The Giant Gila Monster is a 1959
black-and-white
science fiction
film directed by
Ray Kellogg, and
produced by Ken Curtis. It stars Don Sullivan, Lisa Simone, as well
as Fred Graham,
Shug Fisher and Bob
Thompson. This low-budget
B-Movie featured a
cast of unknown actors (Shug Fisher being the most notable
cast-member). The low-budget effects included a live
gila monster, filmed on a scaled-down model
landscape. (At one point in the film, the gila monster attacks a
model train.) The movie has been released on DVD and is considered
a
cult classic.
Synopsis
The movie opens with a young couple parked in a remote,
southwestern locale overlooking a ravine. A giant
Gila Monster attacks the car, sending it into
the ravine and killing the couple. Later, when some friends of the
couple decide to assist the sheriff (Fred Graham) in his search for
the missing teens, one of the friends (Chase, played by Don
Sullivan) locates the crashed car in the ravine and finds evidence
of the giant
lizard. However, it is only when
the hungry
reptile attacks a train that the
authorities realize that they are dealing with a (roughly) 70-foot
poisonous lizard. By this time, the creature attacks the local town
(emboldened by its recent attacks and hungry for humans). It
eventually makes straight for the local dance hall where all the
teenagers had gathered for a
sock hop.
However, Chase, a young mechanic and
hotrod
racer, manages to pilot a nitroglycerin charged car straight into
the monster, effectively terminating it in a fiery explosion (but
only after Chase had jumped from the car).
References in popular culture
- This
movie was used in an episode of Steve Smith Playhouse, in
which Canadian
comedian
Steve Smith re-dubs the
dialogue of only one character in various B-movies to achieve a
humorous effect.
- The movie can be seen on Ozymandias' monitors in the 2009 flim
Watchmen.
- Both The Killer
Shrews and The Giant Gila Monster were produced
by Ken Curtis, directed by Ray Kellogg, and screen written by Jay
Simms.
- The
movie's theme song "Gila Monster" was used as a "stunt" to debut
the long-running beautiful music
format of one of producer Gordon
McLendon's radio stations, KABL (now KKGN
) in San
Francisco, in May 1959.
- The font of the movie's title on promotional posters has been
copied on most albums and associated promotional materials released
by Glenn Danzig's musical acts Samhain and Danzig.
DVD releases
- In addition to being featured on numerous "bargain box" discs,
The Giant Gila Monster has been restored in color and
released as a double-feature, alongside The Killer Shrews, by Legend Films.
- The MST3K version, along with an exclusive interview
with star Don Sullivan, has been released by Rhino Home Video, as part of the
Collection, Volume 10.2 box set. Rhino also offers the
individual disk for purchase on their web site (for those who
already bought the now-recalled Volume 10 and who don't want to buy
the additional box set).
- The Giant Gila Monster also was released as part of
the box 50 Horror Classic DVD. It was on disk 4 of the 12 disc
boxset
See also
External links
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