The Giant Gila Monster / The Killer Shrews

Starring:Don Sullivan, Fred Graham, Lisa Simone, Shug Fisher, Bob Thompson, Janice Stone, Ken Knox, Gay McLendon, Don Flournoy, Cecil Hunt, Stormy Meadows, Howard Ware, Pat Reeves, Jan McLendon, Jerry Cortwright, Beverly Thurman, Clarke Browne, Grady Vaughn, Desmond Doogh, Ann Sonka
Director: Ray Kellogg
Studio: Diamond Ent. Corp.
Product Type: DVD

The Killer Shrews/The Giant Gila Monster

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The Killer Shrews/The Giant Gila Monster
Starring: Giant Gila Monster , and Killer Shrews
Manufacturer: Legend
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Missile to the Moon
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Pan's Labyrinth (New Line Two-Disc Platinum Series)

ASIN: B000P6R9JO
Release Date: 2007-07-17

Horror Classics Triple Feature, Vol. 8 (Killer Shrews / The Giant Gila Monster / Human Gorilla)

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Good Deal

Horror Classics Triple Feature, Vol. 8 (Killer Shrews / The Giant Gila Monster / Human Gorilla)
Starring: James Best , Ingrid Goude , Ken Curtis , Gordon McLendon , and Baruch Lumet
Director: Ray Kellogg , and Budd Boetticher
Manufacturer: Rph Productions
ProductGroup: DVD
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The War of the Worlds (Special Collector's Edition)

ASIN: B000065Q9U
Release Date: 2002-05-07

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Good Deal.......2007-02-28

The film quality is good and the movies are ok. Human Gorilla is the best, even though the title has little to do with the movie.

The Giant Gila Monster / The Killer Shrews

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AN ORIGINAL DRIVE-IN TWIN BILL FROM 1959 -- WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE ABOUT THAT?
Classic monster movies are the best!!!
The giant Gila monster is okay but love those killer shrews!
A huge slithery tongue/ Dogs in shrew suits
Tame Gila Monster & Dogs Dressed as Big Mean Shrews

The Giant Gila Monster / The Killer Shrews
Starring: Don Sullivan , Fred Graham , Lisa Simone , Shug Fisher , and Bob Thompson
Director: Ray Kellogg
Manufacturer: Diamond Ent. Corp.
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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The Crawling Eye (Widescreen European Edition)
Beginning of the End (Special Edition)
Attack of Giant Leeches (B&W)
Classic Creature Movies I - (Roger Corman): Creature From The Haunted Sea / Beast From Haunted Cave / The Wasp Woman
The Killer Shrews

ASIN: B000034DE4
Release Date: 1999-11-23

Customer Reviews:

AN ORIGINAL DRIVE-IN TWIN BILL FROM 1959 -- WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE ABOUT THAT?.......2006-09-07

IN A NUTSHELL: 2 DRIVE-IN CLASSICS WHICH PLAYED TOGETHER IN 1959

--> 1st Feature: 'The Killer Shrews' Directed by Ray Kellogg, 1959

--->HOW DO YOU RATE A BAD MOVIE THAT ENTERTAINS?

This movie somehow is terribly entertaining and I am not sure why. It does have monsters, mandatory in all epic B creature features, but what kind of monsters? Yes, special monsters! Giant killer shrews which are actually cute jumping puppies with silly rug-like rat suits. A best editing Oscar might have been won if anyone saw the movie when it was originally released, just for the way the scenes were cut just as the RAT PUPPIES were about to show their cute jumping puppy traits. Yes, if you watch the film closely you can actually see when these playful pups are about to show their true colors and betray their employers by jumping, licking and rolling over. Many an adult has enjoyed this seemingly forgettable flick enough to purchase it on DVD [after they wore out the VHS edition just like me]. What gives? Well, it can't be the plot. We can only be grateful to the filmmakers for not blaming atomic energy for this 1959 disaster, but would you believe that these mutant giant rats were part of a project to save the world from overpopulation? No, they were not supposed to eat the world's surplus people. You'll have to watch this epic to discover their true purpose. Warning, watching this terrible film can be contagious and habit forming. As a bonus, you can often find this classic on DVD mated to one of several promising epics of the same era. "The Giant Gila Monster" and "The Crawling Eye" are just the two I know about. I have a feeling there are more but you can't miss with either of these.

--> 2nd Feature: The Giant Gila Monster, Directed by Ray Kellogg, 1959

---> ONE CAN'T HELP THINKING OF THE BLOB WHEN WATCHING THIS CREATURE FEATURE

Like the 'Killer Shrews', 'The Gila Monster' takes itself seriously -- dead seriously. Watching this film makes my mouth water for an audience to lampoon this charming 50s creature-feature for, but that is just part of the fun. You see, this film approaches its subject with the same gothic intensity that the original 'Outer Limits' did in 1963-1964. The film opens with a missing couple, presumed to be eloping, but we all know otherwise. Gradually, the County Sheriff begans to notice the same pattern that the audience had, only a bit slower. People are disappearing and in increasing numbers. Since most of the adults are drunk in this film, especially the witnesses, it is up to the teenagers to assist the Sheriff in bringing this big lizard to justice.

