Reviews (63)

Good, But Flawed
Although I have seen this picture well over a dozen times and although I think it's basically a good movie, I must be objective and admit that "The Green Berets" is basically a propaganda piece that at the time of its filming was an attempt to change public sentiment about our country's involvement in Vietnam. For this reason, as well as the healing period our country went through after Vietnam, the movie seems rather archaic and naive today. Those on the far left ridicule it. Those on the far right treat it with the reverence of a Biblical tale. The truth about "The Green Berets" is that it lies somewhere between these two extremes.

The Fort Benning, Georgia filmed training sequences appear to be as real as anything I ever saw while I was in uniform. The combat sequences, however, contained a fair share of errors, most notably the well-known "sun setting in the east" flub. The acting was rather wooden, especially from Wayne as well as Jack Soo, portraying the ARVN officer, and the plot meandered from being quite good in some parts to being downright silly in others.

The most important thing to remember about this movie is that it should be taken for what it is...a good war movie. To casually dismiss it as irrelevant or hopelessly out of step with the truth simply doesn't do it justice. In similar fashion, it's rather stupid to portray it as an homage to the American way of life and characterize those who point out this picture's many flaws as "un-American", as one previous review did. This picture is best enjoyed with the viewer's bias, be it liberal or conservative, turned off.

from a patriot who was not afraid.
if John Wayne had made something like this today he would be ostracized from all of Hollywood and from about 2% of this nation. he was a man, a patriot and he wanted to show the good of our struggle. vietnam was a war that was not unlike every other war, the only difference was our citizens. the baby boomers grew up spoiled (founding fathers of the modern left). they didnt understand hard work and what a country need's to do for freedom. the left will today say freedom is a slogan, that we will always be free, they will say bush's war is for oil or some uneducated and clichéd response, but freedom is not just about a war or occupation, it's the freedom to not be afraid to get on a airplane, the freedom to not fear going into tall buildings, the freedom not to fear gathering large groups in public. and for the arab world it means to not be afraid to have your wife drive your car, or wear a dress in public, or to question a religious authority. the whole idea of vietnam was to prevent the spread of communism, it was a war that transcended vietnam itself, it was a war to measure our country and our people's resolve. vietnam taught our enemies (and todays modern terrorists) that if they can scare us, horrify us or kill enough of us that we will cower and not fight. Stalin, Khrushchev, khadafi, Usama, and hussein thought this, and we taught them all a lesson through might.

just because liberal's think war is not the answer it does not mean that our enemies do also. we are not europe, if we do not spend money on our military, flex our muscles, set deadlines and take action no one ele will. we do not have anyone to protect us like europe and the world have us. terrorist do not seek peace, they do not hate us because we are us they hate us because of hollywood, because of our freedom from starvation, our comfort in life and from our belief that we can live life any way we want without regard.

John wayne in his portrayal of vietnam was not "propaganda" it was to boost moral for the country, to support our efforts in defeating communism. i read before someone said john wayne was no patriot, what is a patriot if not to support the united states and to keep it's moral up? john wayne did that, ask any soldier from WWII to the present day. i feel bad for the liberal's they hate everyone, stand for everything while believing in nothing and really do not know anything of history or of humanity.

THE DUKE HAS THE LEFT TIED IN KNOTS
In 1969, John Wayne infuriated the Left with "The Green Berets", a film that made no apologies in its all-out support of America's effort in Vietnam. It was lambasted by critics, but in a very interesting sign, sold out at the box office. It plays today and while it is heavy-handed, there is little about it that rings untrue. The soldiers do not swear, complain or bastardize their uniforms like the actual guys did, but their patriotism and military professionalism was the real deal. The Communists they fight in the film are shifty little pissants. This does not deviate from the essential truth.

STEVEN TRAVERS
AUTHOR OF "BARRY BONDS: BASEBALL'S SUPERMAN"
STWRITES@AOL.COM

bad propoganda but a couple of gem performances
the performances of david jansaan and jim hutton stand out in this really blatant propoganda piece.
wayne the director and producer is not someone i empathize with but i do believe wayne the actor was vastly underrated.
too many people, myslef included, often let waynes politcs get in the way of acknowledging his acting powers.
this film is that in a nutshull.
his politics are unavoidable but the scen in which he wells up, on the verge of tears, trying to tell the young boy of huttons death is powerhouse acting pure and simple.
try to appreciate it.

