Rating: 
Summary: very underrated 50's sci-fi
Review: I caught this on AMC a couple months ago and was really impressed. I had never heard of this movie, and it certainly doesn't get mentioned with other 50's classics like Them, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Beast From 20,000 Fathoms or The Thing. Of course, it's a pretty standard formula of giant scorpions wreaking havoc in the wild, and then eventually making their way to civilization. The stop motion SFX are by Willis O'Brien, of King Kong, and they are really top notch in this movie. Especially in one scene where the heroes are lowered down into the cave of the giant scorpions--it ranks up there with some of the best sci-fi images ever filmed. I've always been a big fan of the O'Brien/Harryhausen stop motion work--maybe it doesn't look as realistic as the modern computer stuff--but to me it looks BETTER. I mean, we don't watch movies like this for realism, right? Those stop motion animators were real artists--not computer technicians. If you're a fan of this genre--check out The Black Scorpion.
Rating:
Summary: The Black Scorpion is Excellent.
Review: In this movie, a race of giant scorpions get loose in Mexico and start causing catastrophes. The special effects by Willis-O-Brian are superb. Richard Denning also play's a good roll as a professor from Mexico city.
Rating: 
Summary: Wilis O'Brien's first "talkie" to make it to DVD
Review: It appears THE BLACK SCORPION is part of a Warner's Stop-Motion wave.It's being released concurrently with O'Bie's protégé Ray Harryhausen's BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS and THE VALLEY OF GWANGI ( a film O'Bie had tried to make back in the 30's) Although I find it odd Warner's chose to release this O'Bie film first , I'm thrilled one of his talkies is finally making it to DVD.While often compared to THEM the Stop-Motion Master's creatures put those Gi-Ants to shame. In addition to the titular Scorpions, there are Spiders and other invertibrates discovered in a Mexican volcano.It's historically interesting because this may be as close as we'll ever get to seeing O'Brien's censored "spider pit" creatures from KING KONG.This release is a good start but Warner's still needs to get with the program and release KING KONG, SON OF KONG, MIGHTY JOE YOUNG, and THE GIANT BEHEMOTH on DVD.It's really a shame only the inferior re-makes of KING KONG and MIGHTY JOE YOUNG are currently available.EXCELLENT BONUS FEATURE:It also includes the Holy Grail of O'Brien and Harryhausen's collaborations. For years it was believed that THE ANIMAL WORLD prehistoric footage would never again see the light of day.As I understand it the live animal footage used in the bulk of the film came from many sources and acquiring all the video rights was deemed cost prohibitive for what was essentially a dated educational film.Congradulations to whomever at Warner Home Video realized most fans of this genre weren't going to watch the rest of THE ANIMAL WORLD anyway.
Rating:
Summary: Do Not Fall Asleep Yet!
Review: OK, the first 20-30 minutes of THE BLACK SCORPION are indeed dull. We are treated to stock footage of volcanic activity, seemingly endless narration, and no real action of any kind. However, once the true stars of the show make their appearance, all is forgiven! Am I talking about intrepid geologist Richard (Creature From The Black Lagoon) Denning and Mara (Tarantula) Corday? Of course not! I'm talking about the horde of titanic killer scorpions! These subterranean crawlers are a wonder to behold! Watch as they grab a telephone lineman, stinging him to death before your eyes! Gasp as a train is derailed and plundered! Thrill to the underground battle between a monster scorpion and a giant worm with arms! Be astonished as the even bigger "king" scorpion kills it's brethren and advances on Mexico city! The final confrontation alone is worth the price of the film! So, prop your eyelids open, splash cold water in your face, skip the first 25 minutes, or do whatever you must do, but DO NOT miss the rest of this movie...
Rating:
Summary: One of the best Giant Bug flicks of the 50's (#1 = "Them!").
