm actually hit brickwork on the exterior shot). The hospital is deserted...Pimm and the golem just stroll away through the fresh hole. Oh yes and the golem also kills people...all we see is Pimm (usually) looking shocked while the murder takes place off screen.
The worst part of the film is the climax (I guess the spoilers start here...), which sees Pimm and his golem blockaded in a country house. The set-up for this is hilarious, two detectives talk to someone on the phone and then say to each other "It's Pimm! He's got the golem, he's kidnapped the girl, stolen his mother's corpse from the mortuary (which makes the fact that he's had her corpse in his house all this time a total lie), and stolen a hearse!" All of which sounds very exciting, but all sadly not shown on screen. Pimm makes off for a huge remote house with this posse, which is inhabited by one single elderly lady museum worker. Soon they are all trapped inside the house. But why? What is Pimm's great plan? Well, there isn't one, expect to stop anyone coming in. In the daftest scene of the whole film, Pimm sends the golem to defend the front gates of the estate. The army send in guns, big guns, bigger guns and a nuclear warhead (!) to get past the golem. Yet the grounds of the house are massive, all the golem is doing is standing at one gate. What's to stop someone going round the back??? The golem can't move any faster than a snail, yet all they do is point guns at it from behind sandbags and then complain that it's still standing!.
Finally, the nuclear bomb goes off (cue stock footage mushroom cloud), and the country house is destroyed - off camera. Who survives? Watch and find out if you can be bothered. It's all totally lame and boring. Roddy McDowell acts over the top for too much of the time, shrieking insanely at a nightmare in which he sees a naked Jill Haworth turn into his dead mother, talking to himself, miming actions to show the audience what he his thinking (terrible direction here, getting him to flap his arms stupidly about to represent him thinking about how the golem's arms have changed position when no-one was looking). The character of Pimm seems to have no motivation. Sometimes he wants to steal jewelry for his mother, sometimes he wants to get promoted, sometimes he wants the girl, sometimes he wants to get rid of the girl, sometimes he wants to get rid of the golem. I guess that's crazy for you, but I got very lost and a film needs to give it's audience something to hang on to! I got the DVD of this to satisfy my curiosity...it wasn't worth it.
Right from the start, Pimm starts to wonder about the statue, especially as it seems responsible for a death in the first few minutes of the film. More deaths occur (not very dramatic ones), and Pimm starts to uncover the truth about the statue - that it is in fact a Golem which can be brought to life and controlled. Pimm is an unhappy man with a crush on a pretty museum worker, who dumps him for an altogether more macho American museum curator...I'm sure you can guess what happens next.
Well what happens is, a pretty shabby attempt at a "golem on the rampage" film. The film barely shows anything of the creature coming to life. The statue isn't bad, it's actually very ugly and quite creepy, but apart from moving it's arms and walking about slowly, very little mayhem is ever seen on camera. This is a huge fault of the film as a whole, it takes the cheapest way out of every big scene by cutting away from every major event. The golem destroys a bridge...we see it walk under the bridge...raise it's arms in close up and rattle some rubber girders...cut to Pimm and policeman looking shocked...cut back to a PAINTING of a collapsed bridge (the worst effect in the entire movie). The golem springs Pimm from a police hospital. We see...the golem bash down one fake brick wall (from the inside, we don't see stone arm actually hit brickwork on the exterior shot). The hospital is deserted...Pimm and the golem just stroll away through the fresh hole. Oh yes and the golem also kills people...all we see is Pimm (usually) looking shocked while the murder takes place off screen.
The worst part of the film is the climax (I guess the spoilers start here...), which sees Pimm and his golem blockaded in a country house. The set-up for this is hilarious, two detectives talk to someone on the phone and then say to each other "It's Pimm! He's got the golem, he's kidnapped the girl, stolen his mother's corpse from the mortuary (which makes the fact that he's had her corpse in his house all this time a total lie), and stolen a hearse!" All of which sounds very exciting, but all sadly not shown on screen. Pimm makes off for a huge remote house with this posse, which is inhabited by one single elderly lady museum worker. Soon they are all trapped inside the house. But why? What is Pimm's great plan? Well, there isn't one, expect to stop anyone coming in. In the daftest scene of the whole film, Pimm sends the golem to defend the front gates of the estate. The army send in guns, big guns, bigger guns and a nuclear warhead (!) to get past the golem. Yet the grounds of the house are massive, all the golem is doing is standing at one gate. What's to stop someone going round the back??? The golem can't move any faster than a snail, yet all they do is point guns at it from behind sandbags and then complain that it's still standing!.
Finally, the nuclear bomb goes off (cue stock footage mushroom cloud), and the country house is destroyed - off camera. Who survives? Watch and find out if you can be bothered. It's all totally lame and boring. Roddy McDowell acts over the top for too much of the time, shrieking insanely at a nightmare in which he sees a naked Jill Haworth turn into his dead mother, talking to himself, miming actions to show the audience what he his thinking (terrible direction here, getting him to flap his arms stupidly about to represent him thinking about how the golem's arms have changed position when no-one was looking). The character of Pimm seems to have no motivation. Sometimes he wants to steal jewelry for his mother, sometimes he wants to get promoted, sometimes he wants the girl, sometimes he wants to get rid of the girl, sometimes he wants to get rid of the golem. I guess that's crazy for you, but I got very lost and a film needs to give it's audience something to hang on to! I got the DVD of this to satisfy my curiosity...it wasn't worth it.