FROM HELL IT CAME (1957)

FROM HELL IT CAME (1957)

Tagline: Frightmare! Born of Jungle Witchcraft! Created by a Curse!

(Sci-Fi, Horror, Grumpy Stumpy) [PG]

Note – This movie did not originally have an MPAA rating, but I am pretty sure it would have been a PG. 

I know what. Why don't we psychoanalyze the monster? Maybe its mother was scared by an oak tree.

In this one deep in the South Seas, a man who is now a killer tree stump after a self-induced curse comes from out of the ground to see revenge after being betrayed by his wife and the tribes Chief. Now re-read that and after you stop laughing, you can read the rest of the review.

So – on more than one occasion back in the 50s there may have been a few movie titles that were a bit on the “sensationalistic” side. I am not sure if the movie’s title and tagline were meant to ward off crazy Christians like me and our parents, but after getting a glimpse of the actual monster in this thing, I HAD to see this movie. This tree creature looks like someone lit Gumby on fire and his face melted into a permanent state of grumpy. It’s actually one of Paul Blaisdell’s best creature designs. He was also known for his alien designs on INVASION OF THE SAUCER MEN, IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE and more. Just be aware that you do have to sit through a whopping 46 minutes of the movie's 71 minute run time before you do finally see the monster. 

Apparently, Stan Lee got the idea for “GROOT” from this movie which if true, actually tells you how epically goofy this “monster” really comes across. This movie really has nothing to do with “hell” per se and kind of dances the line between indicating that these South Sea natives have some hocus pocus going on, or that if you are pissed when you die and need revenge, radioactive testing has your back. 

Acting-wise I wasn’t crazy about most of this cast and Tina Carver was probably the second-best part about it as Dr. Terry Mason. She also starred in the sci-fi flick THE MAN WHO TURNED TO STONE, she is actually upstaged at least from a “best lines” standpoint by Linda Watkins who plays Mrs. Mae Kilgore. I am pretty sure that Watkins was brought in for comic relief and it works, but also has the overall effect of making this movie even goofier. I pretty much laughed out loud every time we saw the creature. Baynes Barron plays Chief Maranka in this and is pretty diabolical. He is best known for THE TEN COMMANDMENTS but had a career with over 110 acting credits. Tod Andrews plays Dr. William Arnold and I actually didn’t like his character that much. It’s bad news when it’s the 50s and the male lead isn’t likable. Tod was probably most famous for BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES. 

The soundtrack is trying to create a horror movie. The story is trying to create fear and intrigue, and we actually get some pretty crazy things that happen to the prince that you can kind of understand why he comes back as a grumpy tree. Overall though, not much of what this movie set out to do works, and I probably had more fun watching this as a comedy than even a sci-fi movie. I would have called this one "REVENGE OF THE PLANT PRINCE" or "TERROR OF THE GRUMPY STUMPY", but "FROM HELL IT CAME" is just way too out of left field for this shrubbery themed revenge story. 

This one gets a 4 out of 7. I could see myself watching it again but more for laughs than anything else. If I was trying to take it seriously it would be a much lower score. 

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