Signals: Read 'Em or Weep (extra on Carnival of Souls DVD (Criterion Collection, 2000)). [Category: Industrial]

This safety film sponsored by Caterpillar features bungling construction workers fudging on safety in various ways, and then paying the price when their big ol' earth-moving machines bust up in various spectacular ways. More than any other safety film, this one makes you wonder how it was made without endangering the actors, 'cause big machines really do bust up before the camera. The best scene is the one where a faulty hose causes a big pipe to be dropped on the supervisor's truck, totalling it––the worker looks tremendously embarassed, but I'll bet the real construction workers in the audience where whooping and hollering. Not a bad piece of ephemera for being made as late as 1981.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ****.