Laserblast

Laserblast is a 1978 American independent science fiction film directed by Michael Rae and produced by Charles Band, widely known for producing B movies. Starring Kim Milford, Cheryl Smith, Gianni Russo, Keenan Wynn, Roddy McDowall, and Eddie Deezen (marking his screen debut), the plot follows an unhappy teenage loner who discovers an alien laser cannon and goes on a murderous rampage, seeking revenge against those who he feels have wronged him.

The reptilian alien creatures in the film were works of stop motion animation by animator David W. Allen, beginning a decades-long collaboration between Allen and Band. The featured alien spacecraft model was designed and built by Greg Jein in two weeks, and the musical score was written in five days by Joel Goldsmith and Richard Band, the first film score for both composers.

Laserblast has received overwhelmingly negative reviews and consistently ranks among the Bottom 100 list of films on the Internet Movie Database. Many critical reviews, however, cited Allen's stop motion animation as one of its only redeeming qualities. A sequel was planned for 1988, but was ultimately abandoned due to financial difficulties. Laserblast was featured in the seventh season finale of the comedy television series Mystery Science Theater 3000.

A green-skinned man wanders aimlessly through the desert with a mysterious laser cannon attached to his arm. Nearby, an alien spacecraft lands and two reptilian creatures emerge carrying weapons. After a brief firefight, the aliens disintegrate the man. Spotting an airplane, they return to their spacecraft and fly away, leaving behind the laser cannon and a pendant the man was wearing. Elsewhere, teenager Billy Duncan wakes up in his bed. He goes outside to find his mother has been invited to a trip to Acapulco and, despite her son's protests, she leaves her son behind. A dejected Billy goes to visit his girlfriend Kathy, but her grandfather Colonel Farley, a disheveled military veteran, rants about conspiracy theories to Billy and tells him to leave Kathy alone. Billy is soon harassed by a bully named Chuck Boran and his nerdy friend Froggy as well as by two sheriff deputies who give him a speeding ticket.

Billy wanders into the desert alone and discovers a laser cannon in addition to a mysterious pendant. Realizing he is able to use the cannon only while wearing the pendant, Billy starts firing randomly at things in the desert. Meanwhile, on the alien spacecraft, the two aliens converse (in an unsubtitled alien language) with their leader, who orders them to return to Earth and recover the cannon. Meanwhile, Billy and Kathy attend a pool party with other teens, where Chuck makes unwanted advances on Kathy, resulting in Billy fighting with Chuck and Froggy. That night, Billy fires at Chuck's car with the laser cannon, resulting in an explosion that Chuck and Froggy barely escape. Later, a government official named Tony Craig arrives to investigate both the explosion and the area of desert where Billy found the cannon. Tony informs the local sheriff that news related to the explosion and its cause must not leave the town.

Billy eventually develops an unusual growth on his chest. At Kathy's urging, he visits Doctor Mellon, who surgically removes a metallic disc from Billy's sternum. He calls the police laboratory technician Mike London to arrange for the disc to be evaluated. However, later that night, a green-skinned and seemingly crazed Billy opens fire on Mellon's car, killing him in an explosion. The next day, Tony investigates the wreckage and recovers unusual material, which he brings to Mike London. After some experiments, Mike concludes it is made of inorganic material not found on Earth. Later that night, Billy, once again appearing deranged and grotesque, attacks and kills the two sheriff deputies who harassed him earlier.

Billy sleeps with Kathy next to his van. While he is sleeping, Kathy discovers the alien pendant and puts it on Billy's chest, which turns his skin green and deforms his face. Billy attacks Kathy, but she escapes. Billy goes on a rampage, shooting things at random with the laser cannon. A small airplane with law enforcement officials opens fire on Billy, but he destroys the plane. Next, he kills Chuck and Froggy by destroying their new car with the cannon. Meanwhile, Tony Craig questions Colonel Farley and Kathy about Billy, while elsewhere the two aliens land on Earth and begin searching for Billy themselves. After killing a hippie and stealing his van, Billy travels to an empty city block where he fires indiscriminately at his surroundings. Kathy and Tony arrive and find Billy in an alley, just as one of the aliens shoots Billy with an unknown ray from atop a nearby building. Billy is killed, the laser cannon and the pendant are destroyed, and the aliens depart in their spacecraft. Kathy cries over Billy's corpse as Tony looks on.

There were a lot of revenge stories out at the time: Death Wish and all sorts of films. The thought was why can't some kid that has been pushed around a bit and hasn't been treated very well at school find some crazy alien weapon and blow the crap out of everything and every person who tormented him.