Monster a-Go Go (1965)

"What you're about to see may not even be possible within the
narrow limits of human understanding." - Narrator

An astronaut returns to Earth transformed by radiation.
Starring: Philip Morton, George Perry, Lois Brooks, Rork Stevens

Link to IMDB

When a manned satellite crashes to Earth from orbit, the police and military begin searching the crash site for Frank, the astronaut that was aboard. The only body they find is a man from the search team that has been burned by radiation, and Douglas is nowhere to be found... Wait, I thought they were looking for someone named Frank. Or are there two men? Huh?
Anyways, Colonel Conners and Dr. Logan are in charge of solving the mystery of what happened to Frank and/or Douglas, and they enlist the help of military specialists to get answers.

Colonels, doctors, scientists, etc.

Space garbage

Thankfully, the narrator helps explains who people are and what they're doing, because the barely comprehensible radiation mumbo-jumbo sure isn't holding the plot together. Mr. Narrator also ponders about fate, chance and other influences on the characters, which is only done to make things seem more exciting than they actually are, but hey, narrators can be deep thinkers too.

After a young couple are attacked by a monstrous man at a Go-Go dance (the brief minute we spend there is how the movie got its name,) Dr. Logan begins to put the pieces together; but just as he realizes that Frank and/or Douglas has become a mindless radioactive zombie wandering the countryside, the monster kills him!

Not to worry though, because there's a different Dr. Logan to replace him, and he's been working on an antidote that will hopefully cure the radiation infected astronaut, named Frank Douglas. (Oh, 30 minutes in and it's finally explained clearly.) The military is equipped with their best radiation defenses, trying to find the zombie before he can kill again, and hopefully Dr. Logan's antidote will work!

"We have a radioactive something or other." - Scientist

Space face

This movie is a mess in every way possible, but I found it actually quite easy to watch. The main premise of a monster on the loose holds the story together if you really pay attention, but it's surrounded by an incomprehensible mess of scenes with people you barely recognize and names you can't remember. The more you try to understand the more frustrated you'll get, so just turn off your brain and laugh at the haphazard nonsense.

And then, oh boy, the infamous ending. Right as the tension peaks the movie twists everything you thought you knew, and leaves you struggling to comprehend one of the most bullshit, accidentally surreal mind-fucks of a conclusion ever made... Consider my ham exploded.


Be sure not to miss:
- Those dog barking sound effects.
- The scene where the car runs out of gas is a beautiful masterpiece of nothingness... which could be said for most of the movie itself.
- Dr. Logan's hilarious death face.

Internet review:
"I've hit rock bottom." - Slupper9001

Should I watch it?
I had fun with it, but most people should stick with the MST3K version.

Where can I find it?
Here on YouTube.

Monster a-Go Go gets...