...and now, a word about genre movie trailers...from one who's own genre movie trailer collection is as varied and voluminous as his movie collection: Being a devoted and...well, let's just go ahead and say obsessed collector of genre films, this ardent viewer absolutely loves a good genre movie sleuth...especially when coming across a title, which sounds interesting, but...despite a respectable and wide-spectrum level of knowledge...have surprisingly never heard of. And it's one thing, merely hearing of such a title, and it's a whole other thing altogether, in stumbling upon a trailer for such a film. A genre film...rare, obscure, never released (...and if it was released, it was done so far below the radar, as to be undetectable to even the most seasoned and observant collector, hence it invariably fell off the radar, ignored and long forgotten...possibly, for good reason)...
...and being a sucker for a good trailer...even one that looks so incredibly ludicrous and cheezy...it makes searching for that rare and obscure genre movie, all the more irresistible, even if it takes months...even years to find that lost and elusive genre jewel, sometimes wading through an endless sea of low-grade bootlegs, taken from out-of-print VHS tapes and cable broadcasts. And when the long-sought film finally gets a legitimate release...well, that's a good thing, too, as the old adage rears itself, suggesting that 'the journey...or the search...is a lot more fun, than reaching the destination...or finding the prize'. No problem though; it's just a matter of moving on to the next elusive and irresistible genre film. And thus, the never-ending search continues.....
...for months on end, "Shakma" was one such elusive title. And based upon the trailer (...feel free to check it out, before you read on, by way of
'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL3hX1VtgFw'), how can one possibly resist searching for and finding
this one?? A young group of people, trapped in a building...unable to escape. One by one, relentlessly pursued, hunted and brutally attacked & killed by a raged, unstable and out-of-control creature, often shown with blood and gore, dripping from it's long teeth and gaping maw. A nutty and inconceivable plot, saddled with the corniest of dialogue, rendered by 'flavor-of-the-moment' young actors, as well as a notably seasoned one. The typical hero and/or heroine...exhausted and blood-caked...make it through the resulting horror, with one helluva shock to the system, and one helluva story to tell, later. And the 'piece de resistance'...a genre film, given 'respectable' creed, by some kind of honorary award, no less, as suggested by the trailer. Well, after months and months of impatient wanting, by genre film collectors, all over...the fine opportunist folk, over at Code Red Releasing, have chosen to finally and legitimately pull this one out of obscurity...albeit, in a limited edition (...so, find and get this one fast, folks) Might it have been because no one else will touch the film?? Was it all worth the intense, determined search, as well as the seemingly endless waiting??.....
...a medical school high-rise sets the stage, herein, as we are introduced to Professor Sorenson (Roddy McDowell), an eccentric and slightly skewed college instructor & physician, who is conducting unconventional experiments dealing with animal aggression, with theoretical hopes of beneficially applying the results to human trials, one day. For his latest 'guinea pig' inductee, the professor is conducting cranial surgery on a species
papio ursinus, or cape baboon, dousing it's brain with a carefully measured mix of chemicals, directed toward tempering the animal's naturally instilled aggression. When the operation proves unsuccessful, and instead
increases the aggression of the baboon...during which it violently instigates a vicious attack...the animal is immediately sedated, and Professor Sorenson orders it to be put down, permanently...
...meanwhile, in another area of the building, a covert group of college students, led by one of Professor Sorenson's laboratory aids, Sam (Christopher Atkins), are finalizing the preparations for a nocturnal 'Dungeons & Dragons'-like role-playing game, whereby the building is locked down, and several of the rooms and passageways in the building are laden with clues, treasures and traps, for players to find and/or fall victim to. In between the preparations, it is Sam, whom the professor calls upon, to euthanize the baboon; having originally forged a rapport with the animal, and as such, having since expressed his disdain, regarding the professor's experiments, Sam shruggingly postpones the undesirable task of putting the animal down without telling anyone, trusting that sedation of the beast will hold until later...
...as a sort of recreational diversion to his unorthodox experiments and his class instruction regiment, Professor Sorenson converges with, and prepares to participate with his students, who are playing the game, with himself performing in the capacity of mediator, or 'game master', offering direction and game clue results via two-way radios, which are distributed amongst the flashlight-armed game player masses. With Sam and the professor, having both for-the-moment forgotten about the sedated baboon...well, let the games begin...
...and when the drugged baboon finally and unexpectedly wakes up, quickly flying into a vicious, uncontrollable and blood-thirsty rage, upon waking...it's brute-strength, pounding down doors, and it's monstrous presence, terrorizing the hallways...in the midst of the hapless and unsuspecting game players, strewn throughout the darkened and inescapable building...well, let the
real games begin...
...now, let's throw the cards out onto the table, right here and now: "Shakma" is a terrible movie, OK?? Terrible storyline. Terrible acting. Terrible logic. Terrible, terrible, terrible. Uh, now, now...before you resignedly wave this one off and disregard the film altogether, let this reviewer elaborate further; the film is hardly 'terrible', in the absolute definitive sense of the word. Nor is the film, in any sense of the word, outright despicable, or an endurance trial to sit through. No, my friends...on the contrary, "Shakma" is one of those embraceably bad movies, which...intentional or not...shamelessly wallows in it's overall badness, and pats itself on the back, as the result of it's outrageousness...
