The Flesh Eaters (film)
| The Flesh Eaters | |
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Theatrical Poster
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| Directed by | Jack Curtis |
| Produced by | Jack Curtis Terry Curtis Arnold Drake |
| Written by | Arnold Drake |
| Starring |
Martin Kosleck Rita Morely Byron Sanders |
| Music by | Julian Stein |
| Cinematography | Carson Davidson |
| Edited by | Radley Metzger |
| Distributed by | Cinema Distributors of America |
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Release date
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Running time
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91 minutes/later cut to 87 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Flesh Eaters is a 1964 American horror/science fiction thriller, directed on a low budget by Jack Curtis and edited by future filmmaker Radley Metzger. The film contains moments of violence much more graphic and extreme than many other movies of its time, making it one of the first ever gore films.
Jan Letterman (Barbara Wilkin), the personal assistant to a wealthy, over-the-hill actress named Laura Winters (Rita Morely), hires pilot Grant Murdoch (Byron Sanders) to fly her from New York to Provincetown, Rhode Island, but a storm forces them to land on a small island. They soon meet Prof. Peter Bartell (Martin Kosleck) a marine biologist with a German accent who is living in seclusion on the isle.
After a series of strange skeletons wash ashore (human, then fish) it turns out the water has become inhabited by some sort of glowing microbe which apparently devours flesh rapaciously. Bartell is a former US Government agent who was sent to Nazi Germany to recover as much of their scientific data as possible. He was chosen for the job for his scientific skills and knowledge of the German language. Using the methods learned there he hopes to cultivate a group of monstrous "flesh eaters" that can devour the skin off a screaming victim in mere seconds. A beatnik named Omar (Ray Tudor) joins the group after becoming shipwrecked on their shore. Tensions mount after the plane drifts off into the ocean, leaving the castaways and Bartell as potential meals for the ravenous monsters.
High-voltage electrification (from a battery system devised by Bartell) is utilized in an attempt to slay the monsters. Bartell explains that he has been tracking these creatures and attempting to cultivate them to sell as biological weapons. It is soon discovered that electrical shocks increase the creatures' powers. The high voltage causes the numerous smaller creatures to join into a larger conglomeration. By accident, the survivors stumble upon the solution. The creatures devour flesh but not blood, as in each case where remains have been found blood has been present. Bartell surmises that the creatures have a negative reaction to hemoglobin and, when directly injected with it, the creatures are indeed slain. Following a struggle Bartell is killed just before Murdoch destroys the last of the creatures.
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Wikipedia