THE KILLER SHREWS (1959)

THE KILLER SHREWS (1959)

Tagline: They had to eat 3 times their body weight each day... OR STARVE!

(Sci-Fi, Horror, Dogs) [G]

Note: The MPAA did not give a rating for this movie, but I am guessing it would have been a [G].

You're a strange man, Thorne. I never met anyone like you. You seem so disinterested in everything. Aren't you the least bit curious? Don't you wonder about the unusual things around here? The guns. The fence. The shattered windows. My accent. Anything?

One thing about 1950’s movies is that there is a lot of over-acting (not necessarily horrible, but just overdoing it) and people bossing other people around to get their point across. In this cult classic, we have what I am pretty sure is just barely costumed, dogs that are supposed to convince us they are giant shrews. That is actually part of what makes this thing just freakin fantastic. I should preface that you do have to like black and white and scientists that just don’t know when to quit to really embrace this one.

The premise revolves around an island where tests are being done that wind up having bad side effects on shrews. During a hurricane, the shrews decide it’s a good time to completely jack up the island.

Acting-wise I am not going to say that this was any better than rough. Lead actress Ingrid Goude plays Ann and does alright, but most of the heavy lifting is done by the rest of the cast. We do get a pre-"Dukes Of Hazzard" James Best in this movie and he's pretty much the best actor here playing Thorne Sherman.

This movie has cheese galore but it’s a fun one for most marathons and actually has some decent 1950’s charm, but I can see some people taking issue with just how freakin corny the special effects are. If you can brush the facts aside and that this movie has a bunch of really smart people doing really stupid things, you should have a good time. I have actually watched this one several times now as it has elevated to one of my favorite black and white horror flicks.

I give this movie a solid 5 out of 7. Good black and white cult classic that I would have loved to see back in the day when it came out in a double feature with THE GIANT GILA MONSTER. 

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