The Giant Gila Monster
| The Giant Gila Monster | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster for The Giant Gila Monster |
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| Directed by | Ray Kellogg |
| Produced by | Ken Curtis B.R. McLendon Gordon McLendon |
| Written by | Ray Kellogg (story) Jay Simms (screenplay) |
| Starring | Don Sullivan Fred Graham Lisa Simone Shug Fisher Bob Thompson |
| Music by | Jack Marshall |
| Cinematography | Wilfred M. Cline |
| Editing by | Aaron Stell |
| Distributed by | McLendon-Radio Pictures Distributing Company |
| Release date(s) | 25 June 1959 |
| Running time | 74 min |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $138,000 (estimated) |
The Giant Gila Monster is a 1959 black-and-white hot rod monster science fiction film directed by Ray Kellogg, and produced by Ken Curtis. It stars Don Sullivan, a veteran of several low budget monster and zombie films, Lisa Simone, the French contestant for Miss Universe of 1957, as well as Fred Graham, comedy relief Shug Fisher, KLIF disc jockey Ken Knox and Bob Thompson. This low-budget B-Movie featured a cast of unknown actors, and the effects included a live gila monster filmed on a scaled-down model landscape. The movie has been released on DVD and is considered a cult classic.
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[edit] Synopsis
The movie opens with a young couple parked in a bleak, rural locale overlooking a ravine. A giant gila monster attacks the car, sending it into the ravine and killing the couple. Later, some friends of the couple decide to assist the local sheriff (Fred Graham) in his search for the missing teens. Chase Winstead (Don Sullivan), a young mechanic and hot rod racer, locates the crashed car in the ravine and finds evidence of the giant lizard. However, it is only when the hungry reptile attacks a train (a model train set substituted as a low-budget effect) that the authorities realize they are dealing with a (roughly) 70-foot poisonous lizard. By this time, emboldened by its attacks and hungry for prey, the creature attacks the town. It makes straight for the local dance hall where all the teenagers had gathered for a sock hop. However, Chase packs his prized hot rod with nitroglycerin and rigs it to speed straight into the monster, terminating the lizard in a fiery explosion and heroically saving the town.
[edit] Production
Filmed near Dallas, the film was budgeted at $175,000 and was produced by Dallas drive in theater chain owner Gordon McLendon[1] who wished 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.[2]
In exchange for doing the special effects, Ray Kellogg was allowed to direct the film. Ken Curtis allowed Sullivan to pick his songs that gave the film popularity with the teenage market.[3]
[edit] References in popular culture
- The film was featured on a Season 4 episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
- The film was also featured on a Season 5 episode of Cinema Insomnia.[4]
- This movie was used in an episode of Steve Smith Playhouse, in which Canadian comedian Steve Smith re-dubs the dialogue of only one character in various B-movies to achieve a humorous effect.
- The movie can be seen on Ozymandias' monitors in the 2009 film Watchmen.
- Both The Killer Shrews and The Giant Gila Monster were produced by Ken Curtis, directed by Ray Kellogg, and screen written by Jay Simms.
- The movie's theme song "Gila Monster" was used as a "stunt" to debut the long-running beautiful music format of one of producer Gordon McLendon's radio stations, KABL (now KKGN) in San Francisco, in May 1959.
- The font of the movie's title on promotional posters has been copied on most albums and associated promotional materials released by Glenn Danzig's musical acts Samhain and Danzig.
[edit] DVD releases
- In addition to being featured on numerous "bargain box" discs, The Giant Gila Monster has been restored in color and released as a double-feature, alongside The Killer Shrews, by Legend Films.
- The MST3K version, along with an exclusive interview with star Don Sullivan, has been released by Rhino Home Video, as part of the Collection, Volume 10.2 box set. Rhino also offered an individual disk for purchase on their web site (for those who already bought the now-recalled Volume 10 and who don't want to buy the additional box set). The single DVD is now out-of-print, due to only being available for a limited-time only. Both DVDs are now out of print on Rhino's website, but only Volume 10.2 is still available on Mst3k's website.
- The Giant Gila Monster was also released as part of the "Horror Classics 50 Movie Pack" DVD box set.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKmclendon.htm
- ^ pp. 187-8 Garay, Ronald Gordon McLendon: The Maverick of Radio Greenwood Publishing Group, 30/03/1992
- ^ http://www.scifimarathon.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1144
- ^ "Cinema Insomnia, with your Horror Host, Mister Lobo! - SHOW INFORMATION". http://www.cinemainsomnia.com/show.php. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
[edit] External links
- The Giant Gila Monster at the Internet Movie Database
- The Giant Gila Monster is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
- Free edited clip of highlights
- The Giant Gila Monster at Google Videos (Adobe Flash video)
- The Giant Gila Monster at AllRovi
- The Giant Gila Monster Website
