THE KILLER SHREWS: Iconic late-1950s, mini-budget scare-fest gets classy DVD release

If you suspect, as did I, that the late-50s horror movie THE KILLER SHREWS might turn out to be a killer snooze, not to worry. This old movie, said to be one of Stephen King's favorite horror films, is an interesting watch for several reasons. First, of course, there are those "giant shrews," which look an awfully lot like dogs costumed up to resemble what the movie-makers imagined might pass muster as monsters. They don't. Which is part of the fun. TrustMovies believes that he saw this film in its original theatrical incarnation back when he was a teenager -- or maybe caught it later on TV. More than a half century after, watching it again proved a surprisingly enjoyable trip down memory lane.

This is mostly due to the fact that the movie makes a near-perfect stand-in for so many of the cut-rate horror/monster films of that era. And in fact it may even have been a tad ahead of its time. From the opening scene (above), at sea, with the skipper and his more-or-less first-mate exchanging what passed at the time for witty repartee in movies like this (three years later, the first James Bond movie would raise action-movie repartee to new heights), we can't help but notice that that mate is a black man. Aside from Sidney Poitier movies, this was unusual for its time, and although -- yes, indeed -- the black man is the first victim of the monsters (a cliche now so imbued into our culture that it is referenced in every third horror film), at the time black men were seen seldom enough on screen that this first-death cliche had not yet fully come into being.

The monsters' second victim, by the way, is the Hispanic caretaker,so you can rest easy in the assurance that Hollywood has, as ever, understood the pecking order very well. The story is simplicity itself: The little boat arrives on an island to pick up some passengers. But due to an oncoming storm/hurricane, the boat must dock and its crew spend the night rather than removing the handful of people from the island. Why those people are so desperate to be removed is soon explained: they're scientists who have been experimenting on "nature" (never a good idea, right?) and in the process have created these mutant shrews (above) -- which the movie goes to great lengths to explain the nature of (the usual shrew info: vicious killing machines that must eat their own weight in live food every few hours, etc.).

Yes, there is a pretty girl involved (the daughter of the lead scientist, who, even though everyone is about to be eaten, insists on changing her clothes for dinner: It's that kind of movie), a villain (below: the cowardly would-be lover of the pretty girl), and another hard-working scientist (shown further below), who is, of course, expendable. Watching the movie unfurl, like the clockwork thing it is, proves fun, too, showing us how little has changed, plot-wise down the decades. The big difference between now and then are the special effects and the gore quotient. There's no CGI involved, so these "shrews" have to be scary on their own. Or at least funny. Which they are. And the gore? There ain't none. None at all. Deaths happen behind trees, or in the shrubbery, well out of our view. Compare this to what is thrown at us now, and you may find yourself more grateful for the grade B horror of this era.

The film's director, Ray Kellogg was known primarily for his special effects work, including Marilyn Monroe's movies (Don't say it! Those boobs were enhanced?) -- which, ironically, is the least convincing part of this movie. The cast -- pretty much unknowns, with the exception of leading man James Best (who is still going strong today!) -- is serviceable, as is the dialog and direction. This is the kind of film that could be made over a very short time, would be expected to turn a tidy profit, and often did.

The leading lady, pert and blond Ingrid Goude (center, three photos above), was a former Miss Sweden, and provides the sole bit of pulchri-tude in the movie. Otherwise, it's those dog-gone shrews that offer the major entertainment value in this zircon-in-the-rough from bygone days.

Hitting the street this past Tuesday, November 11, The Killer Shrews has been digitally restored via the Film Chest Media Group, and the restoration is pretty good, particularly given that most viewers will not expect pristine visuals from this kind of film. Running a thankfully short 69 minutes, the movie carries a reasonable price tag of $10 suggested retail. Maybe Netflix or some other streaming/digital sources will carry it, too, so the rental market will be served.

Cerebral sci-fi done smart, creative (and cheap): James Ward Byrkit's reality-bending COHERENCE

Oh, dem comets! If one of 'em is expected to make an appearance in a genre film, you just know things are gonna go baaaad! Remember Night of the Comet? (Yeah: the early zombie movie.) Or Day of the Triffids? (That was just a meteorite shower, but still...) Or the wonderful Spanish film The End (Fin), in which our ensemble watches a comet blaze overhead, and suddenly every-thing goes quietly kaplooey. You can now add COHERENCE to the comet-calamity sub-genre, for this new and relatively bracing sci-fi film show us what happens at a dinner party comprised of six guests plus host and hostess when said icy, small solar system body suddenly heats up, races by and displaces -- or maybe just re-jiggers -- the known (but ever-expanding) laws of physics.

Writer/director James Ward Byrkit (shown at left), whose first full-length film this is (except for one TV movie he directed back in 2001), takes the menacing comet scenario and does something pretty different with it. He turns it into a sci-fi/man-woman relationship drama/ thriller done on what looks like an ultra-cheap budget that still proves large enough to sustain his intentions and ambitions.

The film is both interesting and challenging. It's made for genuinely adult movie-goers -- or for older kids who already have some understanding of physics and other of the sciences and who can wrestle a bit with "alternate universe" theories. In this one, you might say, "the other" finally comes home. Coherence is the kind of film in which not only do you not know what is real, neither do you know who.

