kevin olzak
An all time favorite, I too discovered this on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater, which first showed it on November 20 1976, one of 13 Crown releases that debuted that season ("The Devil's Hand," "First Spaceship on Venus," "Terrified," "Carnival of Crime," "They Saved Hitler's Brain," "The Hostage," "Nightmare in Wax," "Blood of Dracula's Castle,""Terror in the Jungle," "Blood Mania," "Point of Terror," "Stanley"). Under the Crown title "Twisted Brain," this film proved to be the most popular, despite the occasional brickbats from shortsighted viewers who want to carp about the low budget and "amateurish acting" (according to Leonard Maltin,who rated it a BOMB). There are people who watch movies but never enjoy them, and their comments are always welcome on IMDb, which not only supplies exhaustive credits (even those unbilled), but provides a forum for fans and buffs alike. My observations are simple: does the movie in question accomplish what it sets out to do? Obviously, Pat Cardi was not just the star here, he was also one of the investors, and generally, all films are made to at least earn back its cost. If the filmmakers are not interested in quality, they fail in that capacity. In opposition to all those who want to disparage this film, it truly succeeds in what it sets out to do, and a low budget does not automatically mean poor quality, especially when imagination and faith is rewarded by the viewer's involvement. I fell for Rosie Holotik myself, I despised the janitor, the English teacher, the coach, and the self-satisfied jocks, just as Vernon did. I loved "Vernon's Theme," as performed by Jerry Coward, with lyrics by Joy Buxton. I also loved the 2 songs featured in 1972's "Stanley," both written and performed by Jack Vino: "Sparrow" and "Start a New World." Only in the 70's would you hear these tunes in a movie, unavailable from any other source. Lastly, I don't get the point of giving NFL football players prominent billing at the beginning, when only John Niland has anything other than a walk on bit. Niland, an Iowa guard who played for the Dallas Cowboys from 1966-1974, receives more brickbats as Coach McCall than any other cast member, but his casting made perfect sense, and his performance was better than one would expect from a non-actor. Pittsburgh's "Mean" Joe Greene, so named from his days with the "Mean Green" at North Texas State, can be clearly seen as the cop who blows our protagonist away with what appears to be a machine gun. As an assistant coach, is Abner Haynes, also from North Texas State, who played from 1960-1967 for the Dallas Texans, Kansas City Chiefs, Denver Broncos, Miami Dolphins, and New York Jets. All the other players were cast as anonymous policemen: Chuck Beatty, again from North Texas State, who played from 1969-1972 for the Pittsburgh Steelers and St.Louis Cardinals; Calvin Hill, who played from 1969-1981 for the Cowboys, Washington Redskins, and Cleveland Browns; D.D.Lewis, who played from 1968-1981 for the Cowboys; Craig Morton, who played from 1965-1982 for the Cowboys, New York Giants, and Denver Broncos; and Billy Truax, who played from 1964-1974 for the Cowboys and Los Angeles Rams. Every one of them either played college ball in Texas, or professionally for the Cowboys, and since this was shot in Irving, they provide some marginal trivia value for this film. Perhaps this feature supplies the same local pride that Pittsburgh feels for "Night of the Living Dead." Best wishes to Pat Cardi, whose only other film I have seen would be the ultra rare "Let's Kill Uncle" (1966), also during the late 70's. Glad to see that he's one of those rare actors who enjoys responding to feedback on IMDb.
