| "Now doubled the Terror, and Colour” |
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The Killer Shrews / The Giant Gila Monster
2 DVDS/APPROX. 143 MINS/1959/USA UNRATED
2 DVDS/APPROX. 143 MINS/1959/USA UNRATED
8
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Remember back in the ‘80s somebody got the bright idea to “colorize” classic black and white films like Night of the Living Dead and Carnival of
Souls? And remember how they turned out, looking like they'd been redone in crayon with garish colours and no sense of reality? You do? Good,
well forget about them because somebody has decided to take another try at turning black and white into colour and the results are nothing short
of incredible. This time around the colours are realistic, not the garish shades seen in the earlier, primitive attempts. The overall effect does look a
little soft, but I've seen worse from films that actually were shot in colour. Restored copies of the original black and white versions are also included
on a second disc, along with the special features.
Now, I have to be honest, I'm not sure that anything was really gained by adding colour to these two old chestnuts but it was fun to see them in
colour after seeing the originals so many times over the years. Kids who won't watch black and white films will enjoy this version and these would
be good for getting the rug rats into genre films.
As for the actual films themselves, anyone interested in ‘50s films or who grew up watching old movies on TV are probably quite familiar with them.
For those who haven't encountered these two before a quick review is in order.
The Killer Shrews has achieved some degree of infamy as the film with dogs in very bad masks standing in for the oversized rodents, in some
scenes their obviously licking and playing with their “victims”. And for having one of the most hare brained means of escaping from the monsters in
history. It also suffers from characters that are so badly written as to be beyond stereotypes.
Despite this, the film does work up some tension as the cast is trapped in a house with the title creatures trying to get in by any means possible. If
a bit more care had been put into the script this could have actually been good a good film instead of a guilty pleasure.
The Giant Gila Monster, while no classic is a lot more fun. Beginning with some silly narration speculating that the empty desert may be home to
giant gila monsters, (the real ones are about two feet long), it wastes no time getting into it's tale of a reptile big enough to stomp cars and snack
on their occupants. I mean it even takes out a bridge and wrecks a train.
The characters here, while still fairly clichéd are at least a bit more believable and well drawn than in The Killer Shrews. The effects mostly consist
of a regular sized lizard let loose on miniature sets or optically enlarged when interacting with the cast. All in all good solid monster cheese.
The extras, which are on the second of two discs, consist of restored black and white prints of the films. These are much cleaner than the prints in
most of the public domain collections I've seen and are worth getting the set for even if you don't like colorized films. Here's also a few facts on
shrews and gila monsters and an odd short called “Squeak the Squirrel” which may well have played between these two at the drive in.
Unfortunately, it's in pretty rough shape, they should have restored it as well.
This is a fun little double feature at a bargain price, with a bit of looking around on line it can be had for under $10, so there's no reason not to get
it if you have any interest in older films at all.
Souls? And remember how they turned out, looking like they'd been redone in crayon with garish colours and no sense of reality? You do? Good,
well forget about them because somebody has decided to take another try at turning black and white into colour and the results are nothing short
of incredible. This time around the colours are realistic, not the garish shades seen in the earlier, primitive attempts. The overall effect does look a
little soft, but I've seen worse from films that actually were shot in colour. Restored copies of the original black and white versions are also included
on a second disc, along with the special features.
Now, I have to be honest, I'm not sure that anything was really gained by adding colour to these two old chestnuts but it was fun to see them in
colour after seeing the originals so many times over the years. Kids who won't watch black and white films will enjoy this version and these would
be good for getting the rug rats into genre films.
As for the actual films themselves, anyone interested in ‘50s films or who grew up watching old movies on TV are probably quite familiar with them.
For those who haven't encountered these two before a quick review is in order.
The Killer Shrews has achieved some degree of infamy as the film with dogs in very bad masks standing in for the oversized rodents, in some
scenes their obviously licking and playing with their “victims”. And for having one of the most hare brained means of escaping from the monsters in
history. It also suffers from characters that are so badly written as to be beyond stereotypes.
Despite this, the film does work up some tension as the cast is trapped in a house with the title creatures trying to get in by any means possible. If
a bit more care had been put into the script this could have actually been good a good film instead of a guilty pleasure.
The Giant Gila Monster, while no classic is a lot more fun. Beginning with some silly narration speculating that the empty desert may be home to
giant gila monsters, (the real ones are about two feet long), it wastes no time getting into it's tale of a reptile big enough to stomp cars and snack
on their occupants. I mean it even takes out a bridge and wrecks a train.
The characters here, while still fairly clichéd are at least a bit more believable and well drawn than in The Killer Shrews. The effects mostly consist
of a regular sized lizard let loose on miniature sets or optically enlarged when interacting with the cast. All in all good solid monster cheese.
The extras, which are on the second of two discs, consist of restored black and white prints of the films. These are much cleaner than the prints in
most of the public domain collections I've seen and are worth getting the set for even if you don't like colorized films. Here's also a few facts on
shrews and gila monsters and an odd short called “Squeak the Squirrel” which may well have played between these two at the drive in.
Unfortunately, it's in pretty rough shape, they should have restored it as well.
This is a fun little double feature at a bargain price, with a bit of looking around on line it can be had for under $10, so there's no reason not to get
it if you have any interest in older films at all.
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