Gas-s-s-s

Director - Roger Corman (Bloody Mama, The Raven)
Starring - Bob Corff (Fright Night, The Beverly Hillbillies), Elaine Giftos (Tales of the Unexpected, Knight Rider), Bud Cort (Dogma, Theodore Rex)
Release Date - 1970
Genre - Comedy/Adventure
Tagline - "Invite a few friends over to watch the end of the world!"
Format - Bluray

Rating (out of 5):

     When I get a post-apocalyptic film in to review I usually think it will go one of two ways.  It will be bloody and gory set against a desolate landscape like The Walking Dead and Stakeland.  These are my favorite post-apocalyptic films.  However, the more famous of the post-apocalyptic films are movies like Mad Max and Turbo Kid.  These are always fun and offer the viewer some unforgettable characters.   Sometime back Olive Films sent me the Roger Corman post-apocalyptic film Gas-s-s-s on blu.  I enjoy most of Corman's films and was excited to see how he would handle a film like this.  thanks guys for sending this one my way!

     The film follows a group of survivors who fight to survive when the world's population is wiped out from a gas that kills anyone over 25.  Now, they make their way across the country and encounter other survivors who have their own way of surviving after the fall of society.



   
     Gas-s-s-s was not the film I was expecting.  When I first tossed it in I was expecting a film similar to Death Race 2000.  Even though I had never seen the film I had seen the trailer several times so I get the general premise so I was a little let down when the film did not play out like that...or like any post-apocalyptic film I had seen before it.  If I can say anything about Gas-s-s-s is that it's original.  The acting in this one is over the top.  The characters are very colorful with a lot of flavor.  They stand out from other films like it and the cast does a great job bringing them to life.  Some are more likable than others but that is due to the writing and not the acting. The story for this one is a waste.  It's political in nature considering the time.  During the late 60s and early 70s America went through a period where the youths, mostly, did not agree with the government which came to a boil with the war in Vietnam.  The film plays on that where all adults over 25 die leaving the teenagers and early twenty-somethings to live however they want.  This is a cool idea if you set yourself in the time period but the story is painfully slow and very repetitive.  There is just not enough to go around for the running time we do get.  Finally, no blood or gore in this one.  Hell, there is no effects of any kind.  The film relies heavily on character development and a paper thin story to hold the viewer's attention...and fails.  I was looking for excuses to turn it off.  I even changed a shitty diaper just so I didn't have to set through it.  Overall, Gas-s-s-s just couldn't go the distance.  The story was a solid concept but needed a lot more work.  I cannot recommend this one.