Okay, so it's a bit corny and cliche, probably even when it played to drive-in crowds in 1959: small crowds, but crowds to be sure. It is played in earnest and the tension does build. Unlike the first feature, this film seems a bit drawn out, perhaps to be long enough to play for European audiences looking for new eclectic American productions -- perhaps not. Anyway, it seems as though this would have made a neat 'Outer Limits' episode if it had been tightened-up at bit with editing. Maybe a couple of country tunes could have been omitted, or maybe the serenade was important for the atmosphere of the film -- in any event it seemed too long for a very short film. Maybe we could have seen more of the Gila Monster, which Ray Kellogg, a Special Effects A-List veteran, expanded from a 2 foot reptile into a 50-80 foot long behemoth rather convincingly. All the scenes showing the monster were miniatures, but a full-scale set was made to make the transition from mini-monster to actual set with people pretty real looking for a low-budget thriller. Of course we don't see people and the Gila Monster in the same frame. For that kind of magic in 1959, you'd need Ray Harryhausen and about 3 years of his time. The film does start with a bang and then gradually builds suspense to a Nitro charged conclusion which is after all, all we want from a Drive-In thriller. From that standpoint 'The Giant Gila Monster' delivers as advertised, "ONLY HELL COULD BREED THE GIANT GILA MONSTER"!

BOTTOM LINE: BOTH FILMS ARE GOOD CLEAN FUN -- NO BLOOD - GORE - NUDITY or PROFANITY

Classic monster movies are the best!!!.......2005-08-22

This dvd gets 4 stars because of the production and remake of the old films. The only reason that I did not give it 5 is because it was hard to read the liner notes in the extra stuff because they were too small and in a bright color. You just about have to sit with your nose to the screen to read any of the notes. Who knew Roscoe P. Coltrain had it in him? If your not into classic horror movies, because these movies could be corny to those who don't like the Fake FX, or the one line dialog, Then you need not spend your money on this. But this is a great movie set and for less than seven bucks you will be joining in on the best of James Best and one big ugly gila monster and a fast Hot rod!! Long Live Classic Horror!!

The giant Gila monster is okay but love those killer shrews!.......2005-05-15

This DVD brings us a pair of movies from director Ray Kellogg, whose most notable work would be the John Wayne film "The Green Berets." But long before he worked with the Duke, Kellogg made a couple of low budget monster movies that show you what sort of creatures you come up with when you do not have any money. The good news is that one of those two bad B-movies should tickle your fancy and make the double feature worth the viewing.

"The Giant Gila Monster" is one of those films where you take a real animal and having it crawl through miniature sets. The tagline for this film was: "Only Hell could breed such an enormous beast. Only God could destroy it!" But this 1959 film made in north Texas for $138,000, is a lot more low-keyed than those lines would suggest. In fact, what is interesting given when this film is made is the key relationship between Sheriff Jeff (Fred Graham) and young Chase Winstead (Don Sullivan). The kid is working on his hot rod and instead of busting his chops the sheriff really functions as a mentor: he says he is concerned about the kids in town, and you actually believe it. The idea of having a movie in which a teenage hot rodder, who also sings like Pat Boone who is not a juvenile delinquent, or at least treated like one by the cops, is rather refreshing, although admittedly the character is a bit heavy on the saccharine. But Sullivan has a natural charm and the guy wrote his own songs, so give him some credit.

But since we are talking letting a Gila monster wander through miniatures in a film with teenage hot rodders, of course this movie received "MST3K" treatment (Season 4, when Joel turned Crow and Servo into "The Thing With Two Heads" as inspired by the movie of the same name"). My major complaint about this film is that the day for night shooting is so dark I have a hard time figuring out what is happening. Obviously the special effects budget is such that most of the "horror" is suggested by quick cuts rather than actually showing everything. Still, I like the way that everybody is pretty level headed in this film and deal with the giant Gila monster in a relatively intelligent manner without wasting a lot of time and effort. Yes, finding the monster, which is the size of several houses, should not take so long, but then the movie would be shorter and it is only 74 minutes anyway.

For me there is a lot more fun to be had with "The Killer Shrews," a 1959 movie that takes itself seriously despite having Miss Universe 1957, dogs dressed up in shag carpets, rubber heads with big teeth, and an escape plan that you have to see to believe. The only question is why did "MST3K" wait until season four to take on this one? This one has to be on my list of top ten bad monster movies. Thorne Sherman (James Best) delivers supplies to an island just as a hurricane is coming. He wants to wait out the story, but Dr. Milo Craigis (Baruch Lumet) wants Thorne to leave right away and take his daughter Ann (Ingrid Goude, Miss Sweden 1956 and then Miss Universe 1957), with him. The Doctor sounds German while his daughter has a very interesting Swedish accent, but that is not the biggest mystery on the island.