The movie may remind you of another release from the ever-interesting distributor Oscilloscope, which last year gave us the terrific It's a Disaster, in which friends gather for a brunch rather than a dinner and all hell breaks loose. "Disaster" was primarily a black comedy, and a very good one, Coherence is more a drama or at least a melodrama, in which you must pay sharp attention to things like color, numbers, and especially character.

Though the movie's an ensemble piece, one character stands out from the rest: a young woman named Em, played very well by an actress who used to be known as Emily Foxler but is now going by Emily Baldoni, due, I guess, to a marriage. This is usually a career mistake (remember Robin Wright Penn and Farrah Fawcett Majors?), but in any case, Ms Foxler/Baldoni turns in a most interesting performance. If I ever watch this movie again, I'm going to concentrate on her character throughout, for it's the pivotal one.

Each member of the acting ensemble turns in a good performance (you can see them all listed here), and Mr. Byrkit's writing and direction are generally up to snuff. There is a time midway along, when his characters unbelievably begin behaving more like physicists than everyday people, but this only lasts briefly before they revert to their more human, problematic selves.

To get into the "plot" would be to give away far too much. Sci-fi buffs will need to simply get on board and stay focused during the sometimes bumpy ride that will toss you around but never quite knock you from the saddle. Byrkit's ending is especially toothsome. It's excellent in and of itself, but it also cries out for a sequel. I'll be waiting -- if and when the filmmaker wants to give it to us.

Coherence, from Oscilloscope and running 88 minutes, opens this coming Friday, June 20, in New York (at the Village East Cinema) and Los Angeles (at the Los Feliz 3), and in the weeks to come will hit another ten cities. To view all currently scheduled playdates, cities and theaters, click here and then click on SEE THE FILM, and then keep scrolling down until the playdates appear.

Tibor Takács' SPIDERS will creep you out -- especially if you're prone to arachnophobia

Remember Tarantula? (You've got to be pretty elderly -- or given to watching monster movies from the 1950s -- to manage it.) If so, you'll probably be willing to stand in line to get a gander at the new scare flick SPIDERS. If you do, I think you'll agree that it's those creepy, crawly arachnids who deserve most of the cheers -- along with the special effects people who created them. The movie itself is a competent enough scary-monster flick, which will entertain that portion of the masses who enjoy this sort of thing, but it may also hold appeal for many movie buffs for other interesting reasons.

Directed and co-written by Hungarian filmmaker Tibor Takács (at right), the movie, from what I can gather, was filmed in Bulgaria (or some other nearby eastern European country, but it's Bulgaria most often mentioned in the end credits), in which were constructed a few street-scape sets meant to make us imagine we're in New York City. Now, NYC is a place that even NYC itself does not always make real enough, so these charming and actually pretty good attempts at capturing the Big Apple are to be first commended and then chuckled at. (Sorry, but this New York is just not crowded enough with people, and admist the usual big, red stand-up boxes that hold The Village Voice is an occasional big blue box, too!)

The story/screenplay itself is pretty good -- at least for maybe two-thirds of the way along. We know the world is in for trouble pre- and during the opening credits, as a space shuttle careens toward earth carrying a dead astronaut and a bunch of living spiders.

From the outset, the arachnids hole up in a particular station of the city's subway system, where they begin biting and killing (and laying eggs in) people -- and rats. And then the spiders start growing. Yikes! (That's one of 'em, facing off against a mechanical dog, above.) In the old days, these movies would simply have a scientist (or two) and his pretty, young assistant or daughter discover a way to rout the monsters (who were almost always a product of nuclear testing in the dessert or ocean).

These days, however, as conspiracy theories mount and we can trust almost anyone except our own government, movies continue to reflect this change, and so Spiders does its bit for paranoia, while adhering to the age-old principle of the mad scientist (nicely limned by Pete Lee-Wilson) who's got a jones for his eight-leggers at the expense of us poor human beings.

That scientist may be be a bit stupid (in the way that movie mad-scientists so often are), but he is a hell of a lot more humane that the U.S. military man in charge of things (a strong and nasty William Hope, above), who is ready to sacrifice everyone in any way connected with the project to ensure maximum secrecy.

That would include our heroic family -- dad (Patrick Muldoon, above, right), who works for the NYC Transit Authority, his estranged wife (Christa Campbell, above, left), who works for the NYC Health Department, and their lovely, nearing teen age daughter (Sydney Sweeney, shown below, a bit surprised by the size of what she sees). All are acceptable performers but are never given the opportunity by script or direction to be much more. (But, come on, do we go to these movie for the acting?!)

The usual elements are here, initially stirred a little differently, until somewhere around the halfway point -- at which time, the movie, hmmmm... degenerates is a tad too strong a term (maybe wilts is better) into the usual, conceive/write/direct-by-numbers routine.

Still there are those delightful title characters, creepily created and evidently a lot smarter than most of the human beings nearby.

Spiders, via Millennium Films, opens its very limited theatrical run today, Friday, February 8 -- mostly, according to the press info I received, in outlying areas of the Los Angeles region -- but not, I think in 3D, the way it was initially advertised and probably filmed (you'll note many of these comin'-at-you effects as the movie bounces along). Instead, it is being shown in a 2D version that -- on the screener I received, at least -- looks pretty damn good. All told, Spiders provides decent fun, thrills and special effects. And that limited run should not deter fans around the rest of the country, as the movie also premieres today on Premium VOD. Then, mid-March, it will become available on DVD and VOD.