Friday, June 10, 2016
GIANT INSECT & SPIDER MONSTERS From The FIFTIES!!
Here's a batch of movies from the fifties, all featuring big bugs and spiders, and, what made for a ton of fun for us kids back when...
MESA OF LOST WOMEN is our first entry from 1953. Man, what else can be said about this crazy movie and all its characters, love this flick forever!
WB came out with THEM! in 1954, always a crowd pleaser with a nice budget. Exciting stuff, sad though when James Whitmore gets killed.
Universal's TARANTULA from 1955 scared the crap out of me when I saw this one at the theater when I was just 7 years old! For me, John Agar was perfect for the lead role.
MONSTER FROM GREEN HELL came out in 1957, this one has giant wasps as a result of some of the little critters being shot into space, then landing back in Africa!
1957 was a banner years for classic monster movies and the year THE BLACK SCORPION hit the screen. Saw this one at the theater, it was an awesome treat for a 9 year old monster nut!
Bert I. Gordon's BEGINNING OF THE END in 1957 was about a giant locust invasion, growing to enormous size due to feeding on grain laced with atomic radiation... That poster is a prime example of just how appealing they made it for the kids!
Holy cow!! My dad took me to see THE FLY in 1958 when I was 10, this is like one of the five movies I saw at the theater in the fifties that absolutely blew my mind. What people always forget, is, what is was like to be there at the time, not now for cripes sake, back then!
I saw THE DEADLY MANTIS in 1958 with my neighbors, it really was a special treat for us, a terrific movie back then!
Saw EARTH vs THE SPIDER at the theater in 1958, it seemed a little schlocky to me. Great poster though!
The British COSMIC MONSTERS also hit the screen in 1958, aka THE STRANGE WORLD OF PLANET X. This one's filled with lots of big ugly bugs and spiders!
THE WASP WOMAN aka WASPER WOMAN was maybe the first monster flick Eegah!! and I saw together in 1959. This is really a nice little movie, but, if they could have just made her makeup better!
Saw RETURN OF THE FLY in my home town of Tulare, CA with my cousins in 1959, my favorite part was when the inspector gets mixed up with the guinea pig!
I'm including HORRORS OF SPIDER ISLAND since it was really shot in 1959, and, has a very unique German monster. Well, that's all folks, tune in again tomorrow for more from the Dungeon Gang!
On the plus side, if you had giant spiders, you would not have a problem with giant flies or giant mosquitoes.
ReplyDeleteAIP's "The Spider" had a plug for Attack of the Puppet People, which, in turn, had a scene from The Amazing Colossal Man.
Tarantula is a good sci-fi horror movie, and is noteworthy also for having Mr. Waverly (Leo G. Carroll), Mr. Drysdale (Raymond Bailey), and Mr. Shirley Temple (John Agar). And Clint Eastwood as a fighter pilot who bombs the giant spider. ("Go ahead, eight-legged punk. Make my day.") Although, at the end, the napalm is still burning, and appears to be a much a threat to the town as the monster was. Oh well, omelettes and eggs.