BtZ20: Killdozer

Well, boys and girls, it's time to sit yourself down and let me give you a little history about the film that is KILLDOZER. Our story begins in in 1944, science fiction writer Theodore Sturgeon has had writers block for the past 3 years. Suddenly, inspiration hits him and what he pounds out is a novella called "Killdozer". It is published in the November 1944 edition of "Astounding Science Fiction".

The story follows an eight man construction crew building an airstrip and buildings for the US Army during World War II. They have the unfortunate luck of accidentally bulldozing the remains of an ancient civilization of sentient machines that have wiped out during a long forgotten war (Wait, isn't this the plot to TRANSFORMERS?) an energy being, the last survivor of this race of machines then possesses their bulldozer a Spanish De-Siete nicknamed "Daisy Etta". What does this alien force want to do? Kill the construction workers of course and picks them all off one by one until finally it is destroyed by the last two survivors. When stuck with having to explain everything, they set out to tell the truth knowing full well that nobody will believe them, however the enemy bombing raid destroys all the evidence plus the Killdozer as well, giving them a plausible explanation: Enemy action.

Well, fast forward to the year 1974, the story was adapted into a made-for-TV-movie of the same name by director Jerry London. London was best known for directing many television shows over the years. Stuff like "Hawaii Five-O", "Kojak" and, uhg, "The Brady Bunch".

So right off the bat, for those of you who are not seasoned professionals: This is a Made-For-TV movie from the 1970's. When it comes to made-for-TV movies or mini-series these are always, always, always, a challenge. They can be horrid pieces of garbage like STRANDED IN SPACE (AKA "The Stranger" as it was intended to be a TV show), to sci-fi gold like the original V mini-series. KILLDOZER... Is... Well, let's talk about KILLDOZER...

The film is about six construction workers that work for War Corp (or is it Wor Corp? That logo is damn hard to read) who have been hired to bulldoze an old American base located somewhere out in the Pacific. One night a meteor from outer space lands on the island. It's origins? Unknown! But, before we get into how this meteor turns a bulldozer into a relentless killing machine, let's take a moment to soak in the pretty faces that were are going to have to look at for the next 74 minutes:

Clint Walker - I'm going to have to go out on a limb here and assume that most BThroughZ readers are probably not familiar with Westerns (but then again I could be wrong, it wouldn't be the first time), so for those of you who don't know Clint Walker was best known for his many roles in westerns. His most well known role was in the TV series "Cheyenne", and he also appeared in films like THE DIRTY DOZEN, GOLD OF THE SEVEN SAINTS, and MORE DEAD THAN ALIVE. Around the 70's he didn't do a whole lot outside of KILLDOZER, his last film role was playing the voice of "Nick Nitro" in the film SMALL SOLDIERS. Clint plays the role of site boss Lloyd Kelly, a hard ass work-a-holic who used to be an al-co-holic until he had to make good with the company or risk losing his job. At the start of the movie he's been clean and sober a long time.

Robert Urich - The late Robert rich is another guy who was best known for his roles on television, most notably his lead role in the TV series "Spenser: For Hire" which ran from 1985-1988 (Yeah, I don't remember it either). He did appear in the movie MAGNUM FORCE though. Which, I suppose is an accomplishment. He died of cancer in 2002. However, 28 years before the whole dying of cancer thing he played the role of Mack McCarthy, the young green horn who is - Well, you'll see. It's also interesting to note that KILLDOZER would come back to haunt him again in the year 2000, when during an appearance on the Conan O'Brien show Urich was reminded by Conan of his involvement with the show. Urich stated in that interview that he had only did the role to "pay the rent", which to me is a reasonable justification to be in this Limburger of a film.

Neville Brand - Probably the character, who in my opinion, had the most notoriety among the cast. One of the most decorated actors in Hollywood who fought in World War II, he starred in such films as D.O.A, the Elvis flick LOVE ME TENDER. He was known for playing the role of Al Capone, not only in the 1959 "Untouchables" television series but also in the GEORGE RAFT STORY. He was also in the BIRD MAN OF ALCATRAZ and STALAG 17 for crying out loud! Oh, and here's some horror cred on this guy, he also played the role of Judd in Tobe Hooper's tediously boring film EATEN ALIVE! In KILLDOZER, Neville plays the role of the unfortunately named Chub Foster. No, he doesn't play the role of a male porn star, but that of the site mechanic who makes sure everything is in working order.

James A. Watson Jr. - Is the token black actor of the film, he's played on mostly television shows like "Shaft", "The Jeffersons" and more recently "The Wayans Bros." and "The Jamie Foxx Show" I see a pattern here.... He's had some minor film roles, such as in the less-funny sequel to AIRPLANE, AIRPLANE 2: THE SEQUEL. In KILLDOZER he plays the role of Al Beltran, and like most token black characters in films you can bet that they wouldn't even lay his odds in of survival in Vegas.