Review: Okay, so this film is merely a copy of "Them!", which was (and remains) the single best giant monster movie of the 50's, and maybe even the best ever made! But I wouldn't go as far as calling "The Black Scorpion" a rip-off; it actually is a highly entertaining film, even if the plot is lacking in originality. Of course, the highlight of this movie is the special stop-motion effects by Willis O'Brien of "King Kong" fame (nooo, really?), and that scene underground is pretty cool. It's nowhere near as good as "Them!", but it's better than "Tarantula". Worth seeing, if only for the special effects.
Rating:
Summary: .............UNDER ........this .............WORLD!!
Review: One of the best of the big big bugflix. The addition of the little boy stowaway to the journey into the volcano is a stroke of pure, animated genius! The extreme, slobbering closeups are too many and a bit too gross, but HEY! The shots of the train being attacked are horrifying to the extreme! HIGHLY recommended!
Rating: 
Summary: King Kong's special effects master's talents are wasted.
Review: Regretfully after doing the effects work on Mighty Joe Young in 1947, Wills O'Brien worked on many B-movie type pictures after that, and this movie featuring very low budget looking insects was a new low in his speciel effects film work. There is better then average acting and somewhat coherent direction from Edward Ludwig, but showing the same close ups of a drooling monster scorpion is too much.
Rating:
Summary: Madre dios! That's one big friggin' bug...
Review: Released in 1957, The Black Scorpion followed in a long line of giant bug movie, probably most notable 1954's Them!, which dealt with giant ants. The main difference being that in most of those movies, the gigantism in the creatures was caused by atomic radiation (I wonder how many men pondered radiating their private parts given that Hollywood seemed so determined to make us believe radiation would have the effect of embiggening things so?) and in this movie the cause was of a more natural reason. The Black Scorpion stars Richard Denning, who I remember most from the movie Target Earth (1954) and Mara Corday, a darkened hair beauty whose other notable films include Tarantula (1955) and The Giant Claw (1957). The plot involves a very active volcano in Mexico and geologists Hank Scott (Denning) along with a colleague are interested in seeing this activity first hand. Corday plays Teresa Alverez, a ranch owner whose cattle is being mysteriously slaughtered and is having difficulties keeping locals around to help her round up the cattle as they believe some devil bull or something is responsible. Turns out the active volcano has ripped open some giant fissures in the Earth, exposing a vast underground cavern containing mostly giant, prehistoric scorpions. The scorpions, being a might bit peckish after years of living under the ground, start venturing out into the Mexican deserts, stinging and eating whatever gets in their path. They are soon discovered, the military comes in, blows them up real good, and that's the end of that...or is it? Okay, no it's not, as the humongous scorpions find another way out, and begin to do cool stuff like attack trains and find their way into populated areas. What really worked so well in this movie is the special effects...well, at least the ones done by Willis O'Brien (King Kong) and Ray Harryhausen using stop-motion animation. Harryhausen isn't credited, but he ended up doing about 90 percent of the effects, under the supervision of O'Brien. The scenes with numerous scorpions attacking the passenger train are probably among the best in this feature. These effects contrasted greatly with the 'live' effects, the ones showing the drooling visages of the beasties up close. These were pretty bad, and they kept using the same visual over and over again, a gaping maw of a scorpion with custard-like drool leaking from between its' mandibles. At some point the production ran out of money, so some of the effects are of the cheapest kind, basically looking like a real scorpion placed on some kind of empty matte invading a Mexican city. In the end, there is a climatic battle, one with tanks, explosions, army guys and such...do they destroy the primitive creatures? I guess you'll have to see the movie (ain't I a stinker?) There are some great special features included in this release, which is strange as Warner Brothers really isn't known for this (they still use the cheap cardboard and plastic casing which drives me nuts). A feature called 'Stop Motion Masters' has Harryhausen talk about his greatest influence, Willis 'Obie' O'Brien, the man behind King Kong. Another clip included is one from the short called 'The Animal World', a feature created by disaster movie mogul Irwin Allen, which highlights HarryHausen and O'Brien's prehistoric segment, the highlight of the film. Also included are some short test footage found by another stop motion artist involving a mutant ape attacking a house and truck, using props from The Black Scorpion, and a small bit dealing with Beetlemen who were actually astronauts affected by cosmic radiation and ended up growing exoskeletons. Finally, there are some trailers provided, showcasing other Harryhausen and O'Brien films. Oh yeah, if the noise you hear the scorpions making sounds familiar, I was told that's because it's the same noise that the giant ants made in the movie Them! (1954). Cookieman108
Rating:
Summary: Madre dios! That's one big friggin' bug...