A solid, well-made film
John Wayne like any other American had the right to promote his opinion. Period. ...

Now, the film is as accurate as any other Vietnam film made in that last 30 years because films are created to promote an opinion. (I've known Vietnam Vets who were not dope smoking, gun-totting genocidists.)

As far as action and commitment, the Green Berets succeeds as a solid "war film." No one who cares about good film making can argue that, unless they believe in censorship. The film is panoramic and energetic in cinematic quality. The characters are strong male types (like Vets I've known.) The film chose its side and promoted it. There is one strong element that the film brings home. The US military was better at killing, and it had to be. Most US detachments were generally outnumbered, fighting an opposition armed by numerous totalitarian countries from Europe to Asia. That is a historical fact, which interestingly enough, was introduced into a film over 35 years old.

The Green Berets, again, is a solid war-film and interestingly enough, is less fancifully than Platoon. The Green Berets is worth the time to see. ... Read more

Reviews (20)

aka "Elvis Vs. The Super-Imposed Mildly Menacing Lizard"
I can sum up this movie in one word, "wierd". I first saw "The Giant Gila Monster" late at night as part of a local t.v. station's Godzilla Monster Week (no, the giant lizard in this film is of no relation to the King of the Monsters). I remember being disappointed after having stayed up late only to find that they were showing a monster movie that had absolutely nothing to do with Godzilla, but after having watched the movie I thought it was actually pretty good. Of course I was only about 5 years old at the time, and for me, 11:00 p.m. really was pretty late at night.

Anyway, I just purchased a copy of this movie last week, and watched it (actually half watched - I kept falling asleep) this afternoon. I knew that it probably wouldn't be as good as I thought it was nearly 20 years ago, but I didn't think it would be quite as lame as it is.

Granted it's a 50's B sci-fi flick, so you know it's going to be extremely wild, cheesy and campy - after all, that's what makes those movies so great. Even though this film does have its "wild" scenes, and it definitely is cheesy all the way through, and it is extremely campy - there's just something that keeps this one from being one of the classics of its kind. It's probably the fact that aside from the giant lizard's attacks (if you want to call them attacks), the rest of the movie is just plain boring.

It starts out rather promising, with a giant reptile monster claw coming down violently upon a car with a couple teenagers inside, sending the car hurling over the side of a hill. Then the title comes up - "The Giant Gila Monster" - followed by the opening credits and some creepy background music. It's all downhill from that point on, though. The rest of the film centers around a small Texas town in the late 50's that seems to be populated by a bunch of rednecks, a semi-intelligent sheriff, a bunch of dancing teenagers, and our hero - an Elvis wannabe who lives at home with his "slightly cooler than June Cleaver" mom, his crippled daughter, and his "at times" annoying foreign girlfriend. Oh yeah, occasionally he gets to take breaks from his "hectic" life to play some extremely cheesy folk tunes on a toy banjo! By the way, I happen to like "real" folk music, but these songs just made me want to vomit!

Anyway, now on to the real star of the movie - the giant terrifying Gila Monster!! Yawn. The only thing that seems to be menacing about this overgrown lizard is his enormous size. The only way he actually brings destruction are the times when he happens to be crossing the road and cars smash in to him, or the time when he walks under a rail road bridge and ends up causing the train to wreck simply because he's too big to fit under the bridge! Out of the about 10 "attacks" the lizard makes throughout the film, only 2 were actually done on purpose! Certainly there was little for these backward citizens to actually fear from this abnormally large reptile. One thing that certainly surprised me when watching this movie is that the fact that real life gila monsters are venomous was not even mentioned in the film. Some monster!

All right, now that I've talked your ear off about this movie, decide if you really want to watch it or not, and then wait for it to come on late night t.v. I certainly wouldn't want anyone else to make the mistake I did of purchasing it. I wouldn't even suggest renting it, there are certainly better ways of spending a couple bucks.

Flathead Fever!
My fellow Motorheads will get a kick out of this movie simply for the period hot rods; a half-dozen T-buckets powered by the long gone Flathead Ford V-8! I often wonder what happened to those old rides, hopefully some were perserved.

