Zontar, the Thing from Venus

{{Short description|1967 American television film by Larry Buchanan}}

{{Infobox television

| image = Zontar, The Thing from Venus(1956 film) poster.jpg

| caption = DVD cover

| genre = Horror
Sci-fi

| director = Larry Buchanan

| producer =

| writer = Lou Rusoff
Larry Buchanan
Hillman Taylor

| starring = John Agar
Susan Bjurman
Anthony Huston
Patricia De Laney

| music = Ronald Stein (uncredited)

| cinematography = Robert B. Alcott

| editor =

| company = Azalea Pictures

| released = {{Start date|1967|12||}}

| runtime = 80 minutes

| country = United States

| language = English

| budget = $22,000

}}

Zontar, the Thing from Venus (also known as Zontar: The Invader from Venus) is a 1967 American made-for-television horror science fiction film directed by Larry Buchanan and starring John Agar and Susan Bjurman. It is based on the teleplay by Hillman Taylor and Buchanan.{{cite book |last1=Craig |first1=Rob |title=The Films of Larry Buchanan: A Critical Examination |date=2007 |publisher=McFarland & Company |isbn=978-0786429820 |pages=96–109}} It is a low-budget 16 mm color remake of Roger Corman's It Conquered the World (1956), which also featured an alien invader from Venus. The movie was filmed around White Rock Lake area in Dallas, Texas.The main house featured is a home in Lochwood neighborhood by White Rock Lake on corner of Rogue Way.

Plot

File:Zontar the Thing From Venus.webm

At a dinner party with their wives, NASA scientist Dr. Keith Ritchie reveals to his colleague Dr. Curt Taylor that he has secretly been in communication with an alien from Venus named Zontar who he claims is coming to Earth to solve all of the world's problems. However, as soon as Zontar arrives on Earth via a fallen laser satellite it quickly becomes obvious that the three-eyed, bat-winged, skeletal black creature has a hidden agenda, as it begins causing local power outages that stop telephones, automobiles and even running water from working, and it starts taking control of people's minds using flying lobster-like "injecto-pods" that sprout from its wings. Only after his wife is killed does Ritchie finally realize that Zontar has come not as a savior but as a conqueror, and he goes to confront the hideous alien in the sulfur spring-heated cave that it has made its secret base.

Cast

John Agar as Dr. Curt Taylor
Susan Bjurman as Ann Taylor
Anthony Huston as Keith Ritchie
Patricia De Laney as Martha Ritchie
Neil Fletcher as Gen. Matt Young
Warren Hammack as John
Colleen Carr as Louise
Jeff Alexander as rocket scientist
Bill Thurman as Police Chief Brad Crenshaw
Andrew Traister as Sgt. Magalari
Jonathan Ledford as gate guard
George Edglley as Mr. Ledford
Carol Gilley as Alice
Bertha Holmes as townswoman

Reception

In a review for AllMovie, Paul Gaita wrote "For experienced cult movie watchers, Zontar is the cinematic equivalent of a car accident, an unpleasant spectacle from which one cannot look away".{{cite web |title = Zontar, the Thing from Venus (1966) |first=Paul|last=Gaita|url = http://www.allmovie.com/movie/zontar-the-thing-from-venus-v56183/review |publisher = AllMovie |access-date = November 7, 2016}}

According to Greg Goodsell, writing in Filmfax magazine, Zontar, the Thing from Venus is arguably Buchanan's best known film.Goodsell, Greg, "The Weird and Wacky World of Larry Buchanan", Filmfax, No. 38 April/May 1993 p 64

From 1981–1992 Zontar, the Magazine from Venus was published in Boston. It included an interview with Buchanan by Ivan Stang.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}{{Cite web |title=Untitled Page |url=http://www.zontar.net/ZEPod3.html |access-date=2024-07-02 |website=www.zontar.net}}

Creature Feature gave the movie one star, stating it was so inept that only fans of so bad it's good films would enjoy it.Stanley, J. (2000) Creature Feature: 3rd Edition. Berkley Boulevard

TV Guide states that while the movie is not good, it is not as bad as its reputation suggests.{{Cite web|url=https://www.tvguide.com/movies/zontar-the-thing-from-venus/review/2000112743/|title = Zontar: The Thing from Venus}}

In popular culture

Zontar was famously spoofed by SCTV in the Season 4, Cycle 2, Episode 3 sequence "Zontar", originally broadcast October 30, 1981.{{cite web|url=http://sctvguide.ca/episodes/sctv_s42.htm/features/sctv_s55.htm#Show_3 |title=Second City Television Guide|access-date=October 27, 2020}}