A Yucky Monster

Joseph Javorsky, a Soviet scientist, defects to the U.S. Welcome to the land of 24-hour liquor stores, Joe. While being chased to death by his former KGB neighbors through the Yucca Flat desert, he stumbles onto a nuclear testing range. Nice timing – an atomic bomb was being exploded for commercial applications.

Patches of Joe’s skin gets flambéed, but his white shirt miraculously withstands the devastating effects of nuclear radiation. For no other reason than to give him something to do, Javorsky wanders around like a pension drunk and becomes a maddened “beast” who strangles everyone he meets.

Then some guy with military experience goes up in a small plane and shoots at anything that moves, which happens to be a father out looking for his lost sons. Dad himself gets shot several times, but doesn’t bleed or die. Javorsky, though, dies at the end, with a little desert bunny hopping around his corpse. Bunnies are so darn cute, especially fuzzy ones. (Bald bunnies, not so much.) Wonderin’ why the bunny wasn’t mutated after hip-hopping around the testing range. Maybe this species has lead fur.

The Beast of Yucca Flats (1961) was filmed without sound and all the zinging gunshots, sound effects and dialogue were added later. I’m all for saving a buck, but this is below low. Worst movie ever? If not, it’s definitely next in line.