This is a webpage for what I believe to be the worst movie ever made: THE BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS(1961) As a fan of bad movies I seen many of the greats in bad films including the works of Ed (PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE) Wood Jr, Larry (MARS NEEDS WOMEN) Buchanan and Jerry (TEENAGE ZOMBIES) Warren and I have never seen a worst film than this. I was looking for the world's worst film and once I saw this movie I knew my search was over. I have seen this film over and over and each time it still amazes me.
The film was directed, written and edited by Coleman Francis an actor who appeared in alot of westerns and produced by Anthony Cardoza who was a friend of director Edward D. Wood Jr. who is best known for for being the maker of PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE(1959). People who called PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE the world's worst movie have not yet seen THE BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS which makes PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE look like a major studio production.
Cardoza had worked with Ed Wood on the film NIGHT OF THE GHOULS(1959)A film that would not be released during Ed Wood's lifetime due to reason never really made clear. The rumor was that Ed Wood could not pay his lab bill and therefore was unable to get the film for release. Other rumors was that the film was kept from release for a tax write off back in the days when movies made good tax shelters. Ed Wood had once saved Cardoza from drowning in a swimming pool. Cardoza a true friend of Ed wood would at one point try to get NIGHT OF THE GHOULS released in the days before Wood became infamous for his bad films.
In the Book INCREDIBLY STRANGE FILMS by ReSearch Books there is an interview with director Ray Dennis Steckler (Best know for THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE CREATURES WHO STOP LIVING AND BECAME MIXED UP ZOMBIES). In this interview he states as he was finishing his film BODY FEVER (1969 A.K.A. SUPER COOL and THE LAST ORIGINAL B-MOVIE)he found Coleman Francis lying in the gutter outside of the Hollywood Ranch Market. Francis had appeared in Steckler's film THE LEMON GROVE KIDS MEETS THE MONSTERS(1966) Francis told Steckler that he was broke and looking for work. Steckler told him to meet him at the laundromat the next morning and he would have some work for him and then gave Francis a $20 advance. The next day as Steckler was setting up for the shoot he was planing on ad libing a scene with Francis as a tramp in a laundromat. Francis then surprised Steckler by showing up cleaned up and wearing a sport coat he got at a second hand shop. He did not want to show up for a job looking like a bum.
The film features ex wrestler Tor Johnson (The Super Swedish Angel) who is best known for appearing in Ed Wood's movies including BRIDE OF THE MONSTER(1954)as Lobo, PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE as Inspector Clay and NIGHT OF THE GHOULS once again as Lobo. Johnson plays a rocket scientist who is caught in the blast of an atomic bomb after being chased into a bomb test site by russian spies. He becomes a mindless killer who attacks anyone he comes across in the desert. Johnson was paid $300 for his staring role. He was listed as a guest star in the credits. Johnson is the only real reason to see this film. This would be his last major role in a feature film.
Outside of Third rate horror films if Johnson is remember by the general public at all it's for the Tor Johnson mask made by the Don Post Studios. The rubber 'monster' mask is a life like mask of Johnson's face. I would have like to have been there when someone told Johnson that they wanted to make a monster mask and that it would be a life like image of him.
The film opens with a scene that has nothing to do with the rest of the movie. It opens with a young woman coming out of the shower. Topless ofcourse. The whole point of the scene was to get a nude shot into the the movie. The woman wraps herself in a towel and wonders into a cheap room set. The sound of a loud clicking clock fills the soundtrack. As she drys herself in walks a man who's head is not shown. He is dressed in the same rags Tor Johnson wears in the movie. But it is not Johnson. This stand in's arms don't have the oversize muscles that Johnson has. This stand in strangles the woman and then the clock sound on the soundtrack stops. Then the opening credits of the film start and the veiwers are left to wonder what did that first scene have to do with the rest of the film?
Later on in the film another good looking woman is shown in a cute baby doll nightgown. She is shown getting out of bed and then back in. That is her entire role. In that short scene she shows off both her legs and her cleveage.She was featured on the poster to the film and in some of the ads in order to give the film somesort of sex appeal.
The film has no real plot. After Johnson becomes a deformed maniac he spends the rest of the movie wondering around the desert looking for people to attack.
