Beast With a Million Eyes

Beast (BWME) was born more of desire for a quick buck than artistic vision. Promoters tried to pre-sell a B-movie with little more than a concept and a poster. The poster (seen at left) featured quite a hideous monster face menacing a screaming young beauty clad in lingerie. That was the stock formula that sold B-movie tickets. There was sufficient investor interest to proceed. Trouble was, the actual script (originally entitled Unseen) was about a (mostly) incorporeal alien who possesses animals to do his bidding (hence the metaphor of the million eyes). Distributors and audiences were understandably disappointed when the movie had nothing to do with the poster. Truth be told, BWME is a very low budget B-movie, but it's not without some points of interest -- if you can get over the poster. It tries to be a more thoughtful, almost 'art' film, even though executed in a somewhat ham-handed way.

Quick Plot Synopsis
A voiceover at the beginning (supposed to be the alien) tells us that he's coming to earth, that he feeds on fear and will use animals and people to be his eyes and ears."I see your most secret acts...you will know me as the beast with a million eyes." Cut to a date palm farm in the California desert, where a man, wife and teenaged daughter live a not-too-happy life. They have a large simple-minded mute man as farm hand. A high-pitched squeal of something flying overhead breaks all the glass in their house. Animals change, eventually. A flock of birds attacks the dad. The family dog turns on the mom. A docile cow attacks and kills the neighbor farmer, then comes after the mom. Dad shoots it just in time. The already creepy hired hand (whom the women simply call "Him", but is named Carl) is clearly being directed by the alien. He knocks out the local sheriff and then carries off the daughter. Dad, mom and sheriff arrive in time to stop Him from delivering unconscious daughter to the alien (in a small silvery 'ship' in a crater in the desert). Even though Carl dies, listening to the pleas of his friend, the dad, and not the alien, the unseen alien isn't through. He has the daughter in trance/coma and threatens to cause her great pain if the mom and dad don't surrender her to him. They refuse and argue (with the voice-over mind-to-mind communications) that love is stronger than hate. When they confront the alien at his ship, the little beast he's living in dies, but the ship takes off anyway, preprogrammed. The alien's evil spirit is implied to then jump to a desert rat nearby. An eagle swoops down and snatches the rat away. Sunrise, and everyone looks skyward arm in arm. The end.

Why is this movie fun?
Admittedly, this is a movie that only an ardent 50s sci-fi fan will like. There are too many faults and shortcomings for a lot of people to overlook. That said, there are still some points of interest, if you look for them. (see Notes section)

Cold War Angle
Only on a metaphorical level is there any hit of the Cold War. The original notion of some hostile someone using hate and fear, "possessing" people, to do his bidding, does smack of American angst over communist infiltrators. They'll use fear to divide and conquer.

Notes
It's a Metaphor, Deal With It -- Quite a few viewers, then and now, think it's a major goof in the movie that the final monster (and it's a small one) has only two eyes. Right in the opening narration we're told that the alien will use the eyes and ears of animals and people to see everything. That's the million eyes. After seeing the multi-eyed monster in the poster, people expected a literal multi-eyed beast. It was a metaphor cooked up by marketing types who thought the original title, The Unseen wasn't grabby enough.

Early Birds -- The scenes of the flock of birds attacking Alan, the father, prefigures Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963) by many years. The scene inside the farm house, with all the squawking, fluttering and pecking outside, and daughter Sandy going nuts inside the claustrophobic house, is too similar to Hitchcock's movie to not notice.

Marketers as Marginal Movie Men -- BWME might have been a bit better (though still a low-budget B movie) if the marketing men hadn't tried to impose themselves. Firstly, they "sold" a standard ugly-monster-menaces-babe product, which BWME wasn't. Disappointed audiences were too miffed to see the movie for what it was supposed to be. Secondly, the opening narration, the "alien" tells us he's the 'beast with a million eyes. Obviously intended to tie the movie to the poster, this narration gives too much of the story away. It's an honored marketing maxim, Tell 'em what you're gonna tell 'em. Tell 'em, then tell 'em what you told 'em. BWME does this to annoying degrees. Imagine BWME without that opening narration. Viewers would wonder what the whine was. They'd wonder why the birds attacked and why Duke turns on his masters. There'd be more mystery. As it stands, BWME comes across like a movie we've already seen before, even before we've seen it.

