Joshua Kennedy's Drive-In Horror Double Feature: The Menace With 5 Arms / Curse of the Insect Woman

I am a fan of nineteen year old actor-director Joshua Kennedy, and particularly liked "Attack of the Octopus People", but "The Menace With 5 Arms" and "Curse of the Insect Woman" aren't of that same caliber. I truly enjoy the efforts of young filmmakers and think Kennedy is quite talented and will do better and better work as time goes on. The main problem confronting these two films is pacing, particularly in the top half of the bill.First up is the feature "The Menace With 5 Arms". It's made in black and white which is a nice throwback to the 1950s sci-fi era, and is obviously extremely cheap and amateurish. The film opens with a plot that has something to do with that old bugaboo radiation and how a small desert town's water tower mysteriously collapsed. Early on there's a terrible exposition dump which may be the worst exorcism scene in film history; let's just say the possessed girl fingers the starfish as the ne'er-do-well. The sets are magnificent, particularly the restaurant and train station representations, and the "Moby Dick" subplot couldn't be more obvious foreshadowing. Kennedy stars as Sheriff Joe Kerwin and Ayssette Munoz stars as feminist scientist and Herman Melville fan Dr. Karla Joyce, who is sent to investigate the water tower collapse. (Random musing: is there any chance that Kennedy named his character after former Apollo/Skylab NASA astronaut Dr. Joe Kerwin? If so he gets some kind of credit for making an extremely obscure science reference.) Before you know it, the film trundles into an a cappella version of "Oh My Darling, Clementine", and quickly gets into more familiar giant sea creature cinema lore with the line ""We're going to have to close the desert!"The problem, of course, is a giant starfish in the mountain, and a local game hunter named Shaw (who is the functional equivalent of Robert Shaw in "Jaws") wants to bag the creature badly and in the process of trying turns in the absolute worst of a group of very bad performances. Normally when people blow lines, directors (other than Ed Wood) reshoot scenes, but there's no time for that here, as the monster starfish is killing people left and right and even invades the sheriff's shower! Of course there's a love-hate relationship between Kerwin and Joyce, but finally they decide on a plan: they are going to desiccate the starfish. The only problem is that the starfish (played by Patrick, the Brittle Star, a great "SpongeBob SquarePants" reference) swims rapidly through the sewers of the nation from California to New York City and is next spotted in Central Park. I enjoyed it destroying a helicopter, and was interested to learn that starfish can scream. Before it's over it scales the Statue of Liberty in an effect that must be seen to be believed, and is ultimately destroyed with flame throwers from helicopters, which again invokes "Jaws" as a touchstone. (Seriously, the special effect at about the 1:08 mark may be the worst I have ever seen. It is deliciously bad.) The film closes with some terrible bogus philosophical musings about how "the world needs saving from us". Groan.As with "Attack of the Octopus People" the credits are the best part of this film: not only does a starfish get a credit (I can't remember seeing that before), but there is a disclaimer that reads "It is the stated position of the US Department of Defense that any possibility of a giant starfish attacking the Statue of Liberty is NOT within the purview of its office.""Curse of the Insect Woman" is only 32 minutes long, which is an appropriate length for a film of this nature. It has more dynamic pacing than the lumbering starfish feature as there is so much less time to tell the story. Kennedy again stars in a story that opens with two grisly murders, and quickly deviates into a black magic subplot in a Greek temple, in which the dreaded Insect Woman awakens due to the full moon. This Insect Woman has intense bloodlust (I liked the murder on the catwalk of whatever junior college or high school theater they were filming at) and after a bit of intrigue and horror (if you can get past the amazingly unscary insect costume), following an amazingly terrible exploding car special effect there is a stunning and tender conclusion. The credits are again a highlight ("And Lisa Lopez as the Insect Woman"), and at this running time the movie never wears out its welcome.This double feature from Joshua Kennedy doesn't live up to the level of grandeur fans of "Attack of the Octopus People" are used to, but I genuinely appreciate his devotion to his craft and look forward to seeing what he brings us next.

