Zaat (1971)

This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

There's one thing that ZAAT has going for it that very few monster movies do: it delivers the goods early on and doesn't skimp. I'm referring, of course, to the monster itself. In 99.9% of monster movies, the viewer is left wanting more (if not ANY) of the titular creature. ZAAT boldly breaks with tradition and gives us an active, almost always on-screen creature doing his best to wreak havoc on the local populace. He's not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer (he IS a mutant monster, after all- nor was he any worldbeater BEFORE his transformation, either), but he does his best. It helps that the locals make some serious errors in judgement when confronting our hero (like the sheriff who starts to draw his gun when he runs afoul of our hero, then opts to use it as a club rather than a firearm), but that's a big part of what makes the movie so much fun. ZAAT's costume is pretty neat (yes, I'm well aware that the fur is there to hide the seams, but so what?) and it's refreshing to run into a No Budget movie that just keeps plugging away to the very end. I've seen a LOT of movies a lot worse.

A lot of people were exposed to Blood Waters of Dr Z through MST3K, myself included. The episode wasn't one of the classics, but it was funny and summed up very well what was wrong with the movie. The movie itself is one of the kind that makes your jaw drop just at the thought of it. The underwater photography is not so bad, beautiful is not how I describe it but it is the asset that is the least amateurish regarding Blood Waters of Dr Z. The rest is amateurish through and through, and the flaws are so numerous that the underwater photography is not enough to salvage. The rest of the camera work and editing though is nauseating, it hardly ever is still, and even for a genre movie the movie's colour scheme was much too drab. The monster was very non-threatening and looked ridiculous, not many movies I've seen recently have had a monster that looks like a man masquerading in a monster suit like he's at a fancy dress party but Blood Waters of Dr Z gives off that vibe in a painfully obvious way. The soundtrack is equally monotonous, with a song that is dull and really quite stupid, and it is one of those soundtracks that actually sounds as though it should be somewhere else. The dialogue is laughably cheesy and stilted, made even worse by the vapid and really annoying voice-overs, the attack scenes have no suspense or vitality(they are actually done so badly that I even couldn't deem them as unintentionally hilarious) and the story- the kind that is good concept-wise but badly executed- is senseless, filled with the brim with things left hanging there with no explanation and full of interminably plodding exposition and no sense of dread at all. The characters are annoying and undeveloped, often coming and going with no reason as to doing so, and the acting is just laughable from all involved. Overall, I've seen worse but that's saying a huge amount as Blood Waters of Dr Z is still terrible, one of the lamest monster movies almost certainly brought to celluloid. 1/10 for the underwater photography only. Bethany Cox

The IMDb correctly discourages comments from referencing other comments, but since ZAAT has the honor of being one of the IMDb's lowest rated films, it's appropriate to pay a nod to one of the chief forces behind its low rating. This main reason ties in with the peculiarity of a rarely seen and relatively unavailable film getting as high as over 2,000 votes.A reviewer from Tennessee got to the heart of this matter in his 2007 IMDb user's essay; he addressed another IMDb comment that bemoaned the majority of the reviewers having only seen ZAAT in its Mystery Science Theater 3000 dissection, which also happened to be the way the Tennessee reviewer saw the film. The MST3K crew cut out over a half-hour, so the IMDb reviewers who based their thoughts on the MST3K's put-down presentation didn't even see the whole film. "Why in God's name would I want to see 30 more minutes of this trash!" was the Tennessean's response.It is patently unfair to review a film on a version the purpose of which was to poke fun at the film. It is as if a film is judged not by watching the film, but by reading the MAD Magazine satire of it. And it especially becomes unfair if the satirized version has been abridged -- that's like a book reviewer who reviews a book based on only some chapters.Add to this formula the cynicism of a newer generation, who thinks it's "cool" to put down media-presented efforts; by doing so, such people think they are being smarter, and what a nice way to feel better.Of course ZAAT is a "bad" movie. Amateurish and logically-challenged -- for example, why would the sheriff not have drawn his gun on the approaching monster? (But don't get me started on the many places this movie has gone wrong; at this writing, there are about 70 reviews you can read, most of which will happily point out the absurdities.)Yet I entered into this debacle with exactly such low expectations. And yes, there were drawn-out scenes that were not easy to sit through. All in all, however, if you know what you're going to be in for, you accept the vehicle for what it is, and it is your attitude that is going to affect your judgment, and your ultimate enjoyment.I can honestly say there are many uninspired and forgettable films that are far more polished and professional than ZAAT, but for all ZAAT's inanities, I could appreciate the effort that went into ZAAT. The producer obviously had a very low budget (I'd imagine his contacts with the Florida Marine facility might have inspired the "plot" -- without money, a film can be designed around the locations and other assets), yet still managed to come up with a stupidly imaginative film.I appreciated the quality of the monster suit, for one thing -- given what must have been the restraints of the budget and the local special effects talent. Some of the dialogue was actually pretty clever. The fact that a black character was chosen as one of the heroes was admirable -- it was only a few years earlier that Romero's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD had helped break the mold in this area, at least for horror movies. The director and/or editor also tried hard at times to add some excitement, for example with the insert shots during the attack on the scientist in his house. And the female victim was very beautiful. (With a movie like this, you've got to appreciate what you get.)I'm giving the film a few undeserved stars as a reaction against the numerous IMDb snobs who don't even have the decency to watch the real thing. And for those who have taken in the real thing, what DO these people expect when they watch a locally made monster movie from the 1970s that defines the word "cheesy"? On that level, ZAAT delivers in spades.

Dr. Leopold really has a lot of free time on his hands. Somehow in between bong hits he devised through twisted logic that he can dominate the world with fish. Exactly how humanity is going to be conquered by animals that can't survive on land isn't really hashed out. He had an idea and the mad doctor is running with it. At least he maintains a detailed itinerary that keep his looniness on schedule. Dr. Leopold, with some help from "the weed of deceit", turns into a catfish monster that more resembles one of the aliens from "Pod People". Next on his agenda is a mate to quell his raging fish libido drawing him to spy on an average looking blond woman that apparently lives in a van down by the river. An inept sheriff and his marine biologist assistant? friend? neighbor? Rex investigate a series of dopey fish related incidences by the local yahoos. When they realize that what they are after is a large fish-man-type-thing they try to capture it with the help of a husband and wife team of special "agents" that seem too interested in this case. Boredom aplenty as monster attacks locals, good guys follow, repeat makes this slower than a turtle with no legs encased in cement. At one point the sheriff stumbles upon some hippie vagrants, stops to listen to their dopey song, then like the Pied Piper leads them to jail for protection from the beast. Or maybe he was arresting them for the terrible song that was shamelessly played in its entirety. I do have to say that I was pretty impressed with the underwater shots for such a low budget film. That in itself saved this from getting a one. The incorporation of the various fish themed nature films with Dr. Leopold's inane dialogue dubbed over it just reeks of amateur hour film-making. I watched the unedited movie, which I recommend all MST3K fan's should do, on TCM and it really is a chore to watch. Trying to sit through this without the aid of Mike and the Bots quips is a task in itself. Not a fun bad movie but an extremely boring bad movie that could only be help by ingesting large amounts of a certain weed.