Star Watch -- Paul Birch, who plays the father, Alan, also played the embattled father with a young woman daughter, in Day the World Ended. Also look for a very young Dick Sargent playing Larry the sheriff. Sargent would later gain fame as the "second" Darrin Stephens in the 60s & 70s sitcom Bewitched (the first being Dick York)

Out of Their Minds -- BWME is in the sub-genre of alien mind-takeover movies. We saw this at the outset of the decade in The Man from Planet X ('51), followed by many others. There would be many more after BWME. The trope of something 'alien' taking control of regular folks (usually to do bad things) was apparently intriguing to both writers and audiences in the 50s.

Feed the Fear -- A minor interesting point in BWME is the idea of an alien feeding (nutritionally speaking) on hate and fear. This is true, metaphorically, of people who benefit from the fear of others: politicians, mobsters, anti-virus software makers, etc., the notion of fear as nutrient is fairly new (in '55). It's an idea that would resurface in later years too, in Star Trek episodes and even as recently as the Stargate SG-1 series -- with the Ori.

Love Is All Ya Need -- The plot device that has some humble feature of earth being the defeat of an alien invasion was already not new by 1955. H.G. Wells had the humble germ defeat the martians even back in 1898. Here, to an alien who "feeds" on hate and fear, it's human love and loyalty that defeats and actually kills him. Talk about tough love. The overall moral of the movie is about being understanding and forgiving instead of judgmental and afraid. A bit lofty for B-sci-fi.

Bottom line? Unless you're a fan of low-budget 50s sci-fi, BWME will disappoint you. It tries to be more artsy and even somewhat sentimental, but cannot live up to it's suggested monster-meances-babe hype. Taken as a low-budget sci-fi "art" drama, it's actually not that bad. It's just NOT a monster movie.

Bride of the Monster

This is Ed Wood Jr's first "sci-fi / horror" film. Wood is often cited as the epitome of cheesy, low-low-low-budget B-movie directors. Here, he was writer, producer and director -- not often a formula for success. This film is not as famous (or infamous) as his later work Plan 9 From Outer Space. In several ways, Bride of the Monster (BOTM) is actually a better (less incoherent) movie. BOTM is still a very low-budget film, and it shows. Still, despite its many shortcomings, there are some items of interest to fans of 50s B-movie sci-fi.

Quick Plot Synopsis
A monster is rumored to live in Lake Marsh, because several people have gone missing around the lake. Two hunters seek shelter in the supposedly abandoned Willows Place, but it is occupied by a rude scientist (Bela Lugosi) who summons his mute "giant" Lobo (Tor Johnson) to chase them off. A giant octopus in the lake gets one of them. Lobo captures the other. Dr. Vornoff (Lugosi) experiments on him, using an atomic ray to turn him into a giant with super strength, or kill him. It kills him. The police have no solid clues to solve the mystery. A brash female reporter named Janet wants to investigate, but her police lieutenant boyfriend doesn't want her poking around the spooky lake. She does anyway and gets a flat tire while in the swamp. A large snake makes her swoon. Lobo finds her and takes her to the Willows Place. Vornoff wants to experiment on her. A Vladimir Strowski comes to Willows looking for Vornoff, trying to encourage him to return to the mother country and continue his research. Vornoff refuses. Strowski pulls a gun on him to force him to go, but Lobo subdues Strowski and is then fed to the giant octopus. Vornoff has Janet strapped to the table. Her boyfriend interrupts, but Lobo subdues him too. He's chained up instead of being octo-food. Lobo, smitten with Janet, won't let Vornoff proceed. He attacks Vornoff and frees Janet. Lobo then puts Vornoff on the table and turns on the machines. The process works this time. Vornoff is now taller and super strong. He subdues Lobo and carries Janet off into the swampy night. The police pursue, but atomic-Vornoff is invulnerable to bullets. Finally a boulder rolled down a hill bumps Vornoff into the lake where the octopus gets him. Lightening then strikes the octopus, causing it to blow up in a mushroom cloud. The end.

Why is this movie fun?
Despite being a candidate for the so-bad-it's-good category, BOTM has several interesting facets and loose ends. They're listed in the Notes section. It's also full of random bits which make no sense, such as the police captain playing with his pet parakeet. This was Bela Lugosi's final starring (speaking) film. That alone makes it interesting. His "I have no home," speech is rather deep for a cheap movie.

