The Giant Gila Monster

Last updated

The Giant Gila Monster
Giant Gila Monster poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Ray Kellogg
Screenplay byJay Simms
Story byRay Kellogg
Produced by
Starring
Narrated byGordon McLendon
Cinematography Wilfred M. Cline
Edited by Aaron Stell
Music by Jack Marshall
Distributed byMcLendon-Radio Pictures Distributing Company
Release date
  • June 25, 1959 (1959-06-25)
Running time
75 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$138,000 [1]

The Giant Gila Monster is an American 1959 monster film directed by Ray Kellogg and produced by Ken Curtis. A famous B-movie of the era, the film stars Don Sullivan, a veteran of several low budget monster and zombie films, and Lisa Simone, the French contestant for the 1957 Miss Universe, as well as comedic actor Shug Fisher and KLIF disc jockey Ken Knox. The effects included a live Mexican beaded lizard (not an actual Gila monster) filmed on a scaled-down model landscape.

Contents

Plot

The Giant Gila Monster

A gigantic, mutated Gila monster begins stalking a rural Texas community. Young couple, Pat (Grady Vaughn) and Liz (Yolanda Salas), are attacked by the creature while parked in their vehicle overlooking a ravine, sending the car crashing into the ravine below. Local sheriff (Fred Graham) launches a search for the missing couple, assisted by their friends, including Chase Winstead (Sullivan), a young mechanic and hot rod racer. Chase locates the crashed car in the ravine, the inside smeared with blood and the couple nowhere to be found.

Meanwhile the creature continues its attacks, eating livestock and crashing an oil tanker, before eventually destroying a bridge, causing a major train accident. Only after this do the authorities realize that they are dealing with a giant venomous lizard. By this time, emboldened by its attacks and hungry for prey, the creature attacks the town. It heads for the local dance hall, where the town's teenagers are gathered for a sock hop. In an effort to stop the monster, Chase packs his prized hot rod with nitroglycerin and rigs it to speed straight into the Gila monster, killing it in a fiery explosion and heroically saving the town.

Cast

Production and release

Drive-in advertisement from 1959 for The Giant Gila Monster alongside its co-feature, The Killer Shrews. Tri-City Drive-In Ad - 16 December 1959, Loma Linda, CA.jpg
Drive-in advertisement from 1959 for The Giant Gila Monster alongside its co-feature, The Killer Shrews.

Filmed near Dallas, Texas, the film was budgeted at $175,000 and was produced by Dallas drive-in theater chain owner Gordon McLendon [2] who wanted co-features for his main attractions. McLendon shot the film back to back with The Killer Shrews . Both films were feted as the first feature films shot in and produced in Dallas, and the first movies to premiere as double features. Unlike most double features released in the South, these films received national and even foreign distribution. [3]

In exchange for doing the special effects, Kellogg was allowed to direct the film. Curtis allowed Sullivan to pick the songs with the teenage market in mind. Knox, who played Horatio Alger "Steamroller" Smith, was an actual disc jockey working at radio stations in Texas owned by McLendon. [4] As noted above, the "Gila monster" in the movie is actually a Mexican beaded lizard (which are similar in appearance but tend to be larger than Gilas).

The film's world premiere took place in Dallas on June 25, 1959. [5]

Reception

On his website Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings Dave Sindelar gave the film a positive review, writing, "Whatever flaws there are with the story, I find myself drawn to the regional feel of the movie, and especially to the likable characters that inhabit this environment...It's rare for a movie to have this many likable characters, and I think the reason I watch the movie again and again is because I just like to spend time with them". [6] TV Guide gave the film 2 out of 5 stars, calling it "a rear-projected monster just doesn't put audiences in a deep state of fear, especially when it's a lizard. It does, however, induce occasional uncontrolled laughter". [7] Alan Jones from Radio Times awarded the film 1 out of 5 stars, calling it "unintentionally amusing rather than scary". [8]

The film was featured on a season 5 episode of Cinema Insomnia [9] and season 4 of Mystery Science Theater 3000 . [10]

Remake

A made-for-TV remake, Gila!, directed by Jim Wynorski, was released in 2012. [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

Gordon Barton McLendon was an American radio broadcaster. Nicknamed "the Maverick of Radio", McLendon is widely credited for perfecting, during the 1950s and 1960s, the commercially successful Top 40 radio format created by Todd Storz. He also developed offshore pirate radio broadcasting to both Scandinavia and the British Isles. In addition, he was active in circles of conservative business-political power in the 1960s until the time of his death.