MartinHafer
Wow. I am amazed I went beyond the opening song with this film. After all, the song was just horrible in every possible way--whiny, bad and dreadful. Was this a portent of more awfulness to come or was this low-budget film actually worth seeing?The star of this film is a nerdy high school student (who, incidentally was 23 when the film was made). He's mistreated by his teachers, the janitor and his classmates. Like such to be Vernon Potts and you know that based on the title of this film that eventually all these people will have a major butt-kicking coming by the end of the film. But, in the meantime, we are treated to scene after scene of the most ridiculously nasty treatment of poor Vernon. Subtle this isn't.Later, a deranged (and horribly acted) janitor freaks out and forces poor Vernon to drink some formula he's been working on in the lab. And, not at all unexpectedly, Vernon is now a crazed killer beast. I love how incredibly stupid and cheesy the first act of retribution is--when he shoves the janitor's head in a conveniently placed bucket of sulfuric acid (I always have a few sitting around the house for just such emergencies). When Vernon has recovered, he's covered in blood and hides the evidence of his atrocity. Is this the last killing by good ol' Vern? Well, considering it's only the 25 minute mark, I doubt it.By the way, speaking of sulfuric acid in this murder scene, I noticed that the label on the drum was MISSPELLED!! Talk about sloppy!! Surely a chemical supply house can spell sulfuric!!The next day, the police come to the school to investigate the killing. This apparently was prompted when one of the kids in chemistry class opened the giant drum of 'sulphuric acid' and bits and pieces of the janitor and his cat were floating in it.There's more to it than this, but frankly it's all so dull and pointless I'll just wrap it up now. Overall, the acting, writing, special effects and direction totally suck. There really is nothing of interest or value in the film other than small parts played by Dallas Cowboys running back Calvin Hill and quarterback Craig Morton and linebacker D.D. Lewis, as well as Pittsburg Steelers defensive tackle Joe Greene and Chuck Beatty. It's interesting for anyone who watched football back in the 1970s--otherwise I have no idea why anyone would want to see this stinking film. Also, I hope I didn't miss any other players who were in the film--I'm trying my best considering that I was pretty young back then and my crazy old man memory isn't perfect!Worthless--a complete waste of time.
Woodyanders
Mild-mannered high school student Vernon Potts is a strong candidate for the Pencil Neck Geek of the Year Award. The thuggish jocks in his gym class are always ruthlessly picking on him and beating him up. His bitchy English teacher gives him mucho flack for only caring about biology and chemistry. Vernon's negligent, self-absorbed dad is so wrapped up in making a fast buck that he completely ignores the poor boy. Even the grubby, mean-spirited janitor constantly browbeats him. After being forced to drink a special liquid formula he created for a biology experiment, Vernon acquires the necessary power to violently turn the tables on his cruel tormentors. Wormy, sniveling mouse Vernon occasionally mutates into a hairy, club-footed humanoid monster which embarks on a grisly murderous rampage, brutally slaying everyone who ever treated him badly. The custodian has his face dunked in a steaming vat of sulfuric acid, the English teacher has her hand lobbed off with a paper cutter, and, best of all, the malicious blackmailing football coach gets messily hashed when Vernon stomps all over his squat body while wearing spiked running shoes! Okay, I'll admit that this shoddily made low-budget male adolescent revenge horror fantasy clunker is so incredibly bad that it's often downright gut-busting, but I nonetheless thoroughly enjoyed it just the same. Larry N. Stouffer's ham-fisted direction is loaded with lots of laughably inept affectations; his maladroit use of oddly tinted camera angles in order to capture and convey a creepy mood of impending menace in particular stands out as a tremendous source of inadvertent hilarity. Erstwhile child star Pat Cardi gives a nice, personable portrayal of the pitiably meek Vernon, but the rest of the cast, which includes the ever-smooth and ingratiating Austin ("Assault on Precinct 13") Stoker as the casually assiduous cop investigating the killings and "Don't Look in the Basement" 's Rosie Holotik as the fetching heroine, deliver comically dreadful performances. (Cardi and Stoker also appeared together in "Battle for the Planet of the Apes.") Even 70's football stars Mean Joe Greene, Calvin Hill and Craig Morton have no clue why they were even invited to this celluloid nightmare. Janis P. Valtenburg's chintzy, grainy, unsightly cinematography and the mandatory ghastly ending credits theme song (a sad, haunting, unforgettably atrocious pop-slop ballad called "Vernon's Theme" sung by Jerry Coward) are likewise hilariously atrocious. However, Don Hulette's funky, groovy, syncopated score does manage to hit the correct right-on happening spot. Good, schlocky 70's drive-in horror fun.