Cold War Angle
There is some customary moralizing about man tampering with things atomic, but the most overt Cold War theme is the implication that Soviet Russia wants Vornoff to return and create a race of super giants with which to take over the world. Since giants are created with "atomic rays" the allegory to Soviet A-bombs is pretty clear.

Notes
Which Monster -- The dialogue leads viewers to imagine that the big octopus in the lake is the "monster". The poster and how atomic-Vornoff is carrying away Janet (the bride) points to Vornoff as the real "monster" in a more metaphoric sense.

Soviets as Neo-Nazis -- With names like Vornoff and Strowski, it's clear that the unnamed country which wanted the atomic-giants so it could rule the world, was obviously Russia. What's interesting is how Vornoff and Strowski use language evocative of the Nazis. They talk of their atomic giants as a "master race" with which to rule the world. The stereotypic Nazi dream was transferred to the Soviets -- the new arch villain.

Bela Twilight -- BOTM was Bela Lugosi's last speaking role. He became legendary for his role as Count Dracula in 1931. His name on the marquee assured an audience. Woods might be thought of as exploiting the old man's name. On the other hand, Woods gave Lugosi (visibly old and sickly) a starring role with some dignity. He gets to be the spurned (evil) genius who would rule the world with his army of atomic giants. Even though 74 years old and sick, Lugosi is still the star. Woods tried to make another movie in 1956 that also gave Lugosi some work, but only a few clips were shot. Lugosi died of a heart attack in August of '56. Woods saved the clips and used them in his famous Plan 9 From Outer Space.

Tor Rising -- BOTM begins the typecasting of former swedish wrestler, Tor Johnson, as the hulking beast. His "trademark" pose, bald head, grunting mouth agape, arms outstretched before him, would be used as-is in several films. The "Lobo" character himself would appear in several low-budget horror films of the late 50s. He would play the zombie hulk again in Woods' 1959 Plan 9 and later in The Beast of Yucca Flats (1961) -- Tor's last film.

They're After Our Women -- BOTM delivers on the poster's promise. The real monster, Vornoff, does want the young woman 'that way' and does carry her off in his arms. This the classic abduction scene.

Beauty and the Beast -- The hulking Lobo character is charmed by Janet. The stirred emotions in Lobo (simple beast that he was) proved stronger than whatever fear or loyalty he felt towards Vornoff. In the end, Lobo turns on Vornoff in order to save Janet. A beautiful young woman is a powerful force of nature.

Spotlight on Morality -- To jaded 21st century eyes and ears, the notion of there being a "bride" for the monster is an interesting glimpse at the morality of the 50s. Back then, young women were married before being 'known' (in the biblical sense). Vornoff wants Janet, but can't simply have her. Woods has her dressed in a long white lacy gown (wedding dress) to underscore the marriage element. From a basic, more tribal perspective, marriage to an outsider removed a girl from the tribe. Simply being "used" did not. In the 50s, marriage had a connotation of permanence.

Bottom line? BOTM is so low-budget that it's sure to annoy most movie watchers. However, for those who can see past the flaws, there are entertaining nuggets that make it worth watching. If you can, find a copy that is not the MST3K version. That version is annoying.

Phantom from 10,000 leagues

This is another of the atomic-monster genre, which, coming at the end of 1955, was not particularly new. Them ('54) had kicked off the sub-genre of monsters created by radiation. Beast from 20,000 Fathoms ('53) began the sub-genre of the already-existing "monster" being released by nuclear activity. Creature from the Black Lagoon ('54) was the debut of man-sized rubber suit monsters. Phantom of 10,000 Leagues, (P10K) is a weak coat-tailer of Black Lagoon, but added little. What it did was combine the radiation-spawned monster with the man-sized rubber suit monster sub-genres.

P10K is typical of low grade B-movies in having adequate, but unremarkable acting, minimal sets and minimal effects. The plot does not venture very far at all into the science part of science fiction. What little explanation is offered goes by too quickly. Instead, it's more of a murder mystery with vague spy story undertones. The inspectors inspect clues and suspect suspects to solve the murders. This, and a rather plodding pace, make P10K a weak example of sci-fi, but passable as a mystery story.

