A farmer, with gleaming white teeth and a costume resembling Hugh O'Brien's mainstay from TV's "Wyatt Earp", saves a princess from a giant, but can he save her from the Prince of Witches who wants to rule all of Cornwall? Fairy tale farrago that financier United Artists initially threw away, dumping it into second-run theaters (it was later re-released as a musical, failing again). The colorful sets and costumes, interesting make-up designs and props are all first-rate, though the stop-motion animation is a bit klutzy and the special effects themselves are variable. Princess Judi Meredith is much better--and more convincing--playing evil (under a spell) than she is doing the 'good girl' routine; as her hero, Kerwin Mathews lets his Adam's apple do all his emoting, and he looks really silly interacting with the inanimate characters (although he registers the same stupefied look while romancing the woman). Kids movie isn't too scary, although there are some curious details: the fleshy knots on the back of the farmer's mother's neck, villain Torin Thatcher's ghastly lower plate (which gets a close-up, resembling a picket fence), and the death of a child's father, which is just shucked off. Not up to the later "Pufnstuf", but better than "Snow White and the Three Stooges". ** from ****
Review of Jack the Giant Killer