As for the movie itself, well it's bad but doesn't take itself too seriously. Too much 1950's stuff is crammed into the movie for a two hour horror flick. Hot rods, rock and roll, teen angst, rich vrs poor, and of course the rich girl dating the poor boy. All this and a giant Gila monster! They could have had about three decent movies (budget allowing of course) out of this low budget gem that tries to do too much with way too little.

Viewed as a fun piece of nostaglia it is certainly worth watching.

Good Hokey 1950 Giant Monster Classic
allthough the peeps below my review have their smart ellic remarks on this film i seem to like it.
i actually liked all the giant monster films in the 50's even tho im a 16 year old and wasnt ever around in those days i enjoy the movies today and if u want to pick the reviews of the idiots under me then its ur choice
i got my opinions and they got theirs

A movie saved only by its unintentional humor...
Where do I start on this turkey? The stupid story, the bad acting or the even worse singing. Yes, that's right, singing. This is the Sci-Fi movie that doesn't know if it's a story about a giant lizard or a vehicle to promote a new singing sensation. Well, they should have stuck with the lizard, because the singer was definitely not the next Bobby Darin. I awarded 2 stars because of the movie's saving grace: its unintentional humor.

Dreck then, Dreck now
Golden Turkey Awards to the following: to Shug Fisher for proving that lovable town drunks are the real menace and should be locked away permanently, to special effects for proving that a single coupon to Toy's R'Us furnishes all the props a movie needs, to the luckless lizard for proving that a single narcotized expression gets you real screen time, to the composer of "Laugh Children Laugh" for turning an audience of nice Sunday school graduates into howling mad atheists, and finally, to the producers for believing this 70 minutes of unabashed treacle would actually convert switch-blade greasers into Pat Boone acolytes. The best way to view this 50's abomination now, as then, is passed-out in the back of a '57 Chevy. Some may call it camp -- it doesn't rise to that level. I still call it dreck. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Great concept, good (but not great) execution
I have both discs in this series and they are quite enjoyable.

The Wasp Woman benefits from a strong lead performance by Susan Cabot and The Giant Gila Monsterf benefits from... being unintentionally hilarious.

It's great to see the selection of Drive in clips for advertising and intermision and they are very well transferred (even better than the films).

The "distorto" sound is cute.

Here's where this series needs to improve:

More new (old) drive in clips, some are recycled from the previosu release.

Better transfers of the features. Although "Wasp Woman" shows a nice improvement over the other transfers of "Gila Monster", "Giant Leeches" and "Screaming Skull"

Encode it so it's all one program. When you select The "Night At The Drive In" all the segments are on "seperate tracks". In other words, when one segment ends, the player has to search out the next segment (causing a pause in sound, most noticible when you have the distorto sound on).

Encode it so the DVD player can show the time. At present, there is no time code and that bugs me.

Keep the content same era oriented. In this case, the movies are from 1960, the cartoons seem to be from the 30's or early 40's. Most of the ads seems to be late 50's, early 60's and the intermission film has to be early 70's (it shows pictures of the moon landing, which took place in 69). Make volumes that have 50's films and exclusivly 50's clips, then others that have 60's and 70's films and clips. establish a verisimilitude that will help you believe you are time tripping to a drive in at the time period of the movie.

That also goes for the "distorto sound". Sometimes we hear comments from people inside the "virtual car" we are in. The comments seem too ironic and modern in tone. They don't talk like people from the era the movies are in. It's fun in an MST3K sort of way though.

This is a good series that has the potential to be something great. A really special way to see these B movie charms.

While they are thinking of "concept discs" over at Elite. They might also consider making a TV chiller theater style series. With vintage hosts and ads. This is the way I discovered many of these films in the 70's and it would be cool if someday a DVD presentation could reflect that.

Great...unless you have the first Elite drive-in disc!
If this is the first drive-in disc from Elite that you've ever seen, you'll probably get a lot of enjoyment from it.

Unfortunately for me, I had already purchased and watched the first one in the series ("The Giant Leeches" and "The Screaming Skull"). It was fun, but the problem is that virtually all of the extra drive-in stuff was *exactly* the same on the second disc as it was on the first disc! The "Pic" mosquito coils, "Let's All Go to the Lobby" (not really a drive-in short anyway), Chilly Dilly pickles...the list goes on. For the price of these discs (they're up in Criterion territory, pricewise), I expected to at least get all-new material.

