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A new era of the B-movie was born in the 1950s. While the term originally referred to the second film in a double feature that defined much of the moviegoing experience during the Golden Age of Hollywood, a 1948 landmark Supreme Court antitrust ruling against major studios’ monopolistic practices upended the way films were distributed. While the traditional double feature waned, the demands of the burgeoning drive-in theater market gave way to the rise in independent genre films.
Two such low-budget B-movies made a mark in 1959: The Giant Gila Monster and The Killer Shrews. Produced by radio broadcasting magnate Gordon McLendon and future Gunsmoke actor Ken Curtis, the sci-fi horror movies were shot back-to-back in under three months with much of the same crew before being distributed together.
Both films are directed by Ray Kellogg, who had no prior directing experience, but his visual effects work on the likes of The Day the Earth Stood Still and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes likely made him an enticing choice. Newcomer Jay Simms (Panic in Year Zero) wrote the screenplays, and Wilfrid M. Cline (Calamity Jane, The Tingler) serves as director of photography.
A massive, venomous lizard wreaks havoc on a rural Texas community in The Giant Gila Monster. With local authorities proving ineffective, handsome mechanic Chase Winstead (Don Sullivan) takes it upon himself — with a little help from nitroglycerin — to eradicate the creature before it attacks the sock hop where the town’s teenagers are gathered.
Attempting to appeal to the teen demographic, the film boasts a hip, young hero, roaring hot rods, rock and roll music, and a giant monster. Outside of a discordant polio subplot, it more closely resembles a goofy teen movie of the era that’s occasionally interrupted by footage of a Gila monster (actually a Mexican beaded lizard) lumbering around. The miniature work is schlocky, and no attention is paid to scale.
Neither movie is good, to be sure, but The Killer Shrews is unquestionably the more entertaining effort. In it, a hurricane traps Captain Thorne Sherman (James Best, The Dukes of Hazzard) on a remote island along with a group of researchers. The compound’s testing — with the ultimate goal of shrinking humans to reduce the impact of overpopulation — yields enormous shrews that soon attack.
Despite an excruciating first half bogged down by meaningless dialogue and inert direction, the film is more competently made than its predecessor with better actors and more well-rounded characters. More importantly, it has greater camp value, as little is done to conceal the fact that the shrews are dogs draped in carpets in wide shots and flimsy hand puppets in closeups.
Since they’re both in the public domain, there are countless ways to watch The Giant Gila Monster and The Killer Shrews — but you won’t find a better presentation than the new two-disc Blu-ray double feature. It marks the inaugural release from Film Masters, a new restoration and distribution company founded by The Film Detective’s Phil Hopkins.
The Giant Gila Monster has been restored in 4K from 35mm archival materials, while The Killer Shrews has been restored in high definition from a film print. The latter is billed as a bonus feature, but between the new scan and the extras, it’d be worthy of a standalone release from any other distributor. 1.85:1 theatrical and 4:3 television aspect ratio presentations are included for both films.
The Giant Gila Monster is accompanied by a new audio commentary from The Monster Party Podcast hosts James Gonis, Shawn Sheridan, Larry Strothe, and Matt Weinhold. I was pleased to find that they don’t gang up on the movie; instead, they take turns reciting pre-written information with occasional ad-libs.
‘The Killer Shrews’
A 2009 audio interview with Sullivan traces the actor’s life and career over the course of an hour and a half conversation with film historian Bryan Senn. The Giant Gila Monster‘s original trailer, which admirably sells the movie as “an amazing Kong-like monster … devouring people as if they were flies,” is also featured.
Film scholar Jason A. Ney provides a new commentary for The Killer Shrews, contextualizing the film and fact-checking its scientific mumbo jumbo. “Ray Kellogg: An Unsung Master” is a 16-minute featurette narrated by filmmaker Larry Blamire (The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra) exploring Kellogg’s curious career. A slew of vintage radio spots for both films round out the extras.
A booklet with essays by film scholars Don Stradley and Jason A. Ney is included. Stradley’s “Pirate Radio, Presidential Assassinations, and Gila Monsters” chronicles McLendon’s fascinating life, from broadcasting and film to real estate and a JFK conspiracy theory. Ney’s “The Unkillable Killer Shrews” dissects the film’s surprising longevity despite its reputation.
Public domain movies are often overlooked by boutique labels, but Film Masters has taken on the commendable task of restoring many of them to their former glory. With an impressive first showing with The Giant Gila Monster/The Killer Shrews followed by more in their budding catalog — Beast from Haunted Cave/Ski Troop Attack, The Terror/The Little Shop of Horrors, The Devil’s Partner/Creature from the Haunted Sea — Film Masters is helping to preserve cult films for future generations.
The Giant Gila Monster / The Killer Shrews is available now on Blu-ray.
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