Quick Plot Synopsis
A fisherman is pulled under by a mutant beast. He washes ashore, dead of radiation burns. A Dr. Stevens and a Mr. Grant, a government investigator are seeking answers. A Professor King recently set up his Pacific College of Oceanography. It turns out that the professor had "activated" a uranium deposit on the sea floor in hopes of creating a "death ray" with the heavy water. The professor's assistant is after the secret of the professor's work. Dr. Stevens and the professor's daughter, Lois, start up the obligatory romance thread. When a freighter travels over the radiation beam and is destroyed, the deaths prove too much for the professor's morals. He resolves to fix matters. He rows out to sea and scuba dives to the uranium deposit and "phantom" with some dynamite. He blows up the deposit, the monster and himself. His terrible weapon secrets died with him. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
The monster plays into the story very little, actually. As a murder mystery story, P10K has a little merit. The mysterious professor, the suspicious assistant. Even Dr. Stevens seems shifty at times. The murder-mystery plot is complex enough to keep a little interest. The stereotypes are interesting to track. (see Good Girl / Bad Girl below)

For so-bad-it's-fun action, it is fun to see how there's never anyone on the beaches but the actors. Everyone rows out to the monster spot in a small row boat -- just the right size for tipping over. The phantom isn't very phantasmic. What seems naggingly obvious, is that despite the title, all the underwater action takes place at a depth of only 10 or 20 feet. Scuba diving had some public fascination in the mid 50s, so it only took a little underwater filming to captivate audiences. While not a genre starter, P10K is one of the early man-in-rubber-suit monster flicks.

Cold War Angle
P10K is more of a cautionary tale about atomic power and dangers, than it is about the Cold War specifically. There is a shadowy "them" which send the spies, George and Wanda, to uncover the professor's secrets. "They" are never named. The fact that the project was a super-weapon vaguely hints that it was a competitor nation, though this is never developed. 50s audiences already knew who "they" were.

Notes
Cautionary Monster -- As would become more commonplace, P10K is one of those stories intended to warn people about the dangers of atomic energy. As much as we might want it for a weapon, its dangers might get us too. The "monster" itself is a personification of radiation. It kills when you get near it. At the end, the customary moralizing moment, Lois says, "I knew he wanted this power to help humanity, not destroy it." Dr. Stevens responds, "Nature has many secrets which were not meant to be understood. That's why he took his secret with him."

A Little Cheesecake -- There are a couple scenes which do nothing to advance the plot, but appear to be thrown in simply for exploitive motives. One such scene has Lois in the shower, her suggestive silhouette on the shower curtain. This is followed by a few dressed-in-towel views until Dr. Stevens helps her get into her tight-fitting dress. Pointless, but probably perked up the young men in the theater. A second serving comes when George meets platinum blonde Wanda on the beach. She lounges, pin-up style in her frilly strapless bathing suit. The camera views are optimal for showing off her feminine charms, but do nothing for the plot. They're just a couple random servings of cheesecake.

Good Girl / Bad Girl -- Lois, the professor's daughter, is clearly the "good girl". She's the loving daughter. She's the single and available young beauty who apparently has nothing whatsoever to do but lounge on the beach or on the patio. Wanda, on the other hand, is just as clearly the "bad girl." She has floozie platinum blonde hair and swaggering attitude. She's apparently "been around" and unstable in relationships. She's a tool of the mysterious "them."

Shadow of Godzilla -- A few parallels to Godzilla stand out. One, the creature is T-Rex-ish, like Godzilla (though man sized, not 100' tall). Two, the creature was spawned/awakened by radiations -- weapons research. Three is the deadly atomic beam which sinks the ship. Very Godzilla-like. A fourth similarity is how the genius scientist must give his life to stop the monster.

They're NOT after our women -- The poster shows a larger monster grabbing a woman diver by the thighs and staring at her chest. Thankfully, no such scene appears in the P10K. The creature grabs the professor when he goes down with the dynamite, but no women.

Poor Naive Professor -- Professor King plays the typical (almost cliche) role of the naive (misguided) scientist. He "activates" an undersea uranium deposit, which produces a powerful beam. This could be a super-weapon (a fact not lost on the two spies). As his daughter Lois says at the end, however, "I knew he wanted this power to help humanity, not destroy it." Professor King, like many naive scientists, gives his life (tragic hero style) to stop his monstrous creation.

Bottom line? P10K is a lower B grade of sci-fi that follows customary plot threads. It will likely anger or frustrate viewers looking for thoughtful (or active) entertainment. For nerdy fans of 50s sci-fi, however, the stereotypes themselves are kind of fun to watch.

