Immortalizer, The |
  • USA • 1990 • 96m •   • Directed by: Joel Bender. • Starring: Ron Ray, Chris Crone, Clarke Lindsley, Melody Patterson, Steve Jamieson, Greg Joujon-Roche, Rebekka Armstrong, Cynthia Chase, Bob Verne, Terry Miller, Brian David Zola, Raye Hollitt, Bo Byers. • Music by: Barry Fasman, Dana Walden.    A crazed scientist sends out his mutant creations to kidnap young, beautiful men and women to bring back to his lab so he can transplant their brains into the bodies of old, wealthy people.
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Review:
While the bad points are obvious (poor script, stupid comedy, over the top acting, unoriginality), there are also many things for the exploitation fan to enjoy. For a start we have some exceptionally poor acting which harks back to those old, classic days of the Italian zombie film...it really deserves to be dubbed, but isn't. Most of the actors (including the baddies) seem to have been chosen for their looks rather than their acting abilities. For instance, the main hero of the film has only ever appeared in this one item, as far as I can tell. The four teenagers who make up the victims are all flawless and immaculate, the girls having been plucked from a centrefold spread rather than a drama school. The mad doctor of the title is an overweight old man who lacks personality. I mean, Jeffrey Combs had his own unique kookiness, while other mad scientists just went for effective over the top mania. This guy is relatively harmless. All acting is amateurish and in some cases painfully bad to watch.
The music looks to have been composed on a synthesiser. The plot, what little of it there is, has been ripped from many other films. Indeed, the genre fan can reel off a list of film titles that THE IMMORTALIZER borrows from, a list including such classics as RE-ANIMATOR and DAY OF THE DEAD to other oddities like THE CORPSE GRINDERS, ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST, and DEATH WARMED UP. The much-hyped nudity is minimal as well, which leaves us only the gore to deal with.
The special effects are surprisingly good. From the brain transplants - realistic and sick-looking - to the sight of people being ground into mincemeat, they are easily entertaining. The flesh munching zombies are quite funny while being imposing as well, although they appeal to the lowest common denominator - loud, brain dead, and ridiculous. There are quite a few death scenes which mainly involve impaling and some bad '80s computer effects of someone being electrocuted. These violent bits serve to pad out the film's short running time and definitely make things a bit painless. THE IMMORTALIZER may not be good, but at least it's not shy in showing us the effects.
Review by Leofwine_draca from the Internet Movie Database.
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