The other thing with both of the drive-in discs is that the film transfers are not so hot. That's all I'll say; if you want details about grain, scratches, splices, etc., look up more detailed reviews on, say, Google, and you'll get the scoop. The bottom line is that the source material and transfers are pretty cruddy. Again, if Elite wants to put a price tag on their DVDs that is approximately the same as many Criterion DVDs, they need to pony up with quality and all-new material. I'm going to proceed very carefully before I even consider purchasing a third drive-in disc, as I felt a bit rooked this time around.

GREAT DOUBLE FEATURE
This great release from Elite's Drive-In Discs range couples two of my all-time favorite B-movies together in one irresistable package!

THE WASP WOMAN tells the story of ageing cosmetics empire magnate Janice Starling (Susan Cabot) and her desire to hold onto her fading looks. Enter a kooky scientist who has developed a youth serum from the queen wasps, and who has the power to drag her - and the company - back into youthful vitality. Neeedless to say, poor Janice gets hooked on the stuff and turns into a wasp creature that must kill. Also featuring Barboura Morris and Fred Eisley.

THE GIANT GILA MONSTER is a campy little gem starring teen singing sensation Don Sullivan. When a giant lizard begins wreaking terror over the town's teens (who mainly sit around in hotrods making out), the monster finds a great way to appease its burgeoning appetite. Featuring Lisa Simone as Sullivan's just plain-annoying French girlfriend, the movie is a laughable horror flick with a most irritating song ("Laugh Children Laugh") that was actually penned by Sullivan!

Of course, the highlight is the "Drive-In" feature which couples the two films together along with "Betty Boop" and "Popeye" cartoons as well as concesssion stand ads, trailers and intermission announcements. Featuring Elite's famous DISTORTO sound system!

Fantastic and well worth a look.

Good smoochin' movies!
If you can't get too much of a mediocre thing, this Drive-In Double Feature is for you! Date up your honey and get set for some serious smoochin'...you won't miss much in this pair of less-than-classic horrors.

Give your lips a break when the wasp woman and the gila monster make their brief appearances, and be sure to stuff a sock in the speaker when Don Sullivan starts crooning "Laugh, Children, Laugh" way too many times (twice feels like twenty) in The Giant Gila Monster!

Great Drive-In Experience!!!
As American drive-in theaters dwindle more and more each year, Elite Entertainment is here to save our outdoor movie-watching heritage! Both volumes (out of a proposed 15) deserve more than 5 stars because of the love put into 'em and uniqueness they possess. The films are obviously pure 1950's B-cheese, but the extras are outstanding. This DVD gives the viewer the actual experience of being at a drive-in movie theater, complete with a double feature, cartoon and all the intermission extras: "Let's all go to the snack bar", a PIC mosquito coil ad, clock countdown ("the next show will start in 5 minutes!") and lots more. Plus DISTORTO - a process that you have the option of experiencing...or not. DISTORTO makes the film sound as if it were coming out of one of those terrible car window speakers, complete with the ambience of a drive-in: people talking during the movie, kids giggling, etc. Of course, you can view the films without it as well. Try this DVD! It's a five-star plus! ... Read more

Reviews (13)

Shrews and Gilas make for interesting watching
These movies are a hoot! In the first movie, The Giant Gila Monster it is fun to watch the teens hot rodding around in their souped up jalopies trying to escape the Giant Gila Monster. The songs are hilarious and the subplot of the young man trying to raise money for his little sisters braces makes no sense in the plot. The second movie on the DVD is the Killer Shrews. This movie has a better plot and makes a little more sense than the Giant Gila monster. Did anyone notice that the captain of the ship is the same actor who played Jim Lindsey the Guitar Player on The Andy Griffith Show. These movies are fun but dont expect too much.

Tame Gila Monster & Dogs Dressed as Big Mean Shrews
I have to admit to the same technical difficulties with my DVD as others have reported. Once in a while it goes out of focus and even seems to freeze at one point. The edition I have has a different cover than the one on Amazon.Com but the company and the double-movies are the same.

