THE GIANT GILA MONSTER (1959)
Tagline: The Biggest Terror Ever Unleashed on the Screen!
(Sci-Fi, Horror, Rock And Roll) [G]
Note – This movie did not originally have an MPAA rating, but I am pretty sure it would have been a G.
I ask you what time it is and you tell me how to build a clock, just answer the question!
In this one toxic waste is loosely mentioned as part of the reason that a giant Gila Monster is terrorizing a small Texas town. Chase Winstead isn’t about to let the madness continue, but can him and his hotrod handle THE GIANT GILA MONSTER?
First off, if you are not from Arizona or Texas, you may not know that the word Gila is actually pronounced “He-la”. It’s named after the Gila River in Arizona and is a venomous lizard with orange, pinkish, or yellowish skin. Basically, if you see one, you will know it. The bite can be fatal, but that is pretty rare and a lot like bees regarding their sting, they really don’t want to bite you.
Where I think a lot of people struggled with this movie is the overly “wholesome” song that Chase sings to his sister Missy but really outside of that moment, I don’t really understand the hate. In fact, I don’t understand even that hate. It’s meant to be a tender family moment. This is not to say that a slight bit of speeding up the film to make the Gila Monster appear to walk faster would have been a nice touch. Even if they took a long shot and then speed it up to fit the time frame they wanted.
Released in a double cheese with Cheetos on top feature, with THE KILLER SHREWS, both of these much-maligned movies are actually 2 of my top 20 or so sci-fi movies of the 1950s. The soundtrack actually makes this thing even more fun and we get a decent score.
Adding to my enjoyment of the film is the cast. Don Sullivan who plays Chase Winstead is awesome in this as a very likable GQ-type male lead. I also thought he was great in THE MONSTER OF PIEDRAS BLANCAS, but his acting career only involved 13 different projects the last of which was GILA! (the 2012 remake of this movie). Fred Graham is also epic as Sheriff Jeff. Graham had an extremely expansive career with 278 different acting roles and actually had bit parts in THE WAR OF THE WORLDS and 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA. Chase’s girlfriend Lisa was played by Lisa Simone. Simone was probably most famous for her role as a moon girl in MISSILE TO THE MOON.
For the most part, I loved the effects in this thing, especially the train scene. Director Ray Kellogg had a lot of experience in the special effects area having worked on the effects for over 115 projects by the time he directed this movie.
If you can set aside any hopes of seeing a super serious movie with GODZILLA-like devastation, then you have a lot of opportunity to enjoy this gem as much as I did. I think I have watched this thing like 4 times in the past 3 years and hope to own the DVD or BLU-RAY at some point. This won’t be for everyone, but for me, it’s a solid 7 out of 7. Quite literally one of my favorites from the era.
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