James Wainwright - If you believe the link they have for Wainwright on the Wikipedia entry for KILLDOZER[1], Wainwright was the Governor, Almoner, and Treasurer of St. Thomas Hospital in London circa the late 1800's. In a time travel adventure to the year 1974 he appeared in the film KILLDOZER where he played the character Dutch Krasner, another construction worker who is constantly busting Lloyd Kelly's balls. The two are at each others throats until they have to start working together in order to survive and realize, hey we ain't such bad fellows after all. More on that later.

Carl Betz - Last, but not least, we have Carl Betz who was another mostly-television actor from the 1950's through to the 1978 when he died of lung cancer. He played on TV shows like "Perry Mason", "Night Gallery", and "Starskey and Hutch". Betz plays the role of Dennis Holvig, a real tough guy who is best buds with Mack until Mack meets his untimely demise (explained below). Mack's death unhinges Holvig leading him slowly into insanity.

Have I whet your appetite my friend? Have I piqued your interest? Ah, yes, I see the glow in your eyes. Well, then come with me child as I walk you through the wonderful premise that is KILLDOZER!

The film opens with a meteor falling to Earth and landing on a remote pacific island. The passage of time is left to our imaginations, but we cut to our story where our cast of characters are busy tearing down old military buildings that were used in World War II. We meet our cast: The tight assed by-the-book Kelly, the confrontational Krasner (aka Dutch), the down to earth Chub, and eager go-getters Holvig, Mack and Beltran.

Kelly gets Mack to come help him with the days path clearing in the D-9 Bulldozer that the company has given them to do the job. They uncover the strange meteorite and when Kelly tries to bulldoze past it, it causes a blue radiance of energy that bombards the blade of the Bulldozer and irradiates Mack, horribly burning him. While trying their best to treat him, Kelly tries in vein to get a doctor out to the island ASAP, but to no avail. Mack then asks to speak to Kelly alone to tell him what he witnessed during the accident much to the chagrin of Mack's best bud Holvig. Mack dies shortly thereafter. As his co-workers bury Mack, Kelly goes and tests out the D-9 and it suddenly goes out of control, forcing him to cut the fuel line, narrowly avoiding being crushed to death by the bulldozers blade when he is thrown from Killdozer's cab.

After pulling Killdozer in, he asks Chub to repair it, but tells him that nobody is to ride it because it's gone "wild" and they need to make sure it's working properly in the future. Now when people start asking for answers all Kelly can do is give them a look and tell them, essentially, that it's nothing. He deflects questions about what's happened and when it comes to Holvig's ranting and raving about Mack he just ignores the mans grief. Kelly even pulls a shit fit and takes away a bottle of booze that was smuggled onto the camp when the guys are all taking a shot to remember Mack.

Okay, so let's stop for a second here: Lets do a bit of a check list here and go over the ground we have covered:

1.) Our characters are on a remote island in the middle of nowhere.

2.) Help is next to impossible to get, and it would take days to get there.

3.) One of your co-workers died under mysterious circumstances.

4.) Your once compliant D-9 Bulldozer went haywire and just tried to kill you.

The next morning after Chub has finished repairing the D-9, Beltran hops onto it - not listening to Chub's demands to get off - and proceeded to speed off to do some work. Clearly nobody on this job has seen Herk Harvey's influential safety video SHAKE HANDS WITH DANGER they might have avoided some of this crap. Killdozer, smartly crushes their radio as well to prevent them from calling for help. So as you can guess, Beltran is horrified to find that the controls on the D-9 have a mind of their own and he has no control over it. Now, here's a bit of logic for you all: When you find yourself trapped on a vehicle that is out of control, or worse, seemingly alive; where would you find the safest place to be? If you answered "In the cab", then you'd probably be right. But Beltran apparently doesn't have that much foresight, he jumps out of the dozer, (he doesn't even try to turn it off) and then of course, Killdozer begins chasing him around. What does Beltran do to try and avoid the Killdozer? Jump into a drainage pipe. Which then gets crushed by Killdozer. Not too bright if you ask me.

So the other characters realize, holy crap, this thing is alive and out to get us. They decide to try and blow it up with the TNT they have on sight, but Killdozer shows them buy bulldozing their shelter and plowing through all the TNT that they have. This causes an explosion that doesn't harm Killdozer in the slightest. So they decide to escape up a hill, and in the course of that fiasco Chub gets killed by the Killdozer leaving only Holvig (who's really losing it by this point), Krasner and Kelly. Kelly and Krasner are getting to warm up to each other (because you know, they have to rely on one another for survival) but Krasner is still trading quips with his boss. While hiding out for the night from Killdozer, they have the bright idea of giving Holvig the previously confiscated bottle of booze to calm him down. Wait, so you're going to give the unhinged crazy guy a bottle of booze? Right, because as we all know booze is a clear way to make someone think clear and, er, sober. The next morning after having drained the entire bottle Holvig announces to the others that he's "going for a swim" and speeds off in their remaining jeep. You know where this is going right? Of course, he runs into Killdozer, and instead of driving out of it's path, or diving out of the vehicle he just sits in the vehicle screaming as Killdozer - slowly - approaches him and crushes him to death. This is probably the most heavy handed lesson on why you shouldn't drink and drive that I have ever seen.