I bought the DVD for THE KILLER SHREWS and it is the most entertaining of the two films. While the costumed dogs are a bit hokey, with a little imagination, it works fine. Anyway, puppets are used for close-ups. The premise is simple. The over-sized mice eat anything that moves and the only food left are the people on the island. The people have to get to the boat or die. We are spared the gore so common in movies these days but there is still a lot of suspense. You never know when one of the hungry beasts is going to pop up. If they bite you, you're dead. There is poison in their saliva. After that, you're dinner. There are some recognizable actors in the film, too, familiar from programs like the Dukes of Hazzard and Gunsmoke. Oh, by the way, the beginning seems a bit truncated and starts abruptly. I seem to remember a school-type mini-documentary (only a few seconds) at the begining with footage of real shrews. It is missing from the DVD and may be the result of a poor master film copy.

As for THE GIANT GILA MONSTER, the lizard is not really scary and the miniature sets look like miniature sets. Don Sullivan is the likeable hero, a hard-working boy down on his luck but able to sing. He decides to use some nitro he had in storage to fight the creature. Convenient for sure, but don't we all keep some handy for a stray monster? The kid is so cleaned-cut, friends with the sheriff no doubt, and forcing his gang to behave, that we have to wonder if the movie's makers were trying to win parents over. There was a lot of negative opinion about the wild ways in 50's movies.

The director Ray Kellogg liked using foreign beauties in his films. Both movies feature a love interest with an accent, one from France and the other from Sweden. Indeed, Ingrid Goude in THE KILLER SHREWS was a Miss Universe Beauty Pageant Winner.

>No blasphemous or dirty words.
>No nudity or sexual content.
>Plot Violence but nothing graphic and no gore.

Guaranteed to please fans of old horror movies and to bore the kids-- big time.

Only an extra large pizza would offer more delicious cheese!
This is a fairly low rent disc, four chapter stops and a hard to read bio page that offers little of real interest. The picture quality is quite poor, one posted review offers the idea that this is a copy of a VHS tape rather than a film negative, during one scene the image breaks up in a cluster of squares (I guess that is what some call refracting?).

The movies themselves remain equally low rent 50s swiss cheese fests. Drive-in misfires from an alomst forgotten era. Still monster fans will find more than enough fun in the movies to gobble them up, but they may wish to look elsewhere for better looking transfers of these...gems. The movies are recommended, this particular disc release is not.

Mixed-bag DVD is OK for the price
Others here have hashed over plot details, etc. so I'll just weigh in with the general consensus that Killer Shrews is the better of the two flicks here. The budgetary limitations are obvious, but if you can get over the fact that the monsters don't look anything like shrews, and the silly duck-walking thing, there's a fairly taut little thriller in there. Giant Gila Monster is less effective, with cornball humor, cringeworthy musical numbers, liberal doses of maudlin sentimentality, and a really blah monster dragging down its 'camp' appeal. This movie really needed Eddie Cahn or Herb Strock at the helm. Watchable but probably not quite bent enough for many C-movie enthusiasts.
The Diamond DVD is a mixed bag as well. First, I did not experience any of the technical problems that others have reported here; my disc played fine (other than some visible pixelation during the lightning flashes in Shrews) and I had no problem accessing any menu items, etc. Second, while neither source print is spectacular, they are definitely NOT transferred from mediocre VHS tapes as one reviewer stated. Compared to my VHS copy of Killer Shrews, the print used here compares quite favorably. There is some light speckling and scratching, but no major damage or jump-cutting. The tonal values are quite decent, (slightly richer than my VHS) and sharpness and shadow/highlight detail are much improved. For the money spent I'm quite pleased with Killer Shrews. Giant Gila Monster fares not so well. Compared to my VHS copy taped off public TV the DVD source print is sharper but also quite a bit darker, particularly in the night scenes and toward the end of the film in general. The highlight and midtone detail are thus actually improved in many scenes, but the shadow detail fills in a bit in the lighter scenes and a lot in the darker scenes, rendering much of the climax of the movie very murky. The DVD also exhibits more overall wear: light speckling and scratching, distracting reel change 'dots', jump cuts between reels, etc. In other words, even though the DVD is sharper, I'm hanging on to my videotape.
For me, Killer Shrews alone is worth the price of this disc (I'm assuming Madacy's version is as horribly butchered as their other Killer Creature Double Features). I wouldn't recommend spending the bucks just to get The Giant Gila Monster unless you have no other copy available. Does anyone have specific info on the quality of Elite's version?

