Giant from the Unknown
| Giant from the Unknown | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release half-sheet display poster | |
| Directed by | Richard E. Cunha |
| Written by | Ralph Brooke Frank Hart Taussig |
| Produced by | Marc Frederic Arthur A. Jacobs |
| Starring | Ed Kemmer Sally Fraser Buddy Baer |
| Cinematography | Richard E. Cunha |
| Music by | Albert Glasser |
| Distributed by | Astor Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 77 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Giant from the Unknown is a 1958 independently made American black-and-white horror film drama, produced by Marc Frederic and Arthur A. Jacobs, directed by Richard Cunha, that stars Ed Kemmer, Sally Fraser, and Buddy Baer. The film was theatrically released by Astor Pictures in March, 1958 as a double feature with She Demons.
The make-up effects were created by Jack Pierce, known for his Universal Pictures' classic monster makeup for Boris Karloff's Frankenstein (1931), The Mummy (1932), and Lon Chaney Jr.'s The Wolf Man (1941). Baer, who played Vargas the Giant in this film, also played a giant in Jack and the Beanstalk (1952), starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. The film was shot in the San Bernardino National Forest.
Giant from the Unknown was featured in 1996's late night TV show, "Nightmare Theater's Chill-O-Rama Horror Show".
The film was released on DVD October 24, 2000.
Plot
The citizens of mountain town Pine Ridge, California, are concerned about a series of livestock mutilations in nearby Devil's Crag. A local, Harold Banks, is also found dead there, killed in the same manner as the livestock. Sheriff Parker orders everyone to stay away. Local speculation is that the deaths are supernatural in origin. A local Native American, "Indian Joe", confirms their fears of a curse, but is driven out of town by the sheriff.
Local geologist Wayne Brooks is told of Bank's death by friends Anne and Charlie Brown, two Pine Ridge siblings. Sheriff Parker is suspicious of Brooks, having heard about a recent confrontation between Brooks and Banks. As the sheriff is questioning him, Dr. Cleveland and his daughter Janet arrive to town. Cleveland is planning on conducting archaeological research in the area. While Brooks helps Janet pick up supplies, Parker warns Cleveland about the Banks murder. Brooks, formerly Cleveland's student, offers to be his area guide while at dinner with Cleveland and Janet.
Brooks and Cleveland discuss the Devil's Crag killings. Brooks tells him of a local Native American legend that evil spirits will rise up in that area. He also says that Native American artifacts have been found near the Crag, and that he has them. Dr. Cleveland reveals that he is searching for the remains of a Spanish expedition that he believes reached Devil's Crag 500 years earlier, led by a Conquistador named Ptolemy Firello. The specific group Cleveland is tracing, known as the "Diablo Brigade", split off from the main expedition and was led by a huge man named Vargas, also known as the "Diablo Giant". After dinner, Janet agrees to go on a date with Brooks to the local cinema after he takes Cleveland to his field laboratory.
At the laboratory, Cleveland is examining Brooks' artifacts when Janet opens a box with a small lizard inside. Brooks tells them that he found the ancient lizard inside a rock and that it had been in a state of suspended animation for a long time. Cleveland continues examining the artifacts. As Brooks and Janet leave, Indian Joe peers through a window, watching closely.
When Brooks and Janet return, Cleveland excitedly calls them inside. He pieced together broken fragments into a cross and now theorizes that the Conquistadors influenced the local natives hundreds of years before. The next morning, all three leave and go to Devil's Crag. Sheriff Parker sees them and follows them in his police car. After reaching the site, Janet sees someone watching them from the undergrowth; both men dismiss it as just a deer. Parker pulls up and chastises Brooks for leaving town because he knows that Devil's Crag is off limits. Cleveland produces a permit from the Commissioner of Public Lands that allows him to conduct his research. Cleveland assures Parker that they are armed and can defend themselves. Unconvinced, Sheriff Parker leaves, and the small group sets up camp.
The next day, while Brooks is examining the area, Indian Joe fires his rifle in Brooks' direction. Joe tells him that he is just hunting rabbits, but pointedly asks if they are there to rob Native American graves. Brooks assures him that they are only after Spanish artifacts, so Joe agrees to hunt elsewhere, warning Brooks that this place is evil.
Brooks returns to camp and informs Cleveland that the area is changed. He theorizes that a recent electrical storm disturbed the entire area. They begin using their metal detectors to search the area, but without success. Janet encourages Cleveland to give up, and he sadly agrees to stop. She uses one of the detector before they pack up camp and by chance detects something. The spot is excavated and a cache of Spanish artifacts, armor, weapons, and bones are found. Cleveland plans to bring them to the museum and publish his findings. Brooks finds a rock formation similar to the one in which the lizard was entombed and the handle of a massive, still intact axe he believes belonged to the "Diablo Giant". Brooks is forced to leave because of a large electrical storm, just before the "Diablo Giant" Vargas rises from the detritus.
The next day, the group finds giant-sized armor and other artifacts, and a large indentation in the ground. They discuss the possibility that Vargas, in a state of suspended animation, is now alive. Later that night, the body of the 500-year-old "Diablo Giant" Vargas is revived by a lightning strike. He stalks the group and eventually kills Anne Brown.
Sheriff Parker accuses and arrests Brooks for Anne's murder because a medallion, one of his excavated artifacts, was found clenched in her hand. It is later revealed that the giant Vargas is still roaming the wilderness after he has caused another brutal death. Local men from Pine Ridge, with the help the sheriff, go out to hunt down the giant, who causes more damage and deaths. Brooks is eventually able to kill the giant Vargas by causing him to fall from a bridge to his death down a raging waterfall.
Cast
- Ed Kemmer as Wayne Brooks
- Sally Fraser as Janet Cleveland
- Buddy Baer as Vargas the Giant
- Bob Steele as Sheriff Parker
- Morris Ankrum as Dr. Frederick Cleveland
- Oliver Blake as Cafe Proprietor
- Jolene Brand as Anne Brown
- Billy Dix as Indian Joe
- Gary Crutcher as Charlie Brown
- Ned Davenport as Townsman
- Ewing Miles Brown as Townsman
Reception
American film director, producer, actor, and editor Joe Dante described this film on his webseries Trailers from Hell as: "The ads for "Giant' quote 'It came from another world' and today it really does, the vanished world of dull black-and-white features that I for one really miss".[1]
See also
References
- ^ Joe Dante in Giant from the Unknown