Day the World Ended

This post-apocolyptic tale was director Roger Corman's first sci-fi movie. While post-nuclear-war movies would become common over the years, in 1955, they were still comparatively new. A few others looked at a post-nuclear world or a post-global destruction world. Only Five ('51) looked at a small group of survivors in the days immediately after a nuclear war wiped out everyone else on earth. Day the World Ended (DWE) is the tale of an ad hoc group of survivors in a tiny oasis of the old world, surrounded by the horrors of the new. The "world" which ended was not the planet (obviously) but world we (in the 50s) knew.

Quick Plot Synopsis
The story opens with some heavy-handed narration and stock footage of the Bikini Atoll test. Through the ground fog, a few survivors stumble upon Jim Maddson's house sheltered in a steep valley. He and Louise, his daughter, are joined by Tony (the hood), Ruby (Tony's girlfriend and burlesque dancer), Rick (the geologist), Pete (the prospector) and Radick (the radiated businessman). Jim had only planned enough supplies for three, not seven. Tensions immediately begin between Jim, Rick and Tony. A rivalry develops between Rick and Tony over Louise. Radick is changing into a 'new' atomic man which needs raw meat to eat. First Louise, and then the others, become aware of a stranger (a mutant) stalking the valley. Radick steals Pete's burro in order kill it and eat raw meat, but he himself is killed by the strange clawed mutant. Pete, despondent, goes over the crest, into the deadly fog and dies. Jim tries to stop him, but only gets a lethal dose of radiation. Meanwhile, Ruby argues with Tony about his fixation on Louise. She pulls a knife on him, but in the struggle, Ruby is killed. That night, the creature "calls" to Louise. She leaves the house and the creature carries her off. She awakens from the 'trance', screams and splashes into the pond. The creature won't follow. Jim arrives with a big rifle, but the creature cannot be shot. Rain comes, however, and subdues the creature. The clean rain water is proof that the world is healing itself. Meanwhile, back in the house, Tony takes sick Jim's gun and plans to kill Rick so he can have Louise. Jim had a hidden gun and shoots Tony dead. Rick and Louise arrive just before Jim expires of radiation sickness. He gives them his blessing, then dies. They trudge off over the ridge, like honeymooning hikers. The big words "The Beginning" flash on the screen. (The End)

Why is this movie fun?
Where Five was thoughtful and artistic, DWE touches on more of the fear people felt in the nuclear angst age. You didn't just die, you turned into an ugly mutant. The acting is pretty good for a low-budget film, and Corman does a good job of keeping the mood tense and claustrophobic.

Cold War Angle
DWE is a classic of the Cold War angst mindset. It depicts the nightmare vision of what would happen if the Cold War ever erupted into a global nuclear war. There's no nationalist finger pointing. The nuclear destruction and contamination are just given facts. The movie opens with these words on screen, "What you are about to see may never happen...but to this anxious age in which we live, it presents a fearsome warning..."

Notes
Good Guy / Bad Guy -- Like Five ('51), and Invasion USA ('52), and others, DWE uses a small group, (seven people) as a lens on society. In this case, we have pairs of opposites. Jim, the father, is authority and order, Tony, the hood, is lawlessness. Rick, the geologist and Tony, are distilled opposites of the American male. Rick is brave, virile and heroic. Tony is selfish, rude and arrogant.

Good Girl / Bad Girl -- Louise is a quick distillation 50s vision of what the idealized young woman should be. She's young, pretty, trim and blonde, but she's no air-head. Louise is courageous and compassionate. Louise is the "good girl" which fathers hoped their sons would find for brides. Ruby, on the other hand, is an over-the-hill striptease dancer who smokes and drinks and is implied to have led a loose life. Ruby is cast somewhat more sympathetic Tony was, but she's not what fathers wanted their sons to bring home.

Thin the Herd -- Purge society of its undesirables? It's a very old notion. God wiped out all the wicked undesirables in the great flood, saving only Noah and his family (and the animals, of course). At one point, Jim even says to Rick that his little valley is like Noah's Ark. Radick, representing the business world, was lost from the beginning. Tony kills Ruby, and then is killed himself. Only the idealized "good" people (Rick and Louise) emerge as the post-nuclear Adam and Eve. In this, there's actually a sort of eugenicist's dark optimism that a global nuclear war could be "good" for mankind. It'll thin the herd of undesirables, leaving only the young, blonde and buff.

