Venus Flytrap (film)

Venus Flytrap (also known as Body of the Prey (working title)) is a 1970 American-Japanese science fiction horror film[2] shot partly in Japan. It was distributed by the Toei Company of Japan. The film was released in Japan as Akuma no Niwa (The Devil's Garden).[3]

Venus Flytrap
Directed byNorman Earl Thomson
Screenplay byNorman Earl Thomson
Story byEd Wood (Uncredited)
Produced byNorman Earl Thomson
StarringJames Craig
James Yagi
Atsuko Rome
CinematographyArnold Dibble
Edited byKenneth G. Crane
Distributed byToei Company
Release date
1970[1]
Running time
94 minutes
CountriesUnited States
Japan
LanguagesJapanese
English

The plot features a mad scientist who uses lightning to turn carnivorous plants into sentient man-eating creatures. The film was later released on U.S. video as The Revenge of Dr. X and Venus Flytrap.

Based on an unproduced 1950s screenplay written by an uncredited Ed Wood, the film was directed and produced by pulp writer Norman Earl Thomson. (Thomson rewrote Wood's screenplay considerably.)

Credit is often incorrectly given to the editor Kenneth G. Crane, who directed the 1959 American-Japanese horror film The Manster. The American video release print additionally erroneously featured the credits for a 1969 Philippines production called The Mad Doctor of Blood Island.[4][5]

Plot

Dr. Bragan (James Craig) is a workaholic rocket scientist at NASA working on a mission to outer space. The stress of the mission causes him to have a mental breakdown, so his assistant, Dr. Paul Nakamura (Yagi), suggests he takes a vacation in Japan at his abandoned luxury resort to recuperate. Dr. Bragan accepts his offer and flies to Japan.

In Japan, Dr. Bragan stays at the defunct hotel of Nakamura with Dr. Noriko Hanamura (Kami), the lovely cousin of his coworker who takes on the role of his assistant. Bragan begins a bizarre experiment in botany in the hotel's secluded greenhouse to prove his theory that humans evolved from plants. With a potted Venus flytrap he brought from America, the scientist grafts it to a Japanese carnivorous oceanic plant to create a hybrid creature that becomes humanoid and requires the blood of mammals to flourish. But Bragan is just as obsessive and moody as he was in America, and his behavior causes Noroko to suspect he is going mad, especially when he secretly takes a victim's "heart blood" to feed it. When his creation, "Sectovorus" uproots and begins moving around on its own, it becomes dangerous and it's not long before the creature begins seeking human victims from a nearby village. The villagers riot and Dr. Bragan must decide between protecting his creation or killing it in order to save mankind. He opts to lure it into a nearby volcano.

Cast
  • James Craig as Dr. Bragan
  • Tota Kondo as Customs officer
  • Lawrence O'Neill as American at airport
  • Al Ricketts as Gas station owner
  • Atsuko Rome as Noriko Hanamura (billed as Ako Kami)
  • Edward M. Shannon as Dr. Shannon
  • John Stanley as Dr. Stanley
  • James Yagi as Dr. Paul Nakamura

Angelique Pettyjohn is credited in the opening credits as one of four cast members, but does not appear in the film.

Reception

Kim Newman found the movie weird and amateurish, but noted it had enough bizarre elements to keep your attention. It is further noted that despite one of the titles, there is no Dr. X. in the film.[6] Creature Feature gave the movie one star.[7]

Legacy

The syndicated series Cinema Insomnia mocked the film on Halloween 2011.[8]

In 2012 RiffTrax released a comedic commentary on the film featuring the voices of Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett.[9]

The film is available for streaming for free on many sites, including, as of October 2011, by YouTube[10]

Production

Atsuko Rome had never acted before, instead having been a model and ballet dancer. She praised director Thomson for making the process smooth. The shoot took about a month.[11]

The movie was reportedly discovered years later in a warehouse with no opening credits, and credits from another movie (The Mad Doctor of Blood Island) were sloppily spliced onto the print. This has caused the confusion of the identities of the cast and crew.[12]

See also

References
  1. "THE REVENGE OF DR. X aka VENUS FLYTRAP (1967) Reviews and overview". 15 November 2017.
  2. Weldon, Michael (1996). The Psychotronic Video Guide. Titan Books. ISBN 1-85286-770-1.
  3. "THE REVENGE OF DR. X aka VENUS FLYTRAP (1967) Reviews and overview". 15 November 2017.
  4. Venus Flytrap at IMDb
  5. "THE REVENGE OF DR. X aka VENUS FLYTRAP (1967) Reviews and overview". 15 November 2017.
  6. "Film review – the Revenge of Dr X". 9 April 2017.
  7. Stanley, J. (2000) Creature Feature: 3rd Edition
  8. FRED Entertainment. "How Lobo Can You Go?".
  9. "The Revenge of Doctor X". 19 September 2014.
  10. The Revenge Of Dr X. YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-11.
  11. "RECOLLECTIONS OF 'BODY OF THE PREY'! Atsuko Rome Looks Back on Her Starring Role in ed Wood's Japanese Monster Movie!". 16 October 2018.
  12. "The Revenge of Doctor X (1970)". 19 October 2018.
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