**Potential Spoilers**
I am acutely aware of not having watched enough horror movies recently and even more aware of not having reviewed enough of them either. As a result I trawled the parts of Amazon prime movies that most non horror fans avoid. My search proved fruitful, as I unearthed a film that I had never heard of, The Being. Made in 1983 and set in small town Idaho, a monster is killing people. It sounded great, and you know what, it wasn't bad.
The plot as already mentioned is based around a series of murders that occur in a small Idaho town called Pottsville. A young man is attacked in the opening scene, despite making it to a car the monster jumps onto it's roof and rips his head off. Next a car with two stoners at a drive in are attacked and one of them is killed by the creature. After each attack a green slime like substance is found. The mayor doesn't want any bad publicity so turns to a chemical safety officer to investigate. At the same time a police detective is conducting his own investigation. The rest of the movie involves the attempts of both men to find out what is killing people and at the same time avoid becoming it's next victim.
The Being is not the best made movie in terms of technical factors but it is by no means awful considering that it is essentially a low budget horror movie. The plot whilst not particularly original is coherent enough to not spoil the movie. The cinematography is satisfactory, if uninspired. The acting is generally speaking poor but Martin Landau gives a decent performance. The special effects are ropey in places but the creature itself is quite impressive on occasions. Whilst there is gore it is not the most realistic but there might be enough to keep gore fans satisfied.
5 out of 10
Summary: by no means a bad horror movie, if you enjoy 1980's low budget creature feature movies then check it out.