50's Bert I. Gordon Horror Part Two

THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN

(1957)
Overall: MEH

 

As a counter-point to Universal's The Incredible Shrinking Man which saw significant box office returns six months earlier, American International Pictures reversed the gimmick for The Amazing Colossal Man.  The concept of a giant whatever stomping around and causing havoc was all the rage in 1950s drive-in movie theaters and this time it is a plutonium bomb explosion that makes Lt. Colonel Glenn Manning's body cells grow to the point where he gains eight feet in height per day.  The story is elementary enough that a small child could follow it, (or write it), and even some war footage meant to flesh out the title character's background does not give it much significant cultural weight for the time.  Godzilla by comparison hit much deeper with the creature's origins spawning from the atom bombs that were dropped on Japan during World War II, per example.  Intellectual depth is hardly on the menu here though as it is mostly just boring characters standing around talking about what to do with the big guy who gets more aggravated with his condition as the running time plows on.  A little bit of life is finally shot into the proceedings within the last fifteen or so minutes when the Colossal Man wanders around Las Vegas and smashes some billboards.

ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE

(1958)

Overall: GOOD

 

Once again, B-movie studio American International Pictures takes a cue from Universal whose The Incredible Shrinking Man proved to be a hit the previous year, one-upping the doll-sized human gimmick with Attack of the Puppet People, (Six Inches Tall).  The film has the unique narrative concept of its villain being a seemingly benevolent, soft-spoken and polite old toy maker who shrinks his victims out of pure loneliness.  In his mind, he is taking loving care of his "dolls", sparing them from the stressful day-to-day inconveniences of normal everyday life.  This makes his horrific actions as sad as they are odd, plus Bert I. Gordon's straight-faced direction keeps the material much more tense and chilling that it reads on paper.  The visual effects are impressive for the day, with a handful of inventive scenes involving oversized sets and props.  Sadly, the title people are not terrorized by a house cat as the poster promises, though they do quickly run away from one and also save themselves from a barking dog by hiding inside of a box.  It is overall a refreshing example of a small budgeted, drive-in movie that seemed to have enough care put into it to elevate it above its quasi-knock-off intentions.

 

WAR OF THE COLOSSAL BEAST
(1958)
Overall: MEH

For the inevitable sequel to The Amazing Colossal Man, American International Pictures managed to pump out an even more boring, D-budgeted talking fest with War of the Colossal Beast, (Revenge of the Colossal Man, The Colossal Beast).  Producer/director Bert I. Gordon runs the show once more with returning screenwriter George Worthing Yates, yet the entire cast is different which includes the now seventy-foot tall title character.  To disguise the fact that Colonel Glenn Manning is a different actor, half of his face is disfigured and his "dialog" is limited elusively to animalistic grunts and moans.  To be fair though, Duncan Parkin makes a fine stand-in for Glenn Langan as most filmgoers would hardly notice or care about the switcheroo.  The story brings in Manning's sister who was never mentioned before and revolves around the military trying to find the giant, communicate with him, and then find him again.  Even by the typical, rushed drive-in movie standards of the era, this one is particularly monotonous and vacant on suspense.  Besides the Colossal Man lifting up a buss full of children, absolutely nothing worthy of anything besides a yawn occurs.  The short running time is the only saving grace, along with the fact that no further snore-fests were produced in this particular series.

 

EARTH VS. THE SPIDER

(1958)

Overall: MEH

The last film that director Bert I. Gordon made for American International Pictures until 1976's The Food of the Gods, Earth vs. the Spider, (The Spider), continued his several movie string of low-budget, "giant or tiny something" genre spectacles.  Done on a typically small scale and set in a single town with only a handful of characters and sets, it is paced surprisingly brisk for something of its kind.  László Görög and George Worthing Yates's script wisely omits any explanation as to why an over-sized arachnid lives in a cave off of the highway, as too many meandering talking points between scientists, teenagers, and law enforcement officials would have derailed the proceedings.  Such "characters in rooms discussing things so that the teenagers in the audience can stop paying attention and make-out with their dates" moments are still present, but they are kept to a minimum as the plot actually has enough momentum to get to the monster stuff.  The projection special effects work by Gordon and Paul Blaisdell is dated of course, but the cost-efficient fact that they used footage from a real live tarantula instead of a puppet or stop-motion is a plus in some respects as at least the monster looks real enough during closeups because, well, it is real.  Also the cave sequences which combine stills from New Mexico's Carlsbad Caverns and interiors shot in Los Angeles' Bronson Caves in Griffith Park look atmospherically imposing, as intended.