So, now that we have the only non stupid characters kicking around we need to find a way to dispatch our movie monster so we can all call it a day and go home. After a gripping duel between Killdozer and a steam shovel, our heroes consider how they could possibly kill the Killdozer. Actual lines from the film:

Kelly: How do you go about killing a machine?
Krasner: A machine? It's too heavy to hang and it's too big to put in the gas chamber.

They finally decide that electrocution will do it, which is apparently does. And that is the end of the story pretty much. We're left with our characters wondering how to explain the whole situation and decide that they'll tell it like it is. So wait a second, this thing can survive running out of gas and being blown up by TNT, and electricity is the thing that does it in? Please show your work. I would like to know how you came to this conclusion.

There are a number of things I find amusing about the film. The first one would be the relationship between Holvig and Dutch. Numerous times after Dutch's death, Holvig remenisses about all the adventures they would have. Getting in bar fights, and sneaking off site to go swimming in the middle of the night. These recollections are so full over energy and excitement, you have to wonder if they were a little more than friends. I thought it was cute.

The fact that Killdozer does not move very fast! I don't know if it's because it was the bulldozers top speed or they wanted to play it safe, whatever the reason Killdozer doesn't move very fast. In fact, anyone with half a brain could have easily dived out of it's way while it was "charging" at them. It brings about some very laughable wide angle shots of Killdozer approaching it's victim at a very low speed. I am left to wonder why they didn't speed up these shots when they edited the film together in the end? I mean, speeding up film is hardly a brain buster to figure out, even in the good old film stock days. I just hope this wasn't the directors creative vision.

Killdozer leaves an odd legacy behind it. There is the aforementioned MST3K reference, and the original story was adapted into a comic book when Marvel featured it in their old Worlds of the Unknown sci-fi series in the 70's.

The strangest one of all happened in real life: In 2004, welder and muffler repair shop owner Marvin John Heemeyer was angry at his town of Granby, Colorado over various zoning disputes that caused his business to fail. Consumed by anger, and thinking that he was guided by God, he converted a Komatsu D355A bulldozer into a near indestructible wrecking machine. It was literally bullet proof and resistant to explosions. He terrorized the town wrecking various buildings owned by people he disputed with prompting local officials to call in the National Guard. It was getting so bad that they were considering sending in a AH-64 Apachie helicopter to blow it up with a Hellfire missile because it would have caused less collateral damage if they let him keep on going. Ultimately, his bulldozer got snagged when one of it's treds collapsed into the small basement of a hardware store he was wrecking making him stuck. Instead of allowing himself to get captured he blew his brains out. At the end of the day, the media dubbed his bulldozer "Killdozer" after the film. This real life Killdozer was broken down into scrap and it's parts were dumped in various junk yards to prevent admirers of Heemeyer from getting souvenirs (Or perhaps they were worried the machine would repair itself and get revenge for it's master?) Anyway, check it out there the whole story is on the internet super-sleuth look it up yourself.

One of the movies most frustrating points is that it doesn't explain where the meteor came from, or why the Killdozer - which clearly has a calculating intelligence driving it - has decided the best thing to do is kill the construction workers? Would it have hurt to have a narrator explain this to the audience at all? The lack of understanding as to why the bulldozer is killing people wouldn't be such a big deal if Killdozer was a metaphor like Michael Myers in HALLOWEEN; or better yet, a the delivery system of a social commentary like DAWN OF THE DEAD. However, that is not the case, and that's the annoying part. The science fiction story probably gives the reader full explanation from it's narrative, something the writers could have totally incorporated into the story with a narrator.

KILLDOZER is one of those movies that has a really really awesome movie title that falls short of the expectations said title brings. To be fair, this movie was a made for TV movie that was put together in the 70's and that probably has a lot to do with it's, drabness. I don't think people who were flipping on the ABC Movie of the Week wanted to watch a bulldozer turn a human being into pulp under it's treads. If you aren't expecting something like CHRISTINE or even better MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE, then I would recommend steering clear of KILLDOZER. It's one of those movies that probably wouldn't hurt getting the remake treatment. I would recommend this movie for anyone who loves corny made-for-TV movies that came out of the 70's. If that's the case, then you're probably Frank Conniff.

Footnote 1: That is unless someone went in and fixed the link. In which case, my dear internet researcher from the distant post-apocalyptic future, follow this link to see what the primitive savages of the 21st Century found so funny about the coming paragraph. Otherwise, just read the rest of my damn review already!