The British production company Tigon, which enjoyed success from the mid '60s to the mid '70s, has a lot to answer for. As well as acclaimed classics like Reeves' WITCHFINDER GENERAL and Polanski's REPULSION, they released a glut of B-movies in the horror and exploitation genres most of which are must-sees for the British cult fan. ZETA ONE is one of their sexploitation efforts and generally an appalling movie, only to be watched for nostalgic purposes. The story is plot less drivel, lurching from one scene to the next with no continuity, and the lame sci-fi additions to the story simply consist of supposedly alien women (the only alien thing about them is their dress sense!), who stand in a darkened room with silly-looking sets and lighting and spout nonsensical drivel about alien invasions which never happen. It's hideously dated of course, whether in the garish attire or in sequences in which people float around in dark rooms with lava-lamp footage superimposed over the top.The paucity of the budget is very much in evidence in the first twenty minutes of the movie, which consists of two characters sitting in a flat, flirting a lot and finally engaging in a silly, never-ending game of strip poker which will test the patience of even the most hardened bad-movie lover. After this timewasting footage finally grinds to a halt, we get lots of interconnected characters like a secret society of sadists; aliens kidnapping earth women and the "hero" of the piece, a wannabe James Bond spy who spends all of his screen time bedding naked women (I don't know why they bother - he's pretty repulsive). The fact that his moustache appears and disappears throughout the film suggests some kind of post-production problems and tampering with footage.After endless scenes of naked and half-naked women wandering around aimlessly, the finale arrives, an action sequence set in the woods in which loads of alien women (dressed in VERY skimpy clothing) arrive and zap the male bad guys. Well, I say zap, but really all they do is stretch out their arms and the men fall down dead, with an appropriate sound effect superimposed over the action. It's so cheap that this scene is laughably incredible. All of the female cast (aside from Dawn Addams, wasted as the alien queen) lose their clothing for various silly reasons, and the camera is always on hand to capture them crawling through air vents or being stripped in a makeshift torture chamber! Robin Hawdon is the spy, and I think it's pretty fair to say that he's a very bad actor indeed - perhaps one of the worst I've seen! Amateurish at all times and totally incompetent...it comes as no surprise that he was never heard of again. Two 'big names' have been drafted in to give the film some kind of status. The first is James Robertson Justice who sleepwalks through his performance and picks up the cheque at the end, and the second is the inimitable Charles Hawtrey who has some of the funniest sequences in the film and is a delight as ever - in fact he's one of the main reasons to watch and he makes an effort too. Don't you just love the man? Most of the female cast are unknown and can't act (for obvious reasons), but B-stars Valerie Leon and Yutte Stensgaard are a welcome sight amongst the rest of the heaving naked female flesh. Sometimes fun, mainly dull, this inexplicable offering is for those fans who are VERY forgiving for their movie's lackings - I don't think anyone would claim that this is a good film at all.
... View More"Zeta One" (what's with the "Love Factor" nonsense?) is a curious mix of a spy spoof and a sci-fi sex comedy. The two parts rarely interact with each other, as Robin Hawdon's suavely bumbling secret agent spends most of his time in bed, usually in the company of a pretty woman, while most of the action takes place around London and in Zeta's extra-dimensional all-woman universe. For all its psychedelic effects and topless women, "Zeta One" is not nearly as exciting as it sounds: the comedy is rarely funny, some women are shown training in hand-to-hand combat but in the "action" climax they just zap the bad guys with invisible rays coming out of their fingers, the story often makes little sense (if the Zeta women can teleport themselves at will, why don't they just teleport themselves out of trouble when they get captured?), and even at just 82 minutes, the film feels padded. On the plus side, some of the women - especially Yutte Stensgaard and Wendy Lingham - show not only their wonderful bodies but some comic talent as well. ** out of 4.
... View Moreyears ago i purchased this drive in double feature from the company; sinister cinema,the 2nd film is;when women had tails(70)it also features all the drive in intermission countdowns,snack bar stuff,etc; anyway zeta one(titled love factor on this double bill)is a fun James bondish spoof from 1969,it features lots of soft core nudity,and psychedelic images.its about an amazon like race of scantily clad superwomen that must fight enemy agents and such,robin hawden(when dinosaurs ruled the earth)is a secret agent like James bond who discovers the amazon race and helps them.its no classic but its a rarity to see a film like this.its drive in fare the 2nd feature however is very silly and lowbrow.but entertaining.look for sexy Valerie Leon,the busty brunette actress from hammers;blood from the mummy's tomb(74)as one of the amazonions.i thought it was a silly but entertaining little film.i recommend it.8 out of 10.
... View MoreIf anything, "Zeta One" (a.k.a. "The Love Factor" and "Alien Women") proves that the U.S.A. doesn't have a lock on cheesy soft-core porn movies. In this one, a race of alien women (many of whom run around topless) kidnap earth women to repopulate their world. What sounds like a fun spoof of spy movies and sci-fi flicks fails miserably, due to many factors, not the least of which is that there's simply no point of view. The cast (and the script) seem to meander around without any real purpose. The secret agent character, James Word (played by Robin Hawdon of "When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth") seems to have two purposes in the movie: to have sex with every woman who crosses his path, and smoke cigarettes, since he doesn't seem to do anything else. A part like his takes a deft comedic touch, which Hawdon just doesn't have. The story is told in flashback, and the framing sequences featuring Hawdon and lovely Yutte Stensgaard seem to indicate trouble with the original film (Hawdon has a moustache in the main body of the film, but is without it in the framing sequences). Scenes dealing with a strip-poker game and Word's ultimate fate go on for what seems like an eternity without any real payoff. And top-billed James Robertson Justice gives a textbook example of a "where's-my-paycheck?" type performance. The British have a reputation for stuffiness, and if this movie is any indication, it is a reputation well-deserved.
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