Poster Art for THE BEGINNING OF THE END (1957)

Sometimes I marvel at the films that haven't yet made the leap to high definition disc. While I find a number of things in this Bert I. Gordon effort to be ineffective and even silly it is still a fun big bug tale with much to recommend it. Yes, the final few minutes are not as exciting as you might hope for and the bug footage in Chicago is less than stellar, but I hope that one day it gets a Blu-Ray release and the attendant attention it deserves. 

 

The Bloody Pit #171 - Big Bug Movies of the 1950's!

Author Mark Clark returns to the show for a discussion of the giant bug movies of the 1950’s!

I have always lumped the giant bug movies in with the other giant monster films of the decade but that is a sloppy way to think about these films. The big surprise is that when you separate out the films with various kinds of bugs it turns out there were only eight. Eight! The always ambitious Mark suggested doing a single show about all of them, and I thought it was a great idea. So, even though we might have bitten off more than we can comfortably chew, that is what we did. For those playing along at home here is the list –

 

Them! (1954)

Tarantula (1955)

The Deadly Mantis (1957)

The Black Scorpion (1957)

Beginning of the End (1957)

Monster from Green Hell (1957)

Cosmic Monsters (1958)

Earth vs the Spider (1958)

 

As you can see, we spend a lot of time in 1957 but rest assured that we talk about all eight films in some detail. We dig into the things about each that we enjoy and the places where they fall down with Mark using some interesting classic rock comparisons along the way. He’s a little odd. As we started the discussion we decided to rank them from least to most favorite and we were shocked to see that there isn’t much difference in our opinions. What is the world coming to?

 If you want to rank the Big Bug movies of the 1950’s thebloodypit@gmail.com is the place to send your list. We’d be glad to hear from you. Thanks for listening! 

THE BLACK SCORPION (1957) Poster Art and Lobby Cards

THE DEADLY MANTIS (1957) Poster Art and Lobby Cards

Certainly not the best of the 1950's giant bug films but I still enjoy it.

Brief Thoughts - STUNG (2015)

The other night I watched another recent horror effort on NetFlix and once again I struck gold! I went in knowing very little about the story other than it surely had something to do with bugs and that is really all you need to know about it as well. Well - I'll give you a bit more information to whet your appetite.

Paul (Matt O'Leary) and Julia (Jessica Cook) are caterers hired to provide food and drink for an afternoon outdoor event at a country estate house. Affairs go well even though Paul's mild clumsiness threatens to derail things at points. But once the sun goes down the guests are suddenly attacked by a swarm of very aggressive insects that begin to do more than just sting the party-goers. Soon the survivors are barricaded inside the mansion fighting off an ever increasing threat of creepy, crawly monsters intent on killing everyone in sight.

STUNG is a great example of smart filmmaking at every level. The script is clever in it's use of the standard monster film structure and is well written enough to give us characters that are relatable without being caricatures or stereotypes. The story is played straight but some solid humor grows out of the personalities of the various individuals. First time feature director Benni Diez handles the story very well getting great performances from the younger cast and giving veteran Lance Henriksen one of the best small roles he's had in a few years. The special effects are very well done with a good combination of impressive, elaborate practical creatures and enhancing CGI blended together incredibly well. This is a great little film that would do well with an appreciative crowd or with a solo viewer looking for a good new find. Highly recommended!