The Flesh Eaters (1964)

Directed by Jack Curtis [Other horror films: N/A]

Though it pains me to say it, I don’t think The Flesh Eaters is a great film. It’s certainly notable in some aspects, and it can be reasonably fun, but the final third of the film never did much for me, and portions do drag. Even so, it’s worth seeing at least once for the special effects.

I have a little history with the film. Way back in the day, I saw this multiple times playing on AMC – I probably watched this two times, perhaps three, so it was a bit of an odd favorite. It’s not been unpleasant revisiting it, by any means, but I definitely don’t think it’s as strong as I used to.

I love the plot, though, dealing with glowing organisms in the water that can strip flesh to the bone, and people trapped on an island having to contend with the microscopic entities. This movie’s surprisingly gory at times – it’s in black-and-white, but even so, it can provide a good time.

During the pre-credit opening (definitely an earlier example of this), a couple goes for a swim that doesn’t end well. That’s a tame opening, but it’s a good portent of what’s to come. A man in a motorboat gets some water splashed on him, and his face rather melts, and there’s also a scene in which someone drinks a beverage with the microscopic organisms in it, and it eats out of him from his stomach, in beautifully gory fashion. Earlier films did have more gore than you might expect – look at Fiend Without a Face – but The Flesh Eaters is a surprisingly bloody film at times.

Otherwise, the special effects aren’t great, but that has more to do with the route of the story than anything else. See, for the first two-thirds of the film, the microscopic glowing organisms are all they have to deal with, but events occur that create a giant monster out of the organisms, so instead of millions of small things, there’s one large monster (technically, two, but I wanted to simplify things), and at that point, things feel a bit more on the generic side.

Byron Sanders made a solid lead, and he had that typical strongman physique. In fact, I’m sort of surprised he wasn’t a bigger name, as he had great looks. Barbara Wilkin made for a decent, inoffensive love interest, Rita Morley had some great scenes as her character was an alcoholic (in fact, Morley might be one of the strongest performances here), and as an antagonist force, Martin Kosleck (The Frozen Ghost and House of Horrors) was a bit generic, but overall decent.

Funnily enough, it’s the one with the least acting experience that I dug the most. Ray Tudor plays this random beatnik who rafts onto the island halfway through the film, and he has the kookiest dialogue, man. I mean, he speaks the word, man, about the power of love. You speaking my language, Max? That character was a hoot, and Ray Tudor did a great job with it.

Despite my nostalgia at seeing the movie again for the first time in a long time (for detailed context, I watched this on October 25th, 2021, and last saw it around 2010, if not earlier), I don’t think The Flesh Eaters is a great film. It’s decent, but it’s a bit slow at times, and the finale is a lot more generic than anything previous in the film. I think it evens out to about average, but I know plenty out there enjoy it more than I do, so if you’re into 60’s horror, this is definitely a movie to look into.

7/10