Make no mistake. This is a completely amateur effort. The cast is all kids and the SPFX are all cooked on a home computer. Even so, it makes for a fun watch and in many ways is no worse than some of the 50s films that inspired it. I would recommend this and any of Josh Kennedy's other films to high school teachers everywhere. These kids made feature length films with solid plots, widely varied locations spruced up with super imposed back grounds, as well as well laid out plots and dialog. Granted, kids are playing roles written for adults. This fact makes the cover art a bit misleading. It also may be disappointing for someone expecting a full blown feature film. But taken at face value as a " Video Oddity" this double bill packs more entertainment value than Ed Wood or many other Holly Wood productions foisted on the public over the decades. I suspect many folks will be pleasantly surprised at young Mr Kennedy's work. One S. Spielberg started out about this age, if I remember correctly. Keep it up, Kid! Way to go!!!

I am a fan of nineteen year old actor-director Joshua Kennedy, and particularly liked "Attack of the Octopus People", but "The Menace With 5 Arms" and "Curse of the Insect Woman" aren't of that same caliber. I truly enjoy the efforts of young filmmakers and think Kennedy is quite talented and will do better and better work as time goes on. The main problem confronting these two films is pacing, particularly in the top half of the bill.First up is the feature "The Menace With 5 Arms". It's made in black and white which is a nice throwback to the 1950s sci-fi era, and is obviously extremely cheap and amateurish. The film opens with a plot that has something to do with that old bugaboo radiation and how a small desert town's water tower mysteriously collapsed. Early on there's a terrible exposition dump which may be the worst exorcism scene in film history; let's just say the possessed girl fingers the starfish as the ne'er-do-well. The sets are magnificent, particularly the restaurant and train station representations, and the "Moby Dick" subplot couldn't be more obvious foreshadowing. Kennedy stars as Sheriff Joe Kerwin and Ayssette Munoz stars as feminist scientist and Herman Melville fan Dr. Karla Joyce, who is sent to investigate the water tower collapse. (Random musing: is there any chance that Kennedy named his character after former Apollo/Skylab NASA astronaut Dr. Joe Kerwin? If so he gets some kind of credit for making an extremely obscure science reference.) Before you know it, the film trundles into an a cappella version of "Oh My Darling, Clementine", and quickly gets into more familiar giant sea creature cinema lore with the line ""We're going to have to close the desert!"The problem, of course, is a giant starfish in the mountain, and a local game hunter named Shaw (who is the functional equivalent of Robert Shaw in "Jaws") wants to bag the creature badly and in the process of trying turns in the absolute worst of a group of very bad performances. Normally when people blow lines, directors (other than Ed Wood) reshoot scenes, but there's no time for that here, as the monster starfish is killing people left and right and even invades the sheriff's shower! Of course there's a love-hate relationship between Kerwin and Joyce, but finally they decide on a plan: they are going to desiccate the starfish. The only problem is that the starfish (played by Patrick, the Brittle Star, a great "SpongeBob SquarePants" reference) swims rapidly through the sewers of the nation from California to New York City and is next spotted in Central Park. I enjoyed it destroying a helicopter, and was interested to learn that starfish can scream. Before it's over it scales the Statue of Liberty in an effect that must be seen to be believed, and is ultimately destroyed with flame throwers from helicopters, which again invokes "Jaws" as a touchstone. (Seriously, the special effect at about the 1:08 mark may be the worst I have ever seen. It is deliciously bad.) The film closes with some terrible bogus philosophical musings about how "the world needs saving from us". Groan.As with "Attack of the Octopus People" the credits are the best part of this film: not only does a starfish get a credit (I can't remember seeing that before), but there is a disclaimer that reads "It is the stated position of the US Department of Defense that any possibility of a giant starfish attacking the Statue of Liberty is NOT within the purview of its office.""Curse of the Insect Woman" is only 32 minutes long, which is an appropriate length for a film of this nature. It has more dynamic pacing than the lumbering starfish feature as there is so much less time to tell the story. Kennedy again stars in a story that opens with two grisly murders, and quickly deviates into a black magic subplot in a Greek temple, in which the dreaded Insect Woman awakens due to the full moon. This Insect Woman has intense bloodlust (I liked the murder on the catwalk of whatever junior college or high school theater they were filming at) and after a bit of intrigue and horror (if you can get past the amazingly unscary insect costume), following an amazingly terrible exploding car special effect there is a stunning and tender conclusion. The credits are again a highlight ("And Lisa Lopez as the Insect Woman"), and at this running time the movie never wears out its welcome.This double feature from Joshua Kennedy doesn't live up to the level of grandeur fans of "Attack of the Octopus People" are used to, but I genuinely appreciate his devotion to his craft and look forward to seeing what he brings us next.

Yuk------ insane