...too many things are unexplained here, inexplicably not further elaborated upon, or just flat out don't make sense. Why is this high rise medical facility on computerized electronic lockdown at night?? (...all right, somebody get my my cellphone...gonna bust some heads; the local fire department might just want to know about these gross fire law violations, dammit). Characters are brought into the fray, and yet, nothing is really done with them, or they seem to serve no purpose other than kill victims, disguised as almost random and anonymous game players (...i.e., the 'hired' princess in the tower, Kim, who is infatuated with the Sam character...or her snobby lab technician brother, Richard, who rags on the proposed game, calling it a nerdy geek-fest, and yet for some reason, still insists on participating, perhaps in order to 'get off' in scaring the unwary participants...amongst others)...
...and what about the hairy beast, itself?? Seemingly and non-nonchalantly waved off & disregarded so quickly, in favor of the shadowy game play...though, in all honesty, considering the caliber of movie, which we find ourselves in, this might have been some half-assed attempt at misdirection...like the old Hitchcock 'bomb story', whereby we know there's a bomb under the table, and we even know when it's going to go off. But the guys at the table, talking about baseball, don't know that the bomb is there, and keep chatting away...until. In conjunction, we all know...at some point...that the killer hairy ape is going to come to...and isn't going to be particularly happy. But NOOOOOOOO!!! The film would rather concentrate on the game players, running aimlessly around in circles, until...BOOM!!! The monster comes out, and instead of hiding...maybe even making a few emergent phone calls...naw, we're gonna wade through a parade of panicked victims and righteous bloodshed (...and 'righteous bloodshed,
indeed!! Fortunately, for us viewers, that crazed and tainted baboon just loves to tear into people's faces, affording some prime make-up and special effects opportunities...and exuding one of the better aspects of this film)...
...and talk about your mood swings...Sheesh!! There's times, in the course of this film, where that freakin' baboon looks so damn cute, docile and cuddle-able...only to turn around at a second's notice, and become the monstrous thing from your worst nightmares. Like the editing was done by someone with rampant hypertension (...articles on the behind-the-scenes background, on the making of the film, suggested that the baboon was trained and conditioned, but part of the training, with regards to the direct effect on film...especially in scenes where it was attempting to bash down doors...involved having a female baboon on the other side of the door, which of course, sent the male baboon into a crazed sexual frenzy)...
...of course, let's not forget about the casting, herein...and even for the film's time of release, "Shakma" plays very much like a genre's star's 'who's who' of 'whatever happened to...". Actor Christopher Atkins is readily cast here, as Sam...the 'hero' of this motley crew of soon-to-be-picked-off role-players; of course, most remember him in the 1980 tropical hot 'n' steamy steamer, "The Blue Lagoon"; however, after that...ah, come on, people...what
else had he done?? Anyone remember the nature-strikes-back groaner, "Beaks: The Movie"?? Or the gawd-awful, sickly sweet, cavity inducer, "The Pirate Movie"?? (...heck, I
still have a re-occuring cavity, from
that one...Wait!! Do ya' hear it?? Noooooo!!! 'Pumpin' & blowin', dun-da-dada-dun-dun, 'pumpin' & blowin'...). Given very little to do, except run around and scream, there's Sam's semi-main squeeze, Tracy, played by genre cutie Amanda Wyss, of "Better Off Dead" and "A Nightmare on Elm Street" fame; however, like ol' Chris...after a while...uh, like, what happened to her, huh?? Fortunately, the both of them have continued working, all these years...though, in all honesty, most would be quite hard pressed to come up with anything notable, beyond that of their more recognizable and appreciated '80's fame...
...even the late, great Roddy McDowell himself, herein assuming the role of our oddball Professor Sorenson, with an ever-so-slight 'mad scientist' verve to him, experienced a fading fame, after a phenomenal resurgence in the '80's, with hits like "Fright Night", "Class of 1984' and "Overboard", amongst others...
...but hell, all of that hardly matters here, boys and girls; "Shakma" is so damn incredulously outrageous, it outright defies criticism...shamelessly strutting it's stuff, teasingly sticking it's pointy chin out...daring any and all objectionable naysayers to take a poke. In the end, it really
doesn't matter, does it?? And "Shakma"...well, it just doesn't care what anyone thinks, and with blatant arrogance and reckless daring, it's
here...whether anyone likes it or not. And thanks to the fine folk over at Code Red Releasing, we genre fans have a whole lot to relish, in the re-inception and re-discovery of this crazed little ditty of a horror film. So sit back, relax, have a brew-ski (...or two, or four...or ten), turn your brain off, and dispel any and all manner of logic or reasoning; regardless, be rest assured that you are in for one
helluva terror trip. And well...let's face it: sometimes, one is in the mood for Beef Wellington and Baked Alaska...and sometimes, one is
more in the mood for a spicy, greasy, over-done ratburger and a fudge-cicle...
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