Between 1979 and 1984, Charles Band struggled to make a name for himself in the film industry. His producing partners Irwin Yablans and Joseph Wolf ousted Band from Meda Home Entertainment, which he helped establish in 1978. Around this time, Charles got involved with producer Billy Fine and his company Ideal Films. He and producer Lawrence Applebaum were working on a project with director Craig Mitchell that wasn’t going well. About halfway through the shoot, Fine and Applebaum decided to hire Band to replace Mitchell as the director. Charles brought regulars like Ted Nicolaou, J Larry Carroll, Steve Neill, Paul Gentry, and his brother Richard. Despite being shot in 1981, it wasn’t released in the UK until 1983 and in the US in 1985. It wasn’t until March 1986 that The Alchemist got a wide theatrical release in the United States.
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Synopsis
In 1871, the alchemist Aaron (Robert Ginty) saw a dark wizard, DelGatto (Robert Glaudini), seducing his wife, Anna. Aaron tries stopping DelGatto only to stab his wife accidentally, which curses him to live forever as a monster. Cut to 1955, where Lenora (Lucinda Dooling) has quit her waitress job and is driving through the desert. Along the way, she picks up hitchhiker Cameron (John Sanderford) when she starts experiencing weird flashes of DelGatto. Elsewhere, Aaron stalks the nearby woods as a monster while his elderly daughter Esther (Viola Kates Stimpson) cares for him. Soon enough, Aaron and Lenora cross paths, and it turns out she’s the reincarnation of his late wife, Anna. With DelGatto hot on their trail, they decide to team up to free Aaron of his curse and stop DelGatto. It’s the ultimate magical duel as the dark wizard clashes with the alchemist!
Review
Having now seen The Alchemist, I fully understand why the film took so long to get a release. It’s because this is one of the most boring movies I’ve ever seen, and that’s saying a lot. The movie has a decent, albeit goofy, beginning and some solid opening credits, but everything grinds to a halt afterward. Most of the film centers on two bland leads that offer nothing of substance and barely progress the story. Every so often, we’ll cut back to Robert Ginty struggling with his curse, which is mildly interesting. Robert Ginty’s performance is way too good for this movie, especially coming off the wildly entertaining vigilante film, The Exterminator. Speaking of things being way too good, Richard Band’s score is epic, bombastic, and belongs in a better fantasy film. Plus, the finale offers some decent creature and gore effects, but that’s about it.
As easy as it would be to criticize Charles Band as a director, I can’t blame him, considering the circumstances. Unlike Parasite 3D, Metalstorm, or Trancers, this was a work-for-hire job rather than something he had invested in making. It doesn’t help that much of the nighttime footage is so physically dark that it’s hard to tell what’s happening. That might explain why cinematographer Andrew W. Friend only has one other credit to his name, 1982’s The Concrete Jungle. Honestly, there’s not much else I can talk about, considering what little happens during its one-hour and eighteen-minute runtime. It might be worth a watch for curious onlookers and Charles Band completionists, but it’s best avoided otherwise. Granted, Charles Band may not have started Empire Pictures without this movie, so there’s that at least. Overall, The Alchemist is a dull excuse for a fantasy-horror film that’s better left forgotten.
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