A Warning about this DVD
For those interested in these two classic, bad b-monster films, here is a warning. This paricular DVD, which claims to be 'digitally remastered' looks like a direct transfer from fair quality VHS tapes. At one point during "Gila Monster", the tape slows and nearly grinds to a stop. And there is a slight pause between the two (yes, only two) chapter stops in each film.

Worst of all, the creepy opening narration for "The Killer Shrews" is cut to only its last line! This 70-minute epic has been reduced to 68 minutes!
Admittedly the video quality is fine and the sound is quite good on this disc, but in truth, you get what you pay for.

Other reviews here have discussed the movies at length. Yes these are badly done movies, but "Killer Shrews" is still far superior to the "Gila Monster". At least the shrews are entertaininly bad and, for this reviewer at least, the movie does generate a couple of real chills. James Best is as always, a handsome and underrated actor.

"The Giant Gila Monster" is just plain bad. Unfortunately, the lead actor Don Sullivan, who shows promise, did not go far afterward. ... Read more

Description

A monster of unknown origin stalks Lover's Lane in search of fresh teenagers to devour in this monster-sized bash filled with rock 'n' roll, hot rods, poodle skirts, and prehistoric lizards the size of a Greyhound bus! Teens realize the cause of an escalating chain of destruction in their sleepy town, but authorities refuse to believe them until the corpses start piling up. Starring Ken Curtis (Festus from TV's "Gunsmoke") and directed by Ray Kellogg (The Green Berets), this is great and fabulous fun from the nifty Fifties, newly remastered like you've never seen it before! ... Read more

Reviews (20)

aka "Elvis Vs. The Super-Imposed Mildly Menacing Lizard"
I can sum up this movie in one word, "wierd". I first saw "The Giant Gila Monster" late at night as part of a local t.v. station's Godzilla Monster Week (no, the giant lizard in this film is of no relation to the King of the Monsters). I remember being disappointed after having stayed up late only to find that they were showing a monster movie that had absolutely nothing to do with Godzilla, but after having watched the movie I thought it was actually pretty good. Of course I was only about 5 years old at the time, and for me, 11:00 p.m. really was pretty late at night.

Anyway, I just purchased a copy of this movie last week, and watched it (actually half watched - I kept falling asleep) this afternoon. I knew that it probably wouldn't be as good as I thought it was nearly 20 years ago, but I didn't think it would be quite as lame as it is.

Granted it's a 50's B sci-fi flick, so you know it's going to be extremely wild, cheesy and campy - after all, that's what makes those movies so great. Even though this film does have its "wild" scenes, and it definitely is cheesy all the way through, and it is extremely campy - there's just something that keeps this one from being one of the classics of its kind. It's probably the fact that aside from the giant lizard's attacks (if you want to call them attacks), the rest of the movie is just plain boring.

It starts out rather promising, with a giant reptile monster claw coming down violently upon a car with a couple teenagers inside, sending the car hurling over the side of a hill. Then the title comes up - "The Giant Gila Monster" - followed by the opening credits and some creepy background music. It's all downhill from that point on, though. The rest of the film centers around a small Texas town in the late 50's that seems to be populated by a bunch of rednecks, a semi-intelligent sheriff, a bunch of dancing teenagers, and our hero - an Elvis wannabe who lives at home with his "slightly cooler than June Cleaver" mom, his crippled daughter, and his "at times" annoying foreign girlfriend. Oh yeah, occasionally he gets to take breaks from his "hectic" life to play some extremely cheesy folk tunes on a toy banjo! By the way, I happen to like "real" folk music, but these songs just made me want to vomit!

Anyway, now on to the real star of the movie - the giant terrifying Gila Monster!! Yawn. The only thing that seems to be menacing about this overgrown lizard is his enormous size. The only way he actually brings destruction are the times when he happens to be crossing the road and cars smash in to him, or the time when he walks under a rail road bridge and ends up causing the train to wreck simply because he's too big to fit under the bridge! Out of the about 10 "attacks" the lizard makes throughout the film, only 2 were actually done on purpose! Certainly there was little for these backward citizens to actually fear from this abnormally large reptile. One thing that certainly surprised me when watching this movie is that the fact that real life gila monsters are venomous was not even mentioned in the film. Some monster!

All right, now that I've talked your ear off about this movie, decide if you really want to watch it or not, and then wait for it to come on late night t.v. I certainly wouldn't want anyone else to make the mistake I did of purchasing it. I wouldn't even suggest renting it, there are certainly better ways of spending a couple bucks.

