BlazeLime Strong and Moving!

Lawbolisted Powerful

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

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

tles7 Uninteresting story line gives way to lots of monster action. There are plenty of closeups of a miniature drooling Scorpion head. The movie is all done by miniatures and the stop motion is at times very jerky. Willis appears to be stuck in the 1930s. There are a lot of background rear projection effects which are incredibly out of focus and the miniatures look very much like miniatures, toy trains and all. Why these insects make sounds at all is weird but the roaring makes it more interesting I guess. At times, sounds are taken from "Them", the other, better big WB insect film. Some monster sequences look older and may be test footage from King Kong or elsewhere. Most of the monster shots are separate and are not composite shots with people other than rear projection. Perhaps the best shot is one of the smaller creatures chasing after the kid. The WORST shot is when there is a giant scorpion mixed with large crowd scenes. It's basically the scorpion appearing as a transparent black cartoony effect that is very jerky and laid over the crowd shot....one of the worst of that era. Maybe this was a budget issue. The scorpions fighting each other and eating other miniature people are the best shots and must have taken a lot of work...but still, very jerky. Anyway, it's 1950s B Horror, and lots of fun. For some reason, I had never seen this as a kid. I guess the NYC market didn't show it. So, it was nice to see a new (for me) 1950s monster movie from a major studio.

JohnHowardReid A Frank Melford-Jack Dietz Production. Copyright 1957 by Amex Productions. Released through Warner Brothers Pictures: 19 October 1957. New York opening at the Paramount: 11 October 1957. U.K. release: floating from April 1958. Banned in Australia. 7,896 feet. 88 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Released from their nest by an earthquake, giant scorpions are on the march in Mexico, but an American geologist is quickly on the spot to help out. You just can't keep a good guy down! NOTES: Director Edward Ludwig turned to TV when this assignment was completed, working exclusively in that medium until his retirement except for The Gun Hawk (1963) starring Rory Calhoun and Rod Cameron. Shooting commenced 21 November 1956 at Estudios Tepeyac. Mexico City. COMMENT: A trite screenplay complete with dull characters, clumsy, instant-information dialogue and an absolutely pointless romance, contrives to work in loads of extended, ugly but none too realistic special effects involving giant scorpions. This plot ploy obviously owes a lot to Them! and The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. Those two pictures rate as superior offerings, but the monsters here not only look like models but are ineffectively disguised by a tendency to repeatedly over-use dead giveaway close-ups. There are lots and lots of them! Fans will doubtless relish this tide of abundance, but I felt sad to see capable players like Richard Denning and Mara Corday stooging for such obvious black crayon and pasteboard "monsters" while trying to make the best of an absolutely impossible script. They receive no help whatever from the tepid, totally lack-luster direction of Edward Ludwig, who made his entire career in low-budget movies like this one. Mind you, this effort does pack at least one big shock: What a jolt to find Lionel Lindon's name on the credits! Just the year before, he'd photographed Around the World in 80 Days for Michael Todd and carried off the world's most prestigious award for Cinematography from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Presumably the grainy, none-too-brightly lit camerawork from the special effects unit is not his, but even the main unit photography, whilst capable enough, seems hardly the product of a journeyman apprentice, let alone a master!

Eric Stevenson Well, this movie had a black scorpion in it, but it had more than that. It had multiple black scorpions! Oh, they were giant too. I think the worst thing about this is probably the pacing. After about an hour, it looked like they were going to just stop it. There were too many boring moments but I will admit that the stop motion effects are quite good. I'm not even into stop motion that much. It helps that we get some good close ups of the scorpions showing off the practical effects. Wait, does stop motion count as practical effects? It doesn't seem to hold up well.I was disappointed the scorpion didn't appear at first, but to be fair, most of the movie did in fact feature it. I didn't know there would be other giant creepy crawlies in this film. It was hard to even recognize that worm. Well, realize it was a worm is what I mean. It would have worked better if it was trimmed by a half hour. Then again, that wouldn't have been enough for a full length movie. As a cheesy little 1950's sci-fi movie, it's just mediocre. I remain impressed by how it looks with the designs. **1/2

unbrokenmetal Scott (Richard Denning) and Ramos (Carlos Rivas) are geologists taking a closer look at an area in Mexico after a recent volcanic eruption. Near the village of San Lorenzo, they find an abandoned patrol car, a baby without parents and later a dead officer. There is some superstition around, a tale of a demon bull who may be responsible for killed and missing people, but the 2 scientists soon find there are gigantic black scorpions on the loose instead, released by the volcano from their underground hiding place. Scott descends into the cave where the came from, and there are so many scorpions down there in tunnels that stretch for miles that it seems impossible to kill all of the monsters...This is one of the great 50s monster movies that deserves to be listed shortly after 'Tarantula', 'Them!' and the like. First, there are great animated sequences from special effects master Willis O'Brien ('King Kong'). Scenes like the fight between scorpions and a worm in the cave or the train attack are great examples of his stop motion technique. Second, the movie was filmed near an active volcano with real smoke in the background, an impressive, rugged landscape. Third, the music contributes a lot to the tension, too. The whole atmosphere works. Unfortunately, the actors remain pale and deliver their lines like in a typical B movie rush, but otherwise it's a great movie for its time and genre.