<i>Attack of the Giant Leeches</i> 1959 film

Attack of the Giant Leeches is an independently made, 1959 black-and-white science fiction-horror film, produced by Gene Corman and directed by Bernard L. Kowalski. It stars Ken Clark, Yvette Vickers, Bruno VeSota and Jan Shepard. The screenplay was written by Leo Gordon. The film was released by American International Pictures on a double bill with A Bucket of Blood, and was retitled Demons of the Swamp for its UK release. Later, in some areas in 1960, Leeches played on a double bill with the Roger Corman film House of Usher.

<i>The Brain That Wouldnt Die</i> 1962 film by Joseph Green

The Brain That Wouldn't Die is a 1962 American science fiction horror film directed by Joseph Green and written by Green and Rex Carlton. The film was completed in 1959 under the working title The Black Door but was not theatrically released until May 3, 1962, under its new title as a double feature with Invasion of the Star Creatures.

<i>Teenage Zombies</i> 1959 film by Jerry Warren

Teenage Zombies is a 1959 science fiction horror film written, produced, edited and directed by Jerry Warren, and starring Katherine Victor, Don Sullivan, Chuck Niles and Warren's then-wife and production manager Brianne Murphy. Warren wrote the screenplay under his pen name Jacques Lecoutier. Film historian Bill Warren wrote "This dreadful, leaden and depressingly cheap film does have one unusual aspect... it was actually made by Jerry Warren in its entirety."

<i>Gamera: Super Monster</i> 1980 film by Noriaki Yuasa

Gamera: Super Monster is a 1980 Japanese kaiju film directed by Noriaki Yuasa and produced by Daiei Film. It is the eighth film in the Gamera film series, following the release of Gamera vs. Zigra in 1971.

<i>The Eye Creatures</i> 1967 television film by Larry Buchanan

The Eye Creatures is a 1967 American made-for-television comedy horror science fiction film about an invasion by a flying saucer and its silent, shambling alien occupants.

<i>Equinox</i> (1970 film) 1970 American supernatural horror film

Equinox is a 1970 American supernatural horror film directed by Jack Woods, and starring Edward Connell, Barbara Hewitt, Frank Bonner and Robin Christopher. Though uncredited, producer Dennis Muren also served as a second director. The film focuses on four young people picnicking in a California canyon, where they stumble upon an ancient book used to conjure demons; soon they unleash a plethora of evil creatures.

<i>Creature from the Haunted Sea</i> 1961 film by Roger Corman

Creature from the Haunted Sea is a 1961 horror comedy movie directed by Roger Corman. Written by Charles B. Griffith, the movie is a parody of spy, gangster, and monster movies, concerning a secret agent, XK150, who uses the name "Sparks Moran" in order to infiltrate a criminal gang commanded by Renzo Capetto, who is trying to transport an exiled Cuban general with an entourage and a large portion of the Cuban treasury out of Cuba. Filmgroup released the movie as a double feature with Devil's Partner.

<i>The Killer Shrews</i> 1959 film by Ray Kellogg

The Killer Shrews is a 1959 American independent science fiction horror film directed by Ray Kellogg, and produced by Ken Curtis and Gordon McLendon. The story follows a group of researchers who are trapped in their remote island compound overnight by a hurricane and find themselves under siege by their abnormally large and venomous mutant test subjects. The film stars James Best, Ingrid Goude, Ken Curtis, McLendon, Baruch Lumet and "Judge" Henry Dupree.

<i>The Alien Factor</i> 1978 film

The Alien Factor is a 1978 science fiction horror film written, edited, produced, and directed by Don Dohler. The film centers on a small town that is besieged by three aliens that have crash-landed in the nearby forest. A mysterious stranger named "Ben Zachary" shows up claiming to be able to save the day. Can he do what he claims?

