Featuring a demon lizard man with a moon rock in his head

Low budget monster movie from the 70s.  I really shouldn't have to say much
more, should I?

An asteroid (that looks amazingly like a flaming piece of charcoal) is
hurtling through the cosmos in the general direction of Earth.  Luckily, the
brilliant people of NASA, Siberia, and Peking have announced that this space
rock will not collide with Earth.  However, it is on a direct collision
course with the Moon!

Cut to a sweaty shirtless man (be forewarned, he is shirtless through most
of the movie) digging up an old piece of pottery by himself in the middle of
the desert.  He hears terrifying screams, and then sees a shiny metal mask!
Ooooh, that's scary.  It turns out to be just his good Indian buddy, Johnny
Longbow (keep your sexual jokes to yourself), and his two students (what was
their purpose in this film?), oh, and some hot (well, as hot as this movie
can afford) blonde photographer.  Our hero, Paul, was just a victim of a
practical joke.  If only this movie were a practical joke!

Anyway, after we learn of the special ingredients of Johnny's Indian soup
(there's onions in there!), we learn that the asteroid has crashed into the
moon, and as a result, rocks and dust are headed toward Earth.  The
southwestern US to be exact!  So Paul and the photographer go up to some
makeout point to watch the astronomical show that night, and wouldn't you
know it, Paul gets hit in the head with a meteorite the size of a tennis
ball.  Much to my dismay, he was not dead.  He was hardly injured at all -
just a small scratch (oh, and a little piece of moon rock is now imbedded in
his head - but more on that later!).  Paul throws his blood rag onto the
ground (some geo-friendly scientist he is!), and when a little lizard steps
on it, it glows!  I'm not sure what the point of that scene was, but it was
cool!  (not).

After his accident, Paul is prone to headaches and blackouts, and turning
into a mini-Tyrannosaurus Rex.  Yes, somehow, that fragment of moon debris
in his brain causes him to physically change into a demon lizard man (only
at night) and he kills people.  Why these freak monsters are always killers,
I'll never know.  Why couldn't this demon lizard man be helpful - you know,
get a job as a crossing guard, or run in a marathon for charity, or donate
his body for science?  Anyway, the cops and Johnny Longbow, and the blonde
bimbo slowly piece it all together and have to put a stop to Paul's changes.

Like I said at the beginning, this is low budget.  The asteroid and meteor
"effects" are laughable.  The acting and dialog is horrendous (except maybe
Mr. Longbow - he wasn't too bad).  The plot makes no sense, and even the
potentially scary parts aren't scary in the least.  And you should see the
lizard costume!  If for nothing else, this movie should be skipped just
because of the live performance of the song "California Lady" by some hippie
dude, some hippie chick, and some midget Mexican on bass.
 
 
 

Lesson Learned:  If a meteorite has just fallen from the sky, it may be hot.
Just wait a couple of seconds - that's how long it takes to cool down enough
so that you can pick it up with your bare hand!
 
 

Did You Notice?:  Every time Paul was about to change into the lizard, he
stripped down to his shorts.  Then we see the lizard, and he has no shorts.
And then when Paul wakes up, he's got his shorts on again.  How did that
happen?
 
 
 

Quality: 2.0  Visuals: 2.5  Intensity: 3.0  Laughability: 5.0 
OVERALL RATING: 3.1