Dr. Craigis is concerned with over population and apparently his idea is was to shrink people to make food go farther. To this end he experiments with the DNA of shrews who (a) grow to the size of dogs wearing shag carpeting, (b) have all of their worst traits becoming dominant, and (c) develop poison saliva. You would think that any one of those three could cause problems when there are 300 shrews running around on an island, but no, all three happen. The number of humans starts dwindling as the shrews need desert after eating all of the livestock on the island, so everybody starts drinking more (think about it: do you really want DRUNK giant vicious shrews with poison saliva?). Jerry Farrell (Ken Curtis) decides that Ann sparking to Thorne is worse than having giant shrews attacking them, but soon sees the error of his ways and decides that going up on the roof would be a good idea. That is also because he thinks that the idea that Thorne comes up with to escape to the boat is stupid, but I have to say, in terms of 1950s black & white monster movies this plan actually makes sense.

Special mention must be made of Gordon McLendon who plays Dr. Radford Baines, the dedicated assistant to Dr. Craigis and who remains the consummate scientist even once he has been bitten. His death sets up what is probably the funniest line of the movie until we get to the end where the last exchange of dialogue provides a pretty funny punch line to the entire experience of pure terror trying to get away from the giant vicious shrews with poison saliva. There is just too much to enjoy in this movie, from listening to Goude's accent (you know it has to be Swedish but it does not sound Swedish and trying to figure out what it does sound like will drive you crazy), to watching the dogs covered in carpet frolick around the silly humans rolling on the ground, and waiting for one of the teeth on the rubber shrew heads to get caught on something and break off. "The Killer Shrews" is my kind of bad movie.

A huge slithery tongue/ Dogs in shrew suits.......2004-12-03

The Giant Gila Monster

This is a picture of life before CGI. The contrived dialog is part of the mystique. You get to see hotrods and large lizards. The blob it is not; but it is a necessary addition to any 50' collection.

A teenage boy and a teenage girl disappear together and the law is getting suspicious.
I want to ask the monster if teenagers taste like chicken.
Watch for your self.

The Killer Shrews

I first saw this in the movies. And let me tell you this is really spooky for kids (or used to be.)
We find our selves on an island where a hand full of visitors, including us, find eerie from the beginning. Of course from the title we are anticipating "you know whats" at any time. But the visitors to this island have no idea what they are in for.
An experiment with the intent of correcting overpopulation has gone awry, et voilà killer shrews. These ravenous creatures must eat many times their weight daily to keep from starving. And I must say that Ingrid Goude (Miss Universe Sweden 1956) would make a tasty snack (not that I notices at the movies.)
Well the people are protected by adobe (mud) walls from the poisonous fanged carnivores (did I mention the fangs are poisonous?)
Wait, it's RAINING!

Tame Gila Monster & Dogs Dressed as Big Mean Shrews.......2002-06-23

I have to admit to the same technical difficulties with my DVD as others have reported. Once in a while it goes out of focus and even seems to freeze at one point. The edition I have has a different cover than the one on Amazon.Com but the company and the double-movies are the same.

I bought the DVD for THE KILLER SHREWS and it is the most entertaining of the two films. While the costumed dogs are a bit hokey, with a little imagination, it works fine. Anyway, puppets are used for close-ups. The premise is simple. The over-sized mice eat anything that moves and the only food left are the people on the island. The people have to get to the boat or die. We are spared the gore so common in movies these days but there is still a lot of suspense. You never know when one of the hungry beasts is going to pop up. If they bite you, you're dead. There is poison in their saliva. After that, you're dinner. There are some recognizable actors in the film, too, familiar from programs like the Dukes of Hazzard and Gunsmoke. Oh, by the way, the beginning seems a bit truncated and starts abruptly. I seem to remember a school-type mini-documentary (only a few seconds) at the begining with footage of real shrews. It is missing from the DVD and may be the result of a poor master film copy.

As for THE GIANT GILA MONSTER, the lizard is not really scary and the miniature sets look like miniature sets. Don Sullivan is the likeable hero, a hard-working boy down on his luck but able to sing. He decides to use some nitro he had in storage to fight the creature. Convenient for sure, but don't we all keep some handy for a stray monster? The kid is so cleaned-cut, friends with the sheriff no doubt, and forcing his gang to behave, that we have to wonder if the movie's makers were trying to win parents over. There was a lot of negative opinion about the wild ways in 50's movies.

The director Ray Kellogg liked using foreign beauties in his films. Both movies feature a love interest with an accent, one from France and the other from Sweden. Indeed, Ingrid Goude in THE KILLER SHREWS was a Miss Universe Beauty Pageant Winner.

>No blasphemous or dirty words.
>No nudity or sexual content.
>Plot Violence but nothing graphic and no gore.

Guaranteed to please fans of old horror movies and to bore the kids-- big time.

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