A pair of highway patrolmen also spend a great deal of time within the screenplay looking for the killer. They do an incredibly bad job of it. At one point in the film one of the patrolmen try to shoot down a man under the belief that if he is walking around the desert then he must be the killer and therefore must be shot down without warning. You begin to wonder if these two men are are even really highway patrolmen. They drive around in an unmarked car and don't seem to report in to anyone about the murders. Another thing about these patrolmen is that they have alot of trouble getting around. The Beast and a couple of kids have no trouble walking in and out of a cave by walking up a pave. The patrolmen get there by climbing up a side of a mountain. It was just one of many scenes in the film that just didn't make alot of scense when you think about it.
The best scene of the film (and there is few to choose from) comes at the end of the movie. The highway patrolmen spot the Beast chasing a couple of kids and shoot him in the back. Believing the monster dead they walk over to him to check him out. But ofcourse he is not dead and without any real trouble Johnson gets back up and throw the policemen around like rag dolls. Johnson who was a professial wrestler for over 20 years before retiring from the ring makes this short scene fun. Once again Johnson is shot in the back and left for dead by the unprofessial patrolmen. Once again the Beast is not dead. As he lies dying a wild jackrabbit hopes up to him and starts to lick his face.(It looks like he is eatting some snacks hidden under Johnson's neck) The maniac then reaches out grab the rabbit and then pets the rabbit before releasing it and finally dying.
This movie is just under 60 minutes long and is in badly shot black and white and was shot without sound. The soundtrack is made up of music, narration and voices are cheaply dubbed in when actors backs are to the camera or are too far away from the camera to show lip movements. Two musicians I know were impressed by the music used in the soundtrack of the film. It was stock music and had been used in the film THE ASTOUNDING SHE MONSTER.
There is a rumor that the film was shot on a budget of 34 thousand dollars. I find that hard to believe. ROBOT MONSTER a film that is a step above THE BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS was shot for 16 thousand dollars and it features a sync soundtrack and scenes in 3-D. The producters of ROBOT MONSTER at the time of it's release claim the film cost 'under' 50 thousand in order to keep people from judging the film by it's budget. I believe the same thing happen in the case of the budget for THE BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS.
I hope to feature soon on this page a picture of the poster to this film which I found at the SAN DIEGO COMIC COMIC CONVENTION. I paid $20 dollars for it (Folded) when no one heard of the film. I have since seen it on sale for $295 (Rolled) on another website. The poster is rare since the film never had a wide release.
Other films related to THE BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS or of interest to bad film fans are: THE ASTOUNDING SHE MONSTER(1957), BRIDE OF THE MONSTER, PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE and NIGHT OF THE GHOULS.
THE ASTOUNDING SHE MONSTER is a film alot like THE BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS. It was directed by Ronald V. Ashcroft who was a friend of Ed Wood Jr. and the cast includes Keene Duncan who would appear in Wood's NIGHT OF THE GHOULS and THE SINISTER URGE(1961) The Camera work was done by William C. Thompson who worked on many of Wood's movies. The film also features the same stock music that would be used in THE BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS.
The 'monster' of the ASTOUNDING SHE MONSTER was a shapely woman in skin tight tights who glows in the dark. This effect was done by having the movie go out of focus everytime she appears in the movie. In many of the scenes the She monster walks toward the camera or back away from it. The reason for this was that the tights the actress was wearing split down the back soon after shooting started and the monster was unable to turn her back to the camera or the rip would show.
BRIDE OF THE MONSTER was directed by Ed wood Jr and featured Tor Johnson as Lobo. Conrad Brooks who has a walk on in THE BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS has a small bit part in this film also.
PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE is ofcourse the world's best known bad sci fi movie. It features Tor Johnson as a zombie and Conrad Brooks as a policeman.It was directed by Ed Wood Jr.
NIGHT OF THE GHOULS is another Ed Wood Jr. production. Tor Johnson is back again as Lobo and Anthony Cardoza has a small bit part in this movie.
BIKINI DRIVE IN a movie featuring lots of girls in and out of bikinis also features Conrad Brooks in a large part and Anthony Cardoza has a cameo.
Other films made by the film team of Carzoda and Francis include:THE SKYDIVERS and RED ZONE CUBA a.k.a. NIGHT TRAIN TO MUNDO FINE. Both these films along with the BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS has appeared on the MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 cable show.
THE SKYDIVERS is the best film made by the team of Cardoza and Francis. It's not a epic but it does have a professial look to it that the BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS and RED ZONE CUBA has missing. It is a drama set against the background of a skydiving school. Tony Cardoza plays the male lead and is not a great performer. Francis is once again the director.
