Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Leofwine_draca One of two 'cowboys vs. dinosaurs' movies penned by Willis O'Brien, the other being the far more successful VALLEY OF GWANGI made in 1968. THE BEAST OF HOLLOW MOUNTAIN is something of an obscure film despite its mainstream status as an average '50s B-movie monster flick. For the most part, the film is flawed in numerous ways and fails to deliver on the entertainment stakes until the last twenty minutes. The film was made in Mexico on the cheap and it shows, with an entirely Hispanic cast aside from imported lead Guy Madison (AVENGER OF THE SEVEN SEAS). Perhaps these are the reasons for its lack of popularity. Another reason is that this film is far more of a routine oater than a monster movie; due to the budget (or lack thereof) we don't actually get to see the monster until the final twenty minutes of the movie.Up to then, THE BEAST OF HOLLOW MOUNTAIN follows all the usual clichés of the western genre, filling the screen with a bunch of predictable characters: the noble, kindly newcomer; the damsel in distress; the jealous Mexican bad guy; the drunk; the annoying little kid who screams and cries a lot. There's a hell of a lot of smalltalk going on and far too much filler, especially during a never-ending street party in the latter half of the movie. At least its short and you can just about get by watching it without dozing off. There are one or two notable action sequences to enliven things, including a nicely-choreographed fist fight on the street and a cattle stampede from hell. There are a fair amount of real stunts involving horses which appear to be pretty dangerous and likewise a scene where villagers let off fireworks IN THEIR HANDS shows that in Mexico there are no health and safety measures to worry about.Cast-wise there are few surprises to be had. Everybody fulfils their own role without really standing out from the crowd. Ten minutes after the film ended I couldn't really remember a face or character which may tell you something. Guy Madison does his best with the material and goes through his familiar motions, carrying off some great athletic work there too (the bit where he runs and jumps on a horse is very impressive). This was just before Madison set sail for Italy and pursued his career as a villain in an assortment of swashbucklers and peplum epics for the next ten years.As for the Beast itself, it turns out to be a mouldy old dinosaur inexplicably living in the mountain for thousands of years without dying of old age. The stop motion effects used to animate the beast are usually poor; O'Brien should have been allowed to handle the effects himself instead of some amateur doing the job. At least the stop motion is better than the terrible rubber dinosaur feet used in the close-up shots. The last twenty minutes of the film is one long-running action scene with the dinosaur figuring heavily in the action stakes; although it may not look the best it is pretty well animated, especially when we see it running after a horse. The trap our hero sets for the Beast is the cleverest thing in the movie.As a kid I was fortunate enough to catch this one on television and I loved it totally. Seeing it as an adult I am well aware of the flaws and faults but I still view it with a sentimental eye. Although the monster looks cheap, at least it gets to eat a few cows and kill a couple guys, and the ending will impress all but the most spoilt kids. Hardly a classic movie but a winner on the nostalgia front. They don't make 'em like this anymore, that's for sure.

gavin6942 An American cowboy living in Mexico (Guy Madison) discovers his cattle is being eaten by a giant prehistoric dinosaur.What is most strange about this film is that the dinosaur aspect -- which is played up with the poster, title and such -- really is not all that important. The bulk of the film is not about missing cattle but Jimmy's relationship with a woman who is engaged to another man.The story could be good enough just like that -- a love triangle, with some multicultural stress thrown in. Jimmy is apparently the only American in the film, making him something of a stranger -- he is encroaching on Mexican soil and trying to "steal" a Mexican woman. Much could be said about American opinion of Mexican immigration and how it is reversed here, but I will not go there.The film ultimately comes up mediocre because it does not blend its fantasy and western aspects as smoothly as it could. Fantasy fans will be bored for much of the film. Western fans may enjoy it a bit more, seeing as it never strays from the genre until much later on.

Michael_Elliott Beast of Hollow Mountain, The (1956)** (out of 4)Low-budget film has a cowboy (Guy Madison) wondering what's happening to his cattle, which are either missing or turning up slaughtered. At first he thinks it's a rival but soon everyone learns that it's actually a prehistoric dinosaur that has been hiding up in a mountain behind a dangerous swamp. This is a precursor to THE VALLEY OF GWANGI and there's no question that the later movie is much more rewarding and there's also very little doubt that the biggest problem with this thing is the lack of money. The film runs 80-minutes and the first sixty-minutes are pure Western stuff but the material makes it something less than what you'd expect to see in a "C" grade film. The basic plot has our cowboy, an American, coming to Mexico to raise his cattle and for the next sixty-minutes we have to hear him talk to various people about why he isn't wanted. There's also a typical subplot involving a Mexican drunk who wants just one more shot to prove himself to his young son and it doesn't take much of an imagination to guess what happens next. There's also a love interest between the cowboy and Patricia Medina but it's not believable or remotely interesting. When people come to this movie it's going to be for the dinosaur effects by a Willis O'Brien protégé. Just looking at how fake the dinosaur is makes you know they didn't have much money to work with. The creature looks very fake when it walks and even worse is what it has other things on or in it. One example is a scene where it's walking around with a cow in its mouth and the effect is really bad. Even worse is one where the dinosaur has a man in its hand. The performances aren't that bad but that's not the reason you come to a movie like this. This certainly isn't a horrible movie but at the same time there's just not enough in it to make it worth sitting through.

woboyle This is just a great movie! I have spent many years in the remote areas of Mexico (Oaxaca, Chiapas, Michoacan, Guerrero, Guanajuato, Durango, etc. and have lots of extended family there. My niece (dual Mexican/American citizen) is actually an actress in Mexico. The portrayals of life in a Mexican pueblo of the time is reasonably realistic. The acting is generally believable. In short, a great movie of the genre. I am enjoying it immensely!As for the special effects, there is a reason why Harryhausen was an acolyte of O'Brien. They were both innovators in the domain of stop-motion animation, a field in which my sister-in-law has continued to contribute as the producer of such subjects as "The California Raisin" commercials, etc.