Flathead Fever!
My fellow Motorheads will get a kick out of this movie simply for the period hot rods; a half-dozen T-buckets powered by the long gone Flathead Ford V-8! I often wonder what happened to those old rides, hopefully some were perserved.

As for the movie itself, well it's bad but doesn't take itself too seriously. Too much 1950's stuff is crammed into the movie for a two hour horror flick. Hot rods, rock and roll, teen angst, rich vrs poor, and of course the rich girl dating the poor boy. All this and a giant Gila monster! They could have had about three decent movies (budget allowing of course) out of this low budget gem that tries to do too much with way too little.

Viewed as a fun piece of nostaglia it is certainly worth watching.

Good Hokey 1950 Giant Monster Classic
allthough the peeps below my review have their smart ellic remarks on this film i seem to like it.
i actually liked all the giant monster films in the 50's even tho im a 16 year old and wasnt ever around in those days i enjoy the movies today and if u want to pick the reviews of the idiots under me then its ur choice
i got my opinions and they got theirs

A movie saved only by its unintentional humor...
Where do I start on this turkey? The stupid story, the bad acting or the even worse singing. Yes, that's right, singing. This is the Sci-Fi movie that doesn't know if it's a story about a giant lizard or a vehicle to promote a new singing sensation. Well, they should have stuck with the lizard, because the singer was definitely not the next Bobby Darin. I awarded 2 stars because of the movie's saving grace: its unintentional humor.

Dreck then, Dreck now
Golden Turkey Awards to the following: to Shug Fisher for proving that lovable town drunks are the real menace and should be locked away permanently, to special effects for proving that a single coupon to Toy's R'Us furnishes all the props a movie needs, to the luckless lizard for proving that a single narcotized expression gets you real screen time, to the composer of "Laugh Children Laugh" for turning an audience of nice Sunday school graduates into howling mad atheists, and finally, to the producers for believing this 70 minutes of unabashed treacle would actually convert switch-blade greasers into Pat Boone acolytes. The best way to view this 50's abomination now, as then, is passed-out in the back of a '57 Chevy. Some may call it camp -- it doesn't rise to that level. I still call it dreck. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Killer Creature Double Features From MADACY!
I own the majority of Madacy's Killer Creature Double Features and Bucket Of Blood/ Giant Gila Monster is right up there with the best of the schlocky cheesiness of these DVDs!

Bucket Of Blood is a Corman classic and Giant Gila Monster is just a stitch to watch. BAD acting, BAD sets, VERY UNSPECIAL EFFECTS... Excellent horror films that are SOOO BAD they are GOOD!

Also... the cartoons that are in between the features (JUST LIKE AT THE DRIVE-IN!) are quite fun to watch also! The sound and transfer on these DVD's reek of poor quality but THAT is the VERY REASON that I love them SO! It's like listening to an old, scratchy LP on a turntable. It just doesn't get much better than this for nostalgia's sake.

Keep the KILLER CREATURE DOUBLE FEATURES coming MADACY!

a horror fan
These movies are quite dated and I did not like them as much as I thought I would. A bucket of blood is much overated Roger Corman film I dont see myself watching again buy myself. maybe with friends it would be good for a laugh.

The Giant Gila Monster was too slow not for modern Horror fans for sure.

I gave these films 3 stars becauce this double feature is a bargone, if you like this films apparantly many pepole do. The transfer was not bad Hey a cartoon and all. ... Read more

Reviews (20)

aka "Elvis Vs. The Super-Imposed Mildly Menacing Lizard"
I can sum up this movie in one word, "wierd". I first saw "The Giant Gila Monster" late at night as part of a local t.v. station's Godzilla Monster Week (no, the giant lizard in this film is of no relation to the King of the Monsters). I remember being disappointed after having stayed up late only to find that they were showing a monster movie that had absolutely nothing to do with Godzilla, but after having watched the movie I thought it was actually pretty good. Of course I was only about 5 years old at the time, and for me, 11:00 p.m. really was pretty late at night.

Anyway, I just purchased a copy of this movie last week, and watched it (actually half watched - I kept falling asleep) this afternoon. I knew that it probably wouldn't be as good as I thought it was nearly 20 years ago, but I didn't think it would be quite as lame as it is.