RED ZONE CUBA aka NIGHT TRAIN TO MUNDO FINE is a throw back to the style of THE BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS but doe not quite sink that low. It tells the story of an escape convict (Played by writer-director Coleman Francis) who joins up with a pair of ex cons (one of them Anthony Cardoza). After taking part in the Bay of Pigs invasion they escape Cuba and go on a crime spree back in the states.At the film's end Coleman Francis is shot down by the police like an animal and offscreen someone remarks "Griffin...He ran all the way to Hell with a penny and a broken cigerette in his pocket."
It has been said in various reviews that the film had been shot on 16mm. for $30,000. One very early review of the film states that the film was 'tradeshown'(shown to motion picture buyers) in 16mm. I think the producers must of printed up a low cost 16mm. print to show around and readers of the early reviews thought the film had been shot in 16mm. Blowing up 16mm. movies to be shown in theaters with 35mm. projectors would not become common for another ten years.
John Carradine appears at the beginning of the film in a scene that has very little to do with the rest of the movie and sings the title song over the credits. During his role which lasted only a few minutes Carradine gets a far away look in his eyes and say:"Griffin...He ran all the way to Hell". Only Carradine could say such a line out of nowhere and make it sound good.
It is one of the most depressing movies ever made. The film has an incredible atmosphere of doom about it. The pre release title NIGHT TRAIN TO MUNDO FINE is a hint to the doom and gloom to come. Mundo Fine means the world's end. Also the title song to the film is about life without hope listen to the words next time. Just about all the charactors are doomed. Griffin the escape convict is doomed from the start because Carradine's charactor foretells it. Griffin's friends Cook and Lanis are ex con losers who end up arrested at the film's end. They take part in the doomed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba and many of their fellow soldiers are shot. Lanis and Griffin encounter a restaurant owner who's business is in ruins and daughter has gone blind. The world within this film is one without any hope. You wonder what kind of mental state was writer-director-star Coleman Francis was in as he made this movie.
Strangely enough a musical play was based on this movie. RED ZONE CUBA:THE MUSICAL was produced and written by Carmen Martella III and seem to have added supernatural overtones and features 20 songs.
FILM CREDITS
THE ASTOUNDING SHE MONSTER(1958) AKA: THE MYSTERIOUS INVADER in England.
Directed and producted by Ronald V. Ashcroft. Written by Frank Hall. With-
Shirley Kilpatrick, Robert Clarke 
THE BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS(1961) aka:ATOMIC MONSTER-THE BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS and may also be known as GIRL MADNESS. Written, Directed and Edited by Coleman Francis. Producted by Anthony Cardoza. With Tor Johnson, Conrad Brooks. Narration by Coleman Francis. .
THE BRIDE OF THE MONSTER(1956) early prelease titles: BRIDE OF THE ATOM, MONSTR OF THE MARSHES, and THE ATOMIC MONSTER. Producted and Directed by Edward D. Wood Jr. Written by Alex Gordon and Edward D. Wood Jr. Make up by Harry Thomas. With Bela Lugosi, Tor Johnson, Paul Marco, Tony McCoy.
NIGHT OF THE GHOULS(1959)aka: REVENGE OF THE DEAD. Written, Directed, Producted by Edward D. Wood Jr. With Criswell, Tor Johnson, Paul Marco, Karl Johnson, Dr. Tom Mason, Duke Moore. Make up by Harry Thomas.
RED ZONE CUBA(1966) aka NIGHT TRAIN TO MUNDO FINE. Directed by Coleman Francis. With John Carradine, Coleman Francis, Anthony Cardoza.
PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE(1959)Prerelease title GRAVEROBBERS FROM OUTER SPACE. Written, Directed, Producted and Edited by Edward D. Wood Jr. With Bela Lugosi, Tor Johnson, Conrad Brooks, Vampira (Real name Maila Nurmi), Paul Marco. Duke Moore, Lyle Talbot, Dr. Thomas R. Mason(Lugosi's double)
ROBOT MONSTER (1953) aka MONSTER FROM MARS and prerelease title was MONSTERS FROM THE MOON. Producted and Directed by Phil Tucker. Written by Wyott Ordung. Music by Elmer Bernstein. With George Barrows, John Brown (Voice of the Robot Monster)
THE SKYDIVERS(1963) Directed by Coleman Francis. With Anthony Cardoza.
BIKINI DRIVE IN (1995) Directed by Fred Olen Ray. With Conrad Brooks.
Copyright 1998 by Teel.
Updated April 15, 2000
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