Review: Released in 1957, The Black Scorpion followed in a long line of giant bug movie, probably most notable 1954's Them!, which dealt with giant ants. The main difference being that in most of those movies, the gigantism in the creatures was caused by atomic radiation (I wonder how many men pondered radiating their private parts given that Hollywood seemed so determined to make us believe radiation would have the effect of embiggening things so?) and in this movie the cause was of a more natural reason. The Black Scorpion stars Richard Denning, who I remember most from the movie Target Earth (1954) and Mara Corday, a darkened hair beauty whose other notable films include Tarantula (1955) and The Giant Claw (1957). The plot involves a very active volcano in Mexico and geologists Hank Scott (Denning) along with a colleague are interested in seeing this activity first hand. Corday plays Teresa Alverez, a ranch owner whose cattle is being mysteriously slaughtered and is having difficulties keeping locals around to help her round up the cattle as they believe some devil bull or something is responsible. Turns out the active volcano has ripped open some giant fissures in the Earth, exposing a vast underground cavern containing mostly giant, prehistoric scorpions. The scorpions, being a might bit peckish after years of living under the ground, start venturing out into the Mexican deserts, stinging and eating whatever gets in their path. They are soon discovered, the military comes in, blows them up real good, and that's the end of that...or is it? Okay, no it's not, as the humongous scorpions find another way out, and begin to do cool stuff like attack trains and find their way into populated areas. What really worked so well in this movie is the special effects...well, at least the ones done by Willis O'Brien (King Kong) and Ray Harryhausen using stop-motion animation. Harryhausen isn't credited, but he ended up doing about 90 percent of the effects, under the supervision of O'Brien. The scenes with numerous scorpions attacking the passenger train are probably among the best in this feature. These effects contrasted greatly with the 'live' effects, the ones showing the drooling visages of the beasties up close. These were pretty bad, and they kept using the same visual over and over again, a gaping maw of a scorpion with custard-like drool leaking from between its' mandibles. At some point the production ran out of money, so some of the effects are of the cheapest kind, basically looking like a real scorpion placed on some kind of empty matte invading a Mexican city. In the end, there is a climatic battle, one with tanks, explosions, army guys and such...do they destroy the primitive creatures? I guess you'll have to see the movie (ain't I a stinker?) There are some great special features included in this release, which is strange as Warner Brothers really isn't known for this (they still use the cheap cardboard and plastic casing which drives me nuts). A feature called 'Stop Motion Masters' has Harryhausen talk about his greatest influence, Willis 'Obie' O'Brien, the man behind King Kong. Another clip included is one from the short called 'The Animal World', a feature created by disaster movie mogul Irwin Allen, which highlights HarryHausen and O'Brien's prehistoric segment, the highlight of the film. Also included are some short test footage found by another stop motion artist involving a mutant ape attacking a house and truck, using props from The Black Scorpion, and a small bit dealing with Beetlemen who were actually astronauts affected by cosmic radiation and ended up growing exoskeletons. Finally, there are some trailers provided, showcasing other Harryhausen and O'Brien films. Oh yeah, if the noise you hear the scorpions making sounds familiar, I was told that's because it's the same noise that the giant ants made in the movie Them! (1954). Cookieman108
Rating: 
Summary: Effects are great!
Review: The effects are great and this is a worthwile movie if you can get past the stagnant acting that was the 50's, as far as monster flicks were concerned anyway. Great scorpion scenes but nothing more. Well worth a watch for stop motion fans but don't expect a whole lot in between those scenes.
|