The Monster of Piedras Blancas is a 1959 American horror monster film. It was produced by Jack Kevan, directed by Irvin Berwick, and stars Jeanne Carmen, Les Tremayne, John Harmon, Don Sullivan, Forrest Lewis, and Pete Dunn. The film was released by Filmservice Distributors Corporation as a double feature with Okefenokee.

<i>The She-Creature</i> 1956 film by Edward L. Cahn

The She-Creature, or The She Creature, is a 1956 American black-and-white science fiction horror film, released by American International Pictures from a script by Lou Rusoff. It was produced by Alex Gordon, directed by Edward L. Cahn, and stars Chester Morris, Marla English and Tom Conway, and casting Frieda Inescort and El Brendel in smaller roles. The producers hired Marla English because they thought she bore a strong resemblance to Elizabeth Taylor.

<i>Terror Is a Man</i> 1959 Filipino/American horror film directed by Gerardo de León

Terror Is a Man is a 1959 black-and-white Filipino/American horror film directed by Gerardo de Leon.

<i>Sound of Horror</i> 1966 Spanish film

Sound of Horror is a 1966 Spanish horror film directed by José Antonio Nieves Conde.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Megowan</span> American actor (1922–1981)

Don Megowan was an American actor. He played the Gill-man on land in The Creature Walks Among Us, the final part of the Creature from the Black Lagoon trilogy.

<i>Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow</i> 1959 American film

Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow is a 1959 AIP horror comedy film. It was a sequel to their film Hot Rod Gang. American International Pictures released the film in July 1959 as a double feature with Diary of a High School Bride.

<i>The Mad Doctor of Blood Island</i> 1969 Filipino film

The Mad Doctor of Blood Island is a 1969 Filipino horror film, co-directed by Eddie Romero and Gerardo de Leon, and starring John Ashley, Angelique Pettyjohn, Eddie Garcia and Ronald Remy.

<i>Octaman</i> 1971 film by Harry Essex

Octaman is a 1971 Mexican-American science-fiction monster film written and directed by Harry Essex, with the costume design by future Academy Award winner Rick Baker. It follows an expedition team that becomes the target of a murderous humanoid octopus. The film received negative reviews.

<i>Curucu, Beast of the Amazon</i> 1956 film by Curt Siodmak

Curucu, Beast of the Amazon is a 1956 American adventure/monster film, directed and written by Curt Siodmak and starring John Bromfield, Beverly Garland and Tom Payne. The title creature is pronounced "Koo-Ruh-SOO". The film was distributed in the United States as a double feature with The Mole People.

References

  1. "Film Reviews: The Giant Gila Monster". Variety . July 15, 1959. p. 12. Retrieved May 20, 2019 via Archive.org.
  2. "Biography: Gordon McLendon". Archived from the original on January 14, 2012. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
  3. pp. 187-8 Garay, Ronald Gordon McLendon: The Maverick of Radio Greenwood Publishing Group, March 30, 1992
  4. "The Ohio Sci-Fi and Horror Marathons • View topic - GIANT GILA MONSTER - Interview with star Don Sullivan".
  5. "AFI|Catalog". catalog.afi.com. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
  6. Sindelar, Dave (January 22, 2017). "The Giant Gila Monster (1959)". FantasticMovieMusings.com. Dave Sindelar. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
  7. "The Giant Gila Monster - Movie Reviews and Movie Ratings". TV Guide.com. TV Guide. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
  8. Jones, Alan. "The Giant Gila Monster – review". Radio Times.com. Alan Jones. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
  9. "Cinema Insomnia, with your Horror Host, Mister Lobo! - SHOW INFORMATION". Archived from the original on March 28, 2010. Retrieved November 21, 2010.
  10. "Episode List - Mystery Science Theater 3000". mst3k.com. Retrieved January 27, 2019.
  11. peterson, Ross (June 14, 2018). "Film Review: Gila! (2012)". HorrorNews.net. Ross Peterson. Retrieved July 27, 2018.