My recent viewing of THE CYCLOPS (1957) got me to thinking about the Blind Idiot God--uh, uh-- I mean Bert I. Gordon. Realizing that I had somehow missed one of his ridiculous 'growing' or 'shrinking' epics caused me to pull up his IMDB page to see just how many of his science fiction efforts I was unaware of. It turns out that with THE CYCLOPS under my belt I've run the board, so to say. 
I've even seen his less than stellar ghost movie TORMENTED (1960) but unfortunately once he ventured out into simple thriller territory my viewing history gets spotty. I would like the chance to see PICTURE MOMMY DEAD (1966), NERCROMANCY (1972) and THE MAD BOMBER (1973) even though I suspect that the quality would still be at the standard BIG hit-or-miss level that best characterizes all of his movies. Bert always had bigger ambitions that talent and that's one of the reasons I find his work so fun. Even when they fail they have a certain charm that manages to endear them to a old monster fan like me. Hell! I still get some joy out of EMPIRE OF THE ANTS (1977) for God's sake so you know I'm a fan of the man! I wonder if younger generations will find anything in his admittedly C-grade works to keep his legacy alive as the 21st century moves on? I hope so. There are smiles and (mild) thrills to be had watching a poorly done special effect spider walk across a postcard as crowds of people flee the city.
3 comments:
It ain't Bert's best (not by a long shot), but I continue to enjoy 1957's BEGINNING OF THE END. I usually watch it once a year, either the orginal or MST3K version.
Something about Peter Graves vs. giant grasshoppers ("Some of them are 8 feet tall -- even bigger! They're vicious, merciless killers!") has always appealed to me.
There is something about Bert's movies, isn't there. I love'em too. That's why THE CYCLOPS was so ..... disappointing. Maybe its isn't any worse than BEGINNING OF THE END or ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE…as a matter of fact is probably isn’t any worse than PUPPET PEOPLE… but it was just so damned flat and boring. As Z-grade as BIG’s films could be I was never bored. Until now.
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