‘Wanted! Have you seen this sheep?’
Godmonster of Indian Flats is a 1973 American monster movie written and directed by Fredric Hobbs (Alabama’s Ghost).
The movie stars Christopher Brooks, Stuart Lancaster and E. Kerrigan Prescott.
Director Frederic Hobbs, made only four films in his cinematic career but going by the evidence of the two it’s possible to see, he crammed in more outré ephemera than most directors are able to in a lifetime.
Hobbs’ bizarre 1973 effort, Godmonster of Indian Flats is particularly difficult to describe: part-Western, part-Nevada desert potboiler with a repugnant racist mayor and black hero, and part-mutant eight-foot-tall sheep rampage.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, this oddball movie never received a theatrical release. However, it was belatedly given one of Something Weird Video’s most extravagant DVD releases which was reissued by AGFA.
On July 10, 2018, AGFA (American Genre Film Archive), in conjunction with Something Weird, released Godmonster of Indian Flats on Blu-ray for the first time.
New 4K transfer from the only surviving 35mm theatrical print
Rampaging monster trailers from the AGFA vaults
Berserker shorts from the Something Weird vaults
Bonus Movie: The Legend of Bigfoot (1975), a new 2K scan from an original theatrical print
Reversible cover art with illustration by Shana Cleveland
On the face of it, the film is a ludicrous mess, the clashing story threads barely meeting at any point, the mutant sheep of a standard that has you leaning towards the TV screen to check you’re seeing correctly but the perverse ambition, comic characters and the sheer fact it exists are all cause for celebration of silly cinema.
The film sets the standard for most people’s personal tolerance of oddball film viewing – if you like the work of John Waters, it’s worth a go; if you don’t like Godmonster, you should probably not attempt to watch anything by trash gore auteur Andy Milligan.
Hobbs’ other notable film, Alabama’s Ghost, is a slightly more coherent watch. Since giving up movie-making, he has apparently become an acclaimed artist and sculptor.
Daz Lawrence, MOVIES and MANIA
Other reviews:
“Godmonster of Indian Flats tackles a number of issues through a goofy and whacky narrative. The ‘Wild West’ is evoked through the strange and unusual mind of Fredric Hobbs, bringing an artistic and almost hallucinatory angle to the action. And there’s plenty of action in this inventive and idiosyncratic mixture of sci-fi, horror and western.” Backseat Mafia
” …the acting is consistently terrible, none of this is interesting to watch. Worse, writer-director Fredric Hobbs periodically forgets that he’s making a movie with “monster” in the title […] once the creature escapes captivity to begin its inevitable rampage—which doesn’t happen until the last 30 minutes of the picture—the design of the beastie is revealed as ridiculous.” Every ’70s Movie
” …it eventually builds up to a finale that defies all description. Invite some of your more straitlaced friends over, and listen closely as their synapses sizzle while they gape in slack-jawed incredulity and wonder what the hell planet this was made on. “Make them all paaaaaay!!!!” Truly stupefying.” Film Vault
“Simultaneously grotesque, pitiable, and hilarious.” Stephen Thrower, Nightmare USA
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“It’s never as much fun as you would expect a movie about a giant sheep to be. But, even with that in mind, where else are you going to see a giant sheep wandering throughout the desert? Seriously, this is one of those movies that you should see at least once. It may not be any good but it is one of a kind.” Through the Shattered Lens
“What’s the point of coming up with a cool ass idea and ruining it by padding the flick with tons of stupid racist mayor shit? And why on Earth would you make a movie about a bipedal monster sheep and then have the cajones to only let it accidentally kill one person? If that had been me behind the camera I would’ve sent that sucker on an all-out rampage.” The Video Vacuum
Filming locations:
Reno and Virginia City, Nevada
Trailer:
