MovieMonday.com - Food Of The Gods with Marjoe Gortner, Ida Lupino, John Cypher, Pamela Franklin, Ralph Meeker

Techno Films

Food Of The Gods (D)

STARS...
Marjoe Gortner, Ida Lupino, John Cypher, Pamela Franklin, and Ralph Meeker.

PLOT SUMMARY...
Animals eat a strange, natural substance and become really big, to the distress of the outdoorsy set.

QUICK SCAN...
This film brings to mind "Mysterious Island". A strange goo in the woods causes insects and animals to grow huge. The film's Special Visual Effects, mostly involving oversized creatures attacking people and buildings, aren't very special. The Canadian locations are well lensed by Director of Photography, Reginal Morris.

DIRECTOR: Bert I. Gordon
YEAR & RATING: 1976 (PG)

BEST BETS:

Them

Tarantula
SYNOPSIS...
A pro football quarterback and his buddies party in the woods. Giant wasps attack and kill one of his buddies.

Folks from the big city come to the woods to buy the Food of the Gods, a strange natural substance that causes creatures to grow huge. They are threatened by giant animals. The football guy returns to the woods to get the wasps that killed his buddy.

Threatened by giant rats, the football guy blows up the local dam. The area is flooded and the rats drown.

Review:

Producer/Director/Writer Bert I. Gordon's, FOOD OF THE GODS, is quite unappetizing.

The basic story has something to do with woodsy animals and insects eating a strange natural substance and growing very big. Marjoe Gortner, Pamela Franklin, and Ralph Meeker are city folk who end up doing battle with the giant creatures, along with country dweller, Ida Lupino.

The dialogue in Gordon's Screenplay is flat. At one point, Pamela Franklin ("Legend of Hell House"), and Marjoe Gortner ("Marjoe"), have the following exchange: Franklin, "You don't like having women around when you do your thing, do you?" Gortner, "What's my thing?" Franklin, "Facing danger." Gortner, "I don't mind." As a Screenwriter, Gordon has no ear for natural sounding movie dialogue.

The cheesy, not very Special Visual Effects are credited to a "B.I. Gordon", which I guess means multi-talented Producer/Writer/Director Gordon did them himself. Interestingly enough, Gordon is no better with FX, than he is at producing, writing, or directing.

Marjoe Gortner, former boy preacher, is weak in the role of a football player seeking R&R in the woods before the big game. Of the other players, Pamela Franklin and Ralph Meeker ("Outer Limits") don't exactly embarrass themselves here, but this film could not have done much for either of their resumes.

It's kind of sad to see a sophisticated, durable actress like Ida Lupino ("High Sierra") in the role of the ignorant, Bible thumping, woods dweller who discovered The Food of the Gods, along with her husband. She has to deliver dialogue like, "The good lord gives it to us 'cause we're deserving people. We pray regular, we do. The Lord's gonna see to it we don't need money no more." Ugh! I hope I don't have to hear dialog like this no more!

I had no favorite scene.

Although the colors are muted, Director of Photography Reginal Morris delivers some beautiful visuals of the lush, Canadian locations. Slow motion shots of a deer, pursued by both dogs and men on horseback, are particularly good.

The Music, by Elliot Kaplan, is your standard, ominous movie Score. It's not very good, but then neither is anything else in this low grade Sci-Fi loser.

It's interesting to note that Bert I. Gordon made the equally bad giant creature movie, "Empire of the Ants", one year later. I guess not everybody learns from their mistakes!

FOOD OF THE GODS will be watchable for very few Sci-Fi fans. Rat fanciers may be marginally entertained. FOOD OF THE GODS is an indigestible Sci-Fi effort. Burp!

MovieMonday.com * Super Star Index * Award Winners * CelebrityFrame.com

Food Of The Gods (D)
	STARS... Marjoe Gortner, Ida Lupino, John Cypher, Pamela Franklin, and Ralph Meeker. PLOT SUMMARY... Animals eat a strange, natural substance and become really big, to the distress of the outdoorsy set. QUICK SCAN... This film brings to mind "Mysterious Island". A strange goo in the woods causes insects and animals to grow huge. The film's Special Visual Effects, mostly involving oversized creatures attacking people and buildings, aren't very special. The Canadian locations are well lensed by Director of Photography, Reginal Morris.
DIRECTOR: Bert I. Gordon YEAR & RATING: 1976 (PG) BEST BETS: Them Tarantula	SYNOPSIS... A pro football quarterback and his buddies party in the woods. Giant wasps attack and kill one of his buddies. Folks from the big city come to the woods to buy the Food of the Gods, a strange natural substance that causes creatures to grow huge. They are threatened by giant animals. The football guy returns to the woods to get the wasps that killed his buddy. Threatened by giant rats, the football guy blows up the local dam. The area is flooded and the rats drown.
Review: Producer/Director/Writer Bert I. Gordon's, FOOD OF THE GODS, is quite unappetizing. The basic story has something to do with woodsy animals and insects eating a strange natural substance and growing very big. Marjoe Gortner, Pamela Franklin, and Ralph Meeker are city folk who end up doing battle with the giant creatures, along with country dweller, Ida Lupino. The dialogue in Gordon's Screenplay is flat. At one point, Pamela Franklin ("Legend of Hell House"), and Marjoe Gortner ("Marjoe"), have the following exchange: Franklin, "You don't like having women around when you do your thing, do you?" Gortner, "What's my thing?" Franklin, "Facing danger." Gortner, "I don't mind." As a Screenwriter, Gordon has no ear for natural sounding movie dialogue. The cheesy, not very Special Visual Effects are credited to a "B.I. Gordon", which I guess means multi-talented Producer/Writer/Director Gordon did them himself. Interestingly enough, Gordon is no better with FX, than he is at producing, writing, or directing. Marjoe Gortner, former boy preacher, is weak in the role of a football player seeking R&R in the woods before the big game. Of the other players, Pamela Franklin and Ralph Meeker ("Outer Limits") don't exactly embarrass themselves here, but this film could not have done much for either of their resumes. It's kind of sad to see a sophisticated, durable actress like Ida Lupino ("High Sierra") in the role of the ignorant, Bible thumping, woods dweller who discovered The Food of the Gods, along with her husband. She has to deliver dialogue like, "The good lord gives it to us 'cause we're deserving people. We pray regular, we do. The Lord's gonna see to it we don't need money no more." Ugh! I hope I don't have to hear dialog like this no more! I had no favorite scene. Although the colors are muted, Director of Photography Reginal Morris delivers some beautiful visuals of the lush, Canadian locations. Slow motion shots of a deer, pursued by both dogs and men on horseback, are particularly good. The Music, by Elliot Kaplan, is your standard, ominous movie Score. It's not very good, but then neither is anything else in this low grade Sci-Fi loser. It's interesting to note that Bert I. Gordon made the equally bad giant creature movie, "Empire of the Ants", one year later. I guess not everybody learns from their mistakes! FOOD OF THE GODS will be watchable for very few Sci-Fi fans. Rat fanciers may be marginally entertained. FOOD OF THE GODS is an indigestible Sci-Fi effort. Burp!