The Creep Behind the Camera

I'm god.

I am god. I am god.

Oh!

Anyone who forgets it will get hurt.

Narrator: This man's name is Vic savage,

aka a.J. Nelson, aka Arthur Nichols white.

And about a dozen other aliases.

But those who knew him best just called him

“the creep behind the camera”.

When I talked to people like bill thourlby,

he had told me he wouldn't be surprised if a.J. Nelson

is somewhere under the Brooklyn bridge

in 20 feet of dirty water with his feet encased in concrete.

Perfect, baby.

Thouflby: Art was a junior player

of the most sophisticated creeps of the world.

This story of the making of "the creeping terror"

is one of the best Hollywood stories that's never been told.

Brace yourself.

This is going to be... atomic.

Monster!

Monster!

Hey, get that fucking thing over here.

My personal choice for the worst film ever made

is "the creeping terror."

It has always deserved that title

and it's about time it gets its proper recognition.

A good bad movie is one that is almost touching

in its Sincere incompetence.

Action!

You will never see incompetence more Sincere

than in "the creeping terror."

It's so unbelievably bad, your eyes are transfixed

to the screen and you can't believe so many people

spent so much time on such absolute garbage.

This was the movie that you fucked during at the drive-in.

You have to make a movie that is fun at some level

so that in-between the throes of orgasm,

you can look up at the screen and go, "what the fuck are we watching?"

God!

"The creeping terror" is the story of a man-eating carpet

from outer space that lands on lake Tahoe, Nevada,

and devours the entire teenage population at the high school prom.

Now you understand, they did this for...For $2.50.

They didn't have a lot of money to make this movie.

Move it out, men.

Narrator: Anyone who experienced that catastrophe and survived,

would never go there again.

Interviewee: The whole thing is just so bizarre

that it's completely narrated with very little actual spoken dialogue.

Narrator: The sergeant, a shaken man,

returned babbling about what had happened.

Caldwell, realizing the full danger of the situation...

Realized he had only one means left to stop the monster... grenades.

Now, Bradford made a drastic move.

He forbade Caldwell to destroy the creature.

The colonel told Bradford to go to hell.

Hollywood magic.

Uh, Mr. burrell, uh, is that two 'r's or two 'l's?

If you list my name in the credits, I'll kill you.

Well, "the creeping terror" is a very low-budget movie

made by a very psychotic person.

Say it again.

I'm like steel.

Like a steel...

Trip hammer.

He was producer, director, actor.

You should try marriage. It would do wonders for you.

You feel it?

Say it.

Mr. Nelson? You're wanted on set.

I told you my name is Vic.

Vic savage.

You're wanted on set, Mr. savage...

By Mrs. savage.

This guy who would sell his mother into white slavery.

Don't worry, mom, soon as I put this picture over, I'll buy you out.

That's the kind of guy he was.

Goddamn bitch better realize who she's dealing with.

Eddie! That little prick!

That fucking c-note

better show up sooner...

What is this shit?

Honey, l...L don't know.

What an honor. You know, this is a real treat.

"Naked city," "route 66."

You are one of the best writers on television.

Actually, you're thinking of my half brother,

Sterling silliphant.

I'm Allan.

Oh.

I haven't really...

You know...You know, whatever.

Sure you've got a lot of your brother's talent, though, don't you?

Come on, admit it.

Admit it.

L...L think so.

Allan.

It's Allan, right?

Yeah.

Look, I'm gonna make the biggest,

best monster movie ever made,

and I want you to write it.

Silliphant: Art had offered me $1500 for the nine or ten page treatment.

Now, that was a great deal of money for a young guy to get.

This story was set at lake Tahoe.

One of the most beautiful places in the world

is lake Tahoe.

In fact, I did a documentary about ten years ago about lake Tahoe.

A rocket ship crashes at very high speed

and comes to rest in the mud on the beach at lake Tahoe.

The hot rocket is causing a fog bank

around where the rocket had crashed.

A monster slithers out and slips into lake Tahoe.

You see that it has tentacles that have eye stalks.

They're like snail's eye stalks

and they're rather phallically suggestive,

except they have an eye on the end.

And you see this thing kind of look around

and see the bright lights of the casinos across the lake,

and then move out like the loch ness monster and submerge.

And then,

we introduce the deputy sheriff

who's coming back from his honeymoon

and he sees that something has happened.

A scientist comes in and he finds out

that there's a creature still inside the ship.

This one is sort of in a harness.

It is able to kind of extrude itself out like a mollusk.

He tries to reason with it and it eats him.

There's...There's no...There's no reasoning with this.

You don't reason with a... With a sea squirt.

As it goes into a drive-in theater,

it uses those tentacles to pull down the windows

by just sheer force and suck the people out of the cars.

An old man and his grandson were fishing

and the eye stalks come up out of the water

and it eats the man and the little boy.

Then, it goes to the casino

and eats the chorus at one of these variety shows.

It can't move very fast,

but it eats as many people as it can.

It was a... a kind of cute idea for a Sci-Fi movie.

But it was turned into this thing that didn't make any sense,

that was scaled down to the level of absurdity in its execution.

My god, what is it?

They shot it up in simi valley,

where there was a little muddy pond to replace lake Tahoe.

Bobby.

Bobby!

Art needed my studio in order to do some of the interiors

and he also needed my help to help him get

a special effects man to create the monster

and the rocket ship and various things like that.

There's this, too.

Yeah.

We're making something that the world will never forget.

"The creeping terror" is gonna suck out

every last bit of your skill, my friend.

You need to give me your best.

A real, big monster.

No chimp with fangs, no banana with treads.

This is your shot, kid.

You know, someday the whole world is gonna know the name...

- Vic savage. - Vic savage.

Make my monster.

Knock my balls off, kid.

Okay, he's in. What about silliphant?

Yeah, about that...

My girl's played a lot of back seat bingo hauling in this wad.

Don't botch it, boy.

You wanted to buy me a drink.

I think you've got that...

I'm your dream come true.

He was a real swindler, apparently.

But from people I talked to, for all they know,

he was sleeping in his car.

I'm supposed to be what again?

You're the hero.

You fight the monster from eating your friends.

You're tough. You're manly.

You use your bare hands. You have a deadly weapon.

You are fucking John Wayne!

That'll be $5, ma'am.

I just don't see why I have to pay.

Jesus Christ, buddy!

You can't get into show business

unless you show them that you're serious.

200 fucking dollars, big deal.

It shows them that you're not some two-bit, starry-eyed joker.

Grow some balls already.

Mr. Nelson!

Mr. Nelson!

Where...Where is art?

Jesus, buddy, relax.

Pop a couple of these.

Settle the fuck down.

Action!

Jesus, Mary and Joseph!

Jesus,jesus,