Let me explain how I found this film. I was at a monster convention in Virginia a long time ago with my pal Louie (my co-founder Jorge's brother) when I met Conrad Brooks for the second time in my life. The first time I met Conrad was at Monster Bash, a convention in Pittsburgh, and I fell into his trap of buying his shot-on-video movies. I liked the guy enough and when we met in Virginia he showed me a copy of Jan-Gel, recently released. I resisted buying it at first...but who was I kidding, I knew I would own it, and Jan-Gel traveled back home with me.

The movie begins with a fond dedication to Tor Johnson, the Swedish Angel, and Ed Wood, who were not only Conrad's co-stars, but cohorts. Then we meet Jan-Gel, a fat, balding, wild-eyed man in a Halloween store caveman costume who has recently been found in a block of ice. However, he has MORE recently been lost at sea when the freighter ship ran into accident and now Jan-Gel, who was the king of his tribe of hairy, beer-bellied cavemen, is on the loose in the wilds of West Virginia. Jan-Gel spends his time attacking old people in a pool, rooting around in the garbage for food, and stalking people at a monster convention (obviously filmed during one of Conrad's visits to a show where he sold his wares). Here we meet a middle-aged woman with the worst scream in the world, and a Shakespearean actor who recites Poe's The Raven for no reason except to add increasing retardedness to the movie. Then we meet Captain Les, who has somehow become an expert on the so called "beast". He plans to call in two special agents to hunt and kill Jan-Gel...and now the movie gets REALLY REALLY good!

At exactly 17:08 we meet Conrad, dressed in slimming black and sporting a badass cowboy hat that he probably just bought. His theme song, a bumbling ditty, plays and makes him look less than badass. He gets off a train and meets his partner in crime, a tall goof dressed all in camouflage and chomping an unlit cigar. This is Gary West, his portly partner, who informs him that they need to find Jan-Gel, except they don't know what he looks like or know anything about him at all, but he is dressed in camo so that Jan-Gel doesn't "recognize him as law enforcement"! These are our two special agents. The "dynamic" duo meet Castor, a dopey, gangly teenager who also joins the team for some reason. They immediately receive word that a young girl has been kidnapped by Jan-Gel and race off to save the day by interviewing the mom of the girl (played by Conrad's ex-wife) and then taking a leisurely stroll through the woods and just calling out her name! Meanwhile Jan-Gel is trying to woo the girl by a swamp when a rubber snake, I mean a real snake, attacks and Jan-Gel spends a good three minutes fighting off something that a normal dude would just toss away or throw a rock at.

In their hunt the boys encounter a weirdo (who is even weirder because he is not acting) who eats spiders and looks sickly and close to death or zombie transformation. Beth, the missing girl, manages to escape while Jan-Gel is taking a nap after his vicious fight with the regular-sized snake. He awakens to find his new bride missing and goes crazy! By crazy I mean he screams pathetically and wanders through the woods some more. Beth runs into the boys and she is "safe". She goes off with Castor (this all happens off camera) and Conrad and Gary walk slowly toward the climactic confrontation with the beast from the east that ends in a shootout with the monster slain...or is he?

This is not a good movie at all. In fact it is terrible and filled with awful acting. However, I love the hell out of this movie and maybe it's because shortly after I bought the original vhs Conrad starred in my first two feature films and I grew to appreciate him as a good man and a dear friend. There is barely any blood, except for on Jan-Gel, there is no nudity to speak off, and the beast, played by Dale Clukey (one of Conrad's hermit neighbors), is fairly inane and ridiculous so there is not much to recommend here. But if you liked movies like The Room, Birdemic, or Troll 2 then you will have yourself a stone-cold blast watching this shot-on-video valentine to 50s monster movies. Not only is it dedicated to Ed Wood, but it is infused with the spirit of the man. I think I've seen this damn thing like 20 times...and you know what I think I will probably watch it until my dying day. It is not only the greatest single creation by an amateur filmmaker, but it was made by my friend, who should have known better but I'm real glad he didn't. And by that I don't mean to laugh at his mistakes, but to rejoice in the simple creation of a misfire that became truly special to me. After all, art is subjective, and the greatest art is entertaining and delights you every time you experience it.

- Jose Prendes