Rubber Monster -- Paul Blaisdell created the mutant monster costume, mostly out of foam rubber. Blaisdell had a brief, but active, stint as a sci-fi monster maker. He worked cheap, which is why Corman liked him. The mutant doesn't hold up well in extended viewing. The monster's appearance was already revealed on the poster (no mystery there), but Corman limited his camera time for most of the movie, to shadows or glimpses. He erred in letting us see too much towards the end. When we do get a good look, it's predictably disappointing -- like a sculpture of an illustration. Corman would repeat this error in some of his later movies too. Most notably, It Conquered the World ('56).

Love Conquers All -- Love is stronger than even massive mutation. A recurring trope in sci-fi (and horror genre) is humanity lingering within the monster. In DWE, this is seen in the mutant 'calling' to, and then carrying off (not eating) Louise. We're left to presume that the mutant was actually her fiance, Tommy. Despite the radiation turning men into savage flesh eating monsters, a kernel of loving Tommy was stronger.

Divine Judgement? -- A fairly common notion in 50s (and 60s) American christendom was that God might use a global nuclear holocaust to end the current age. A narrator quotes a commonly cited Bible verse used to support that view: 2 Peter 3:12. "...of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat..." Escatologically, this is pretty shaky, but it was a popular notion anyhow.

Atomic Adaptation -- The underlying theory in DWE, is that Nature quickly adapted some creatures to life in an irradiated world. The whole "Matsuo Test" thread sets this up. The massive radiation triggered mutations give creatures armored "atomic skin," claws, horns and the ability to eat radio-actively contaminated food. A barbaric new "after" world is hinted at with mutant Tommy, Radick and the other business man who stumbled into the valley telling of "others, out there." Radick coyly tells Rick that "there are wonderful things happening out there" (beyond the ridge), but won't elaborate. A brave new mutant world?

Purity Prevails -- The new mutant world did not last long. With the coming of pure clean rain water, mutant-Tommy dies. It's presumed that the pure rain kills off all the other mutants too. Louise says, "Man created him, but God destroyed him." Purity, symbolized by the water and personified in "good" Rick and Louise, prevail to reclaim the earth.

Bottom line? DWE is certainly worth a couple hours on a lazy Sunday afternoon. It's a B film, but has reasonable acting and enough action to keep the plot moving forward. It's also a good example of the nightmare (and bunker mentality) that lurked through the 50s.

Godzilla Raids Again

Gojira no gyakushû (Japanese title ) was released in Japan in 1955, this movie would not be dubbed into an english version until 1959. Then, it would be retitled Gigantis the Fire Monster The original Japanese film was more artistic. The American dubbed version didn't do the original justice, but is more known by American viewers. Gigantis is more pure monster movie than sci-fi. Toho produced a sequel to the very popular Gojira ('54), repeating some features, but adding a few new ones. Gigantis is the first of a new genre in which rubber-suit monsters battle each other and stomp on a wide variety of model cities. An entire pantheon of rubber monsters would develop in the 60s and 70s, spun up around the Godzilla model. Mothra, Rodan, Megalon, Gamera, etc. etc., would be a study unto themselves. All of that, however falls outside of this study of '50s sci-fi. This review is more of a wave goodbye to a diverting branch.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Two pilots are flying small float planes as spotters for a tuna fishing fleet. One of them has engine trouble, so sets down on a remote and desolate island. While there, he sees two prehistoric monsters fighting each other. One is clearly a snaggletoothed copy of Godzilla. The other, called Anguirus. The two monsters fall into the sea and disappear. The two pilots fly back and alert the authorities. At a meeting of leaders and scientists, Professor Yamane (from the first movie) tells how Gigantis can't be stopped with conventional weapons, but is attracted to (and enraged by) light. When Gigantis is seen approaching Osaka harbor, jets drop flares to lure him away. It was working until some escaped convicts crash their stolen truck in a refinery and start a huge fire. This attracts Gigantis. The Anguirus suddenly arrives too. The two monsters battle each other, laying waste to much of Osaka, even toppling famed Osaka Castle. Gigantis finally defeats Anguirus and starts a firestorm that destroys what's left of Osaka. After the destruction, the Japanese begin rebuilding their lives. The two tuna pilots have new tuna-spotting jobs up in snowy Hokkaido. Tsukioka spots Gigantis on a snow covered island. The military attack, but bombs do nothing. The other pilot, Kobayashi, buzzes Gigantis, who flames his plane. He crashes into a nearby snowy mountain. The ensuing avalanche comes up to Gigantis' knees. This gives everyone the idea to bury Gigantis in ice. Jets bomb the nearby mountains. Snow and ice bury him. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
It's always fun to watch a sequel, even if it doesn't live up to the original. Even the crudely dubbed American version has an artistic flare to it. This is the first of a breed, the kaiju genre of monster movies that would proliferate in the 60s. The layers of allegory are fun to ponder too.