Granted it's a 50's B sci-fi flick, so you know it's going to be extremely wild, cheesy and campy - after all, that's what makes those movies so great. Even though this film does have its "wild" scenes, and it definitely is cheesy all the way through, and it is extremely campy - there's just something that keeps this one from being one of the classics of its kind. It's probably the fact that aside from the giant lizard's attacks (if you want to call them attacks), the rest of the movie is just plain boring.

It starts out rather promising, with a giant reptile monster claw coming down violently upon a car with a couple teenagers inside, sending the car hurling over the side of a hill. Then the title comes up - "The Giant Gila Monster" - followed by the opening credits and some creepy background music. It's all downhill from that point on, though. The rest of the film centers around a small Texas town in the late 50's that seems to be populated by a bunch of rednecks, a semi-intelligent sheriff, a bunch of dancing teenagers, and our hero - an Elvis wannabe who lives at home with his "slightly cooler than June Cleaver" mom, his crippled daughter, and his "at times" annoying foreign girlfriend. Oh yeah, occasionally he gets to take breaks from his "hectic" life to play some extremely cheesy folk tunes on a toy banjo! By the way, I happen to like "real" folk music, but these songs just made me want to vomit!

Anyway, now on to the real star of the movie - the giant terrifying Gila Monster!! Yawn. The only thing that seems to be menacing about this overgrown lizard is his enormous size. The only way he actually brings destruction are the times when he happens to be crossing the road and cars smash in to him, or the time when he walks under a rail road bridge and ends up causing the train to wreck simply because he's too big to fit under the bridge! Out of the about 10 "attacks" the lizard makes throughout the film, only 2 were actually done on purpose! Certainly there was little for these backward citizens to actually fear from this abnormally large reptile. One thing that certainly surprised me when watching this movie is that the fact that real life gila monsters are venomous was not even mentioned in the film. Some monster!

All right, now that I've talked your ear off about this movie, decide if you really want to watch it or not, and then wait for it to come on late night t.v. I certainly wouldn't want anyone else to make the mistake I did of purchasing it. I wouldn't even suggest renting it, there are certainly better ways of spending a couple bucks.

Flathead Fever!
My fellow Motorheads will get a kick out of this movie simply for the period hot rods; a half-dozen T-buckets powered by the long gone Flathead Ford V-8! I often wonder what happened to those old rides, hopefully some were perserved.

As for the movie itself, well it's bad but doesn't take itself too seriously. Too much 1950's stuff is crammed into the movie for a two hour horror flick. Hot rods, rock and roll, teen angst, rich vrs poor, and of course the rich girl dating the poor boy. All this and a giant Gila monster! They could have had about three decent movies (budget allowing of course) out of this low budget gem that tries to do too much with way too little.

Viewed as a fun piece of nostaglia it is certainly worth watching.

Good Hokey 1950 Giant Monster Classic
allthough the peeps below my review have their smart ellic remarks on this film i seem to like it.
i actually liked all the giant monster films in the 50's even tho im a 16 year old and wasnt ever around in those days i enjoy the movies today and if u want to pick the reviews of the idiots under me then its ur choice
i got my opinions and they got theirs

A movie saved only by its unintentional humor...
Where do I start on this turkey? The stupid story, the bad acting or the even worse singing. Yes, that's right, singing. This is the Sci-Fi movie that doesn't know if it's a story about a giant lizard or a vehicle to promote a new singing sensation. Well, they should have stuck with the lizard, because the singer was definitely not the next Bobby Darin. I awarded 2 stars because of the movie's saving grace: its unintentional humor.

Dreck then, Dreck now
Golden Turkey Awards to the following: to Shug Fisher for proving that lovable town drunks are the real menace and should be locked away permanently, to special effects for proving that a single coupon to Toy's R'Us furnishes all the props a movie needs, to the luckless lizard for proving that a single narcotized expression gets you real screen time, to the composer of "Laugh Children Laugh" for turning an audience of nice Sunday school graduates into howling mad atheists, and finally, to the producers for believing this 70 minutes of unabashed treacle would actually convert switch-blade greasers into Pat Boone acolytes. The best way to view this 50's abomination now, as then, is passed-out in the back of a '57 Chevy. Some may call it camp -- it doesn't rise to that level. I still call it dreck. ... Read more