The Humanoid (1979) {Reel Vault DVD Review}

On May 25th 1977 the world of film was changed forever with the release of Star Wars. It would change the way people viewed films and inspire filmmakers to shoot films outside of the box and shoot for the stars with amazing adventures.

Just a short 2 years later Italian filmmaker Aldo Lado co-wrote and directed a space odyssey of his own entitled The Humanoid. Now the good folks at Reel Vault are releasing this Italian B-movie on DVD so that sci-fi fans can relive it over and over again.

Hoping to overthrow his brother as ruler of the planet Metropolis, the evil Lord Graal (Ivan Rassimov) enlists the help of the insane Dr. Kraspin (Arthur Kennedy), who has invented a chemical capable of turning an ordinary person into a perfect soldier. They test this chemical on the pilot Golob (Richard Keil), turning the unsuspecting victim into a mindless but indestructible automaton possessing superhuman strength. The people of Metropolis must somehow outwit Graal before he can create an army of these soldiers, or their planet will be destroyed.

When watching this film you can tell that Aldo Lado was inspired by George Lucas' epic movie. Insomuch as Lord Graal's armor looks a lot like Darth Vader and the spaceship he commands resembles a star destroyer. Even Lado used a different name credited as George B. Lewis.
 

In addition to the towering presence of Richard Kiel the film also has another star many will remember seeing and that is Barbara Bach (Anya Amasova in The Spy Who Loved Me) as Lady Agatha.

While The Humanoid is sci-fi adventure film, it never seems to hit the heights of Star Wars. Of course that is a extremely high mark to hit. But there is some great effects and action. If you don't go into this film expecting Star Wars, I think you might enjoy the film.

Reel Vault has transferred the English version of this film on DVD in it's original full screen format. The soundtrack is a 2.0 mono track. I have to say for an over 40 year old low budget B-movie this transfer looks and sounds pretty great. I really didn't see any damage to the print.

Sadly this DVD does not include any bonus features. No subtitles for the deaf or heard of hearing. But I think to see a very nice copy of this film on DVD in your collection will be enough to make this a purchase. Especially for B-movie Sci-fi fans.

If you are interested in a copy of this film for your collection, head over to Deep Discount and order yours today. 

 Out of 4 film reels (4 being the best) Reel Vault's DVD release of The Humaniod receives...