Cold War angle?
The opening few minutes of the Americanized version feature stock footage of nuclear explosions and V2 missile launches. The narration is heavy handed nuclear angst stuff. After that, the original Japanese movie's Cold War messages are less obvious than in Gojira. But, they are still present. The movie could be taken as an allegory for "what if" the Cold War turned hot. The two monsters personify the two sides in the Cold War. While they battle, the rest of the world is laid waste as a consequence.

Notes
Homage -- To cement its role as a sequel, the character of Professor Yamane gets a cameo. He also shows a film to other dignitaries, which includes clips from the first movie. In the Japanese version, the monster's name is the Gojira too. The American version got the new "Gigantis" name.

Born Hot -- The origin of the monster is explained differently in this sequel. Yamane explains Gigantis as a remnant of a prehistoric species which lived in lava. Fire is part of their being. With this new re-telling, Godzilla moves away from being spawned by nuclear testing -- a personification of nuclear arms. Instead, he's become more of a primal force.

Fire and Ice -- Since fire is part of Gigantis' very essence, it's a poetic natural that his demise (even if temporary) should be ice. No conventional weapon could hurt him, but a mountain of ice could cool him into inactivity. In this, there is yet another metaphor for the Cold War. You can't eliminate conflict, you can only cool things off (for awhile).

Hyper Monsters -- Unlike most of the giant rubber monster movies, the fight scenes between the two monsters were shot at "normal" speed. Typically, such scenes are shot at a faster film speed to slow down the final. This makes each motion look more like that of a 100' tall multi-ton beast. In Gigantis, the normal speed action looks odd -- not in scale -- but does give the beasts a more savage quality.

Alternative Allegory -- Gigantis and Anguirus could also be seen from a WWII retrospective point of view. Gigantis is America. Anguirus is the Japanese militarist ruling faction of the 30s and 40s. As the two of them fight each other, innocent Japanese suffer. One defeats the other, then the Japanese try to rebuild their lives amid the ash and ruin. If this is the spin intended by the writers, it shows an interesting distancing of the Japanese culture from its part in the war. It was the militarist's war, not theirs.

Heroism -- The tuna pilot Kobayashi ends up being the film's tragic hero. He dives his unarmed plane at Gigantis and goes down in flames. The imagery is quite suggestive of the kamakazi. All the noble talk about brave Kobayashi gives a hint of how differently the Japanese view the WWII kamakazi. Even the Americanized version cannot hide this.

Lingering War Wounds -- After Osaka is engulfed in the firestorm, Kobayashi's fiance mourns over her city's fate. She asks, "how could this thing happen to her people? What had they done to earn such a dreadful punishment?" Since Gigantis, like his predecessor, is an allegory for war, such musing comes across as a sincere puzzlement over why Japan had to suffer as it did in the war. Victors may write the history, as the saying goes, but the losers often don't see their fate as so obviously deserved.

Bottom line? Gigantis (the Americanized version) is not as good as the Japanese original, but even then, it's worth the time. As a movie, either version is straying out of sci-fi-land, and into pure monster flick. But is the notable ancestor of a whole sub-genre of rubber-suit monster movies. Yet, despite this, it still has some war-allegory message merits.

Tarantula

Here we have another installment of the giant bug sub-genre begun by Them! the year before. Tarantula is solidly B material, but is fairly well done nonetheless. Jack Arnold, of Creature from the Black Lagoon fame co-wrote and directed it. Leo Carroll does a good job playing the mad scientist, professor Deemer. The special effects, which are mostly clever camera work, are actually rather well done for the pre-CGI era. Actually, with the deformed scientists subplot, Tarantula is almost two movies in one! One is the usual rampaging monster movie. The other is the detective/murder-mystery movie. The overall result is a very watchable example of classic 50s B sci-fi.

