The Giant Gila Monster/The Killer Shrews (Blu-Ray)
**This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movies being covered here wouldn’t exist.
**The Blu-Ray/DVD from Film Masters of “The Giant Gila Monster” will be available on September 26, 2023. This is a review of not just the feature, but the Blu-Ray edition. The grade for this will be for the main movie itself; the set grades will be featured in the body.
“The Giant Gila Monster” (1959)
It’s not fair to review films you’ve seen with the “Mystery Science Theater 3000” treatment if that’s the only way you’ve seen them. If it were, you would see a lot more ’50s and ’60s schlock on this website by now. That’s part of what made Film Masters putting out this double feature as their debut release so exciting; I’ve seen Ray Kellogg’s “The Giant Gila Monster” in its MST3K presentation, but never as its own film. Now that I have, the inherent cheesiness of the enterprise is more evident, as is the fact that it’s not an awful riff on the shape of the monster movie post-“Godzilla.” I’d even go as far as to say it’s a pretty good variation on the form, cheese and all. It certainly outshines the Americanized version of “Godzilla.”
Teenagers in the ’50s- in film, at least- all seem like their in their 20s. At least in this film, it feels as though they were cast to be age appropriate. They don’t go to school, but they do get together in barns for dance parties, and the thought of two of them eloping is scandalous to one of the fathers. That’s better than the alternative, though, which is getting run into a ravine by a giant gila monster, which is what happens to Pat (Grady Vaughn) and Liz (Yolanda Salas) when they are parked in the beginning of the film. Throughout the film, their disappearance lingers over the heads of everyone from Chase Winstead (Don Sullivan), a young auto mechanic, and his group of friends; the sheriff (Fred Graham), and Pat’s father (Bob Thompson). While they try to put together the pieces of the couple’s disappearance, the monster is lurking, aiming to take more victims.
I’ll admit, nothing with the gila monster looks believable, but I get a small bit of pleasure watching it walk amongst obvious toy cars, and the use of rear screen projection to make it seem bigger than it really is. The characters outside of Chase and his girlfriend, Lisa (Lisa Simone), are not terribly interesting, and the story is barely existent beyond the initial mystery of Pat and Liz’s disappearance, but I enjoyed watching this ridiculous film on its own, including when Chase’s musical talents are on display, and the idea such an overtly religious song like the one he sings to his crippled sister, and his friends, is hilarious. But Kellogg and his crew understood the assignment of what they were doing here, and deliver the goods. I enjoyed this, probably more than I should.
Blu-Ray Presentation
When I spoke with Phil Hopkins back in July, I asked him about the process of restoring a movie like this cheeseball, and Film Masters’s 4K scan from 35mm materials is wonderful. This film looks as cheap and low-rent a monster movie as it ever has, but with a crisp sense of clarity to the picture and soundtrack that bring out the obvious care that went into the filmmaking. Presented in both its widescreen, and TV, frame formats (depending on your mood), they really do a terrific job of making this film pop, and feel like it’s ready for the long haul, set to entertain audiences for another 60-plus years. As far as bonus features go, this follows in Film Detective’s footsteps with a great assortment, starting with a lengthy essay in the set’s color booklet, Pirate Radio, Presidential Assassinations, and Gila Monsters, written by Dan Stradley. On the disc itself, we get a restored trailer for the film, an audio commentary by Larry Strothe, James Gonis, Shawn Sheridan and Matt Weinhold from The Monster Party Podcast, as well as a 90-minute archival interview with actor Don Sullivan. If you are a fan of this film, and have the time, you are well served on this set.
Film Grade: B-
Audio & Video: A
Bonus Features: A+
“The Killer Shrews” (1959)
In keeping with its terrifying villains, the B-side of this Ray Kellogg double feature is a dog. Removed from “Mystery Science Theater 3000,” “The Killer Shrews” is desperately missing any degree of absurd things that can allow us to feel engaged with what this movie might be trying to do. Mercifully, it only runs 69 minutes, but like the characters, you’ll want to be drinking heavily until the very end.
One thing I found myself curious about in watching this film is when the cliche of the Black character getting killed first came from, because unless anyone knows otherwise, I think “Rock” (Judge Henry Dupree), the crewman who- along with Thorne Sherman (James Best)- is sailing a boat to an isolated island where a scientist is doing overpopulation experiments, might be the first one when he gets mauled by the film’s shaved dogs (sorry, “shrews”) as he goes back to the boat. Thorne cannot leave, as the shrews run rabid at night, and the remaining humans on the island want to stay alive. Well, Jerry (Ken Curtis) might not.
This is a flimsy narrative, even by B-movie standards, and not once do we feel like there’s a real thematic idea other than, “let’s make the cheapest monster movie imaginable.” The shrews aren’t even a fundamental part of the terror of the film- they are just shown as a potential threat, and not in the same way Spielberg implied the shark in “Jaws.” This is as low-rent a movie as anyone produced in the ’50s. That said, the idea of watching this back-to-back with “The Giant Gila Monster” makes sense, if only to show us a high water mark in schlock compared to one that just feels cheap in every way.
Blu-Ray Presentation
“The Killer Shrews” looks better than it has any right looking on this disc. In its widescreen form, it has just enough roughness around the edges to retain its status as pure schlock, but it also looks like we’re watching a brand new print of the film, discovered and lovingly restored like its “Nosferatu” or “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.” As for bonus features on this disc, we get a commentary by Jason A. Ney that treats the film honestly, but fairly, 12 minutes of original radio spots for both films, and a mini documentary called “Ray Kellogg – An Unsung Master” that puts the director’s career into a more remarkable context. We also get an essay by Ney called The Unkillable Killer Shrews.
Film Grade: F
Audio & Video: A+
Bonus Features: A
It’s impossible to grade a release like this solely on its films, or on its bonus content. Both elements work in tandem to create an endearing, entertaining experience for movie buffs.
