Category: Prehistoric monsters
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Monster on the Campus
The juices from a prehistoric fish turns a mild-mannered professor into a raging Neanderthal in Jack Arnold’s 1958 monster programmer. While a fairly entertaining low-budget romp, the film’s weak, contrived and repetitive script and sub-par special effects make it a low-point in Arnold’s career. 4/10
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The Jungle
An Indian princess and her two romantic rivals investigate claims of prehistoric mammoths wreaking havoc on villages. A US/Indian co-production starring Marie Windsor & Cesar Romero, this 1952 B jungle/SF adventure is competent but dull, saved only by its Indian locations. 3/10
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Varan
Another prehistoric reptile threatens Tokyo, and the Japanese military throws everything in its arsenal at it. That’s pretty much the plot of Toho’s ill-fated 1958 movie Varan, a TV project that was hastily punched up to feature film status when the American buyer pulled out in the middle of filming.…
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The Brain Eaters
Small-town scientists investigate a strange metallic cone while the townspeople get body-snatched by parasites. An unauthorised ripoff of Robert Heinlein’s “The Puppet People”, this 1958 AIP low-budget clunker directed by Bruno VeSota is inept, but has its moments. 4/10
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The Black Scorpion
Scientists battle giant prehistoric scorpions in Mexico in this 1957 Warner low-budget production. Willis O’Brien’s and Pete Peterson’s magnificent stop motion sequences balance out a poor and drawn-out script. 6/10
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The Land Unknown
A team of explorers get stranded in a lost world of dinosaurs in Universal’s flawed 1957 movie. Great sets and atmosphere and a decent cast aren’t enough to lift it above a bogged-down script and bad special effects. 5/10
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The Monster That Challenged the World
Giant slugs terrorize a small town near a US air force base in this 1957 production. Rounded characters, a well-written script and a good titular monster help lift this Gramercy film a cut above the average. 6/10
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The Deadly Mantis
The title of Nathan Juran’s 1957 Them! imitation is self-explanatory. Despite a decent monster and some glimpses of Universal class, this William Alland production is derivative and soulless. 4/10
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Rodan
In 1956 Toho unveiled a brand new monster in its first colour kaiju movie. Direction by Ishiro Honda and special effectsare peak Toho, but devoid of social allegory, the script struggles to carry the sombre tone of the film. 6/10
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X the Unknown
A primordial radioactive mud creature threatens the Scottish countryside in Hammer’s taut and atmospheric 1956 Quatermass knockoff. As a film it is a footnote, but notable for gathering the Hammer Horror roster. 6/10
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The Beast of Hollow Mountain
Cattle ranchers feud over the mayor’s daughter while their cows mysteriously go missing in this ambitious US/Mexican B-movie. Beautiful colour photography and some adequate stop-motion dinosaurs partly make up for a sluggish script. 5/10
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Godzilla, King of the Monsters!
Adding new footage to “Americanize” a foreign film rarely works well. One of the exceptions is the 1956 version of Godzilla, which handles the re-edit tactfully and packs a punch that is almost equal to that of the 1954 original. 7/10
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The Creature Walks Among Us
The third and final Gill-man film from 1956 toys with interesting fish-out-of-water themes. Despite competent direction and good acting, the low budget and aimless script fail to give this movie buoyance. 5/10
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A Journey to the Beginning of Time
Four boys travel back through time in a row boat, escaping cave-men and dinosaurs. Czechoslovakian animator Karel Zeman’s 1955 edutainment film is a beautifully rendered and heart-warming family movie about evolution. 7/10
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King Dinosaur
Bert I. Gordon’s 1955 directorial debut sees four scientists completely uninterested in exploring a new planet and doing “darn science stuff”. After battling stock footage and superimposed insects, they detonate a nuclear bomb and go home. 0/10
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