Quick Plot Synopsis
A deformed man wanders out of the southwest desert and dies. The local doctor (Agar) identifies the cause of death as a rare, slow-acting pituitary disease, but the reclusive Professor Deemer (Carroll) says the dead man is his associate, who was fine four days ago. Back in his lab, professor Deemer is giving injections of a nutrient solution to various animals who are very large. One of them is a tarantula in a glass case. Another deformed associate attacks the professor. In the ensuing struggle, the glass case is broken and the huge tarantula escapes out a door. A fire in the lab destroys the other giant animals. Before he dies, the deformed assistant injects the unconscious professor with the nutrient.
A pretty young grad student (Mara Corday) arrives to assist the professor. Doc Hastings (Agar) is predictably keen on her. A budding romance is put on hold as a mystery interrupts. Something has been eating a nearby rancher's cows, and then the rancher himself. A pool of white liquid near the skeltons is analyzed. It's tarantula venom -- gallons of it. Finally, the giant spider (now as big as a house) is seen and rampages around, making women scream and eating state troopers. The good guys try to blow it up with dynamite, but that fails. All seems lost as the now even larger spider approaches the town. Just in time, the Air Force flies in to the rescue. A squadron of P-80s arrive. Missiles do nothing, but they brought napalm bombs too. Now yer talkin'. The giant spider goes up in flames and the town is saved. The end.

Why is this movie fun?
For one of the giant bug flicks, Tarantula is pretty well done. The mad scientist subplot adds distraction, almost upstaging the giant spider story. The pacing is pretty good (except for a lull in the middle) and keeps interest. Later examples of the giant bug category would get much worse. This one is, by comparison, a gem.

Cold War Angle
There's not much Cold War in Tarantula. A thin connection is the "highly unstable" nature of the solution (to the world's problems) based on radioactive isotopes, but this isn't played up at all. The giant spider isn't cast as a personification of nuclear power, as Godzilla was. He's just a huge natural danger to be stopped by American military might.

Notes
End World Hunger -- What made the spider gigantic? Professor Deemer's synthetic nutrient solution. He worked on to solve world hunger. In his little speech, he noted that the world of 1955 had 2 million people. By 2000, he said there'd be 3.6 million. He says this gravely, as if the world could not support that many. In reality, by 2000 there were 6 billion of us. Deemer's idea was to create a synthetic nutrient that people could live on in lieu of dirt-grown food.

Ironic Justice -- Professor Deemer plays the common archetypal role of the misguided scientist who thinks he knows the best way to tweak nature. Of course, his synthetic nutrient solution creates monsters of animals and disfigured mutants of people. He, himself, falls prey to his own creation -- a fairly typical demise for B-movie impudent scientists. He is disfigured by his own concoction and killed by one of his monsters. In this, the frequent moral is made. Don't mess with nature.

Home Sweet Home -- Deemer's desert home (cum lab) is the "Dabney House" on Universal's back lot. It was featured in several films, such as being Exeter's house in This Island Earth earlier this year ('55). It will be used in the third Creature film, The Creature Walks Among Us ('56). Watch for it.

What Are You Smilin' At? -- One odd feature of the acting, is how often John Agar is smiling when he says his lines. The smiles don't fit the action. It's as if he can't get into character and is too conscious that he's making a monster movie. Since everyone else is able to stay in character, the dopy grin stands out as odd.

They're After Our Women -- Not. The poster art shows the spider with the usual beautiful, swooning woman clutched in his fangs. No such scene appears in the film. The spider eats cows, horses and men. There is, however, one scene which doespush the traditional buttons of "they're-after-our-women". Stephanie is in her room at Deemer's house, in her silky robe, getting for bed. The giant spider is a mega-peeping-tom outside her window, his huge compound eye watching her through the big window. He does start smashing the house, but doesn't seem to be after her. He does get Deemer, but no writhing leggy/buxom woman in the fangs.

Creature Theme -- Perhaps it's because Tarantula has the same director as the first two Creature films, but you'll note several times that when the spider is attacking, a familiar discordant three-note theme is used in the music. It's almost identical to the Creature from the Black Lagoon's special music theme. Perhaps Jack Arnold got to feeling that all monsters needed it, so instructed them to put it in.

Future Star Spotting -- This is pure movie trivia. Clint Eastwood gets a small uncredited part. It's easy to miss unless you're looking for it. He is the squadron leader of the Air Force jets coming to bomb the spider. He's wearing the full helmet, so you can't see his face. His voice is distinctive, though, as he orders his jets in to attack. Trivial, but fun.

Bottom line? Tarantula is not high cinematic art, but an entertaining example of the big bug sci-fi subgenre.