Movies: The Beast of Yucca Flats (1961)

The Beast of Yucca Flats (1961)

We open with a woman being strangled. The credits roll. A voiceover tells us a Hungarian defector is coming to Yucca Flats to talk with the 'top brass', some Kremlin agents are awaiting him (and his briefcase). The world's worst shoot out ensues, and our (presumed) hero is driven off so we can have a car chase. The music is dramatic, the voiceover dramatic ("Flag on the moon, how did it get there?') and oddly poetical, the car chase dire. I can feel myself drawn in, to both the glass of red in front of me, and the movie.
Distinct lack of monsters tho'.
"Yucca Flats. The A Bomb". The briefcase is destroyed. A car drives off into the night. Now I'm writing like the voiceover, or William Shatner. "Vacation time. Man and Wife. Unaware of scientific progress", this really is superb stuff. The man and wife and no longer with us, a pair of poorly manicured hands has seen them off.
Our voiceover has popped up to point out the beast is the noted scientist we met *just 12 minutes ago*.  Apparently the beast is Tor Johnson (ex Swedish wrestler) - trivia from Wikipedia, George The Animal Steele played Tor in 'Ed Wood', think I'll try and find some wrestling footage for this post. I couldn't. I've failed you all.
There is a lot of chasing, shooting (and generally missing), and voiceovers in this short (53min) movie. Everyone is named multiple times, but no character development and the music is exhausting!
Great stuff.