The Giant Gila Monster (1959) User Reviews

I am in love

[mstomaso · 5/10 · 20 September 2006]

Well... maybe I'm in strong like.

The Giant Gila Monster is undeniably idiotic, but it is also a thoroughly enjoyable fusion of stereotypes - the '50s sci-fi craptacular, the 1950s teen rebel film complete with really sexy hot rods and a modern day Tex-western - all genres well overdue for retro movements.

The film features some of the most inept special effects of all time, vast continuity chasms, and shockingly good characterization. Regardless of how sub-cretinous the script sometimes becomes, the characters are actually well developed human beings with interesting relationships to one another - united by their existence in a town where nothing interesting ever happens, until a giant gila monster starts terrorizing a long, lonely stretch of highway on the outskirts of town.

Don Sullivan is likable but sickeningly sweet as the bad-boy Texas drag racer turned responsible budding good-boy rock-a-billy star. His acting is not too bad, and some of the rest of cast act as well, but generally, the performances are a bit ridiculous. Nevertheless, the film really does develop its characters and its plot in somewhat unique and original ways. And besides, when you're not being entertained by the virtual variety show which passes by between the action scenes, you can laugh at the tonka toys getting walked on, the flaming toy train, and the giant sand grains (almost as large as the grain of salt you should take this film with) that appear near the camera in most of the scenes featuring the gila monster.

If films are supposed to entertain, this will certainly satisfy fans of pulpy sci-fi like me. I can't honestly recommend it for those who do not enjoy camp and kitsch. Enjoy!

"There was this big pink and black thing drove right in front of me...."

[classicsoncall · 4/10 · 9 July 2005]

Hot rods and gila monsters! - now there's a mix that absolutely demands attention. "The Giant Gila Monster" opens ominously enough with sinister music but quickly turns into "At the Hop", at a pace that is repeated enough times in the movie to keep you off balance.

It's difficult to get a fix on just how monstrous our title monster is in the early going, as frequent close ups of the creature merely reveal a rather normal lizard. As the film progresses, the creature seems to grow in stature, as when he's sized up against oncoming vehicles or when he manages to destroy a railroad trestle causing a train wreck. Presumably this beast was responsible for the disappearance of two teenagers and an oil rig driver in the early going, as crack detective work by the local sheriff fails to uncover their whereabouts.

The movie actually has a lot going on, the film's hero Chase Winstead (Don Sullivan) befriends a local disc jockey by getting his car out of a jam; the DJ repays the favor by cutting a demo record for the would be singer. Chase's little sister needs a pair of braces in order to walk and they're provided by Chase's girlfriend Lisa (Lisa Simone). Comic relief is provided by the town drunk Harris (Shug Fisher), who happens to witness the creature up close and personal a couple of times, but who's buying his story?

I remember as a kid watching any number of TV shows and movies of the 1950's in which nitroglycerin was a major factor in the outcome of a story. With four quarts of nitro just hanging around, young Chase manages to steer his souped up hot rod into the path of the looming monster to insure a successful and fiery finale.

Even back in 1959, it seemed that corporate sponsors were a factor in movie production, you'll need more than one hand to count the number of times Mobil Oil gets it's message across.

With all said and done, "The Giant Gila Monster" is one of those campy 1950's gems that requires at least one viewing so you could say you've been there and done that. Try to get your hands on the DVD box set of fifty sci-fi and horror films neatly packaged with a mix of downright terrible offerings like "The Beast of Yucca Flats" along with screen classics like "Nosferatu". You'll enjoy yourself for weeks and increase your knowledge of "B" and "Z" grade films to the delight of your friends and neighbors.

Classic B-Movie of old

[jluis1984 · 4/10 · 29 May 2006]

"The Giant Gila Monster" is one of those films of old that despite its numerous flaws retains a certain charm that adds a special mystique to the experience of watching them. Often labeled as one of the movies with worst special effects in history of cinema, this small Drive-In classic shines among similar movies due probably to the same naiveté that made Ed Wood's movies legendary. Like Wood's movies, "The Giant Gila Monster" has more good intentions than talent behind the camera, and that probably is what makes it so special.

The plot starts when people starts disappearing in the roads near a small Texan town. The sheriff Jeff (Fed Graham) is puzzled by the case as the victims seem to vanish leaving no trace. With the aid of his good friend Chase (Don Sullivan), he starts an investigation that will lead them to discover that a monster of huge proportions has been hiding and is eating its victims.

The movie is centered around Chase and the Sheriff's friendship, and the parental relationship that exists between them. Despite having no father and with a handicapped sister, Chase never loses his optimism and is willing to help everyone, from his best-friend the Sheriff to his girlfriend Lisa (Lisa Simone), who is an immigrant and wants to get a job. All this is charged with the 50s innocence and that naiveté that gives the film its charm.

Acordign to history, this movie was the brainchild of Gordon McLendon, a Texan millionaire who wanted to make movies with good Christian values and moral lessons to fight against the movies that were "corrupting" the youngsters of his time. This purpose is notorious through the film as the victims of the monster seem to be punished because of their sins, and becomes blatantly obvious when Don Sullivan sings the movie's theme.

While the movie may have failed as a Christian movie, it has gained a popularity among fans of 50s B-movies because it presents the classic elements of the Atomic Age creature-features. The primitive and simple special effects and the poorly written dialogs are really obvious flaws but the film as a whole has a certain charm due probably to the innocence of its makers and probably of the 50s as a whole.

Don Sullivan is a good lead, and also performs his songs with natural ease. Fred Graham and Lisa Simone are also quite good despite the silly dialog the movie has. Director Ray Kellogg handles the movie with the typical 50s style probably to make it appealing to mainstream audiences. The special effects are indeed poor and it is easy to notice that the Giant Gila Monster is nothing more than a normal Gila Monster walking over a cheap scale model.

To judge "The Giant Gila Monster" under the standard of our times would be a mistake, so it's better to say that the film delivers entertainment and a good glimpse to the idealized society of the 50s. People expecting a classic horror movie will definitely be disappointed, but fans of Atomic Age monsters or of B-Movie classics will find a minor gem to enjoy. 5/10

Good-spirited drive-in fare.

[onnanob2 · 18 April 2002]

The Giant Gila Monster is another creature feature from Ray Kellogg (The Killer Shrews) that usually gets passed over with bad reviews. The story is about a giant, people-eating gila monster, which usually lurks in the thick brush near an isolated community. The main character, Chase Winston, (Don Sullivan) is a teen leader, car mechanic, and rockabilly/folk singer who sort of reminds me of singer Jimmie Rodgers. The acting is fine to passable for this type of low-budget movie, and the film is well shot. The Giant Gila Monster may be too slow for younger audiences used to today's action-packed fare, but for older audiences it might be a fun reminder of the era in which it was made. The music is creepy and nicely captures the mood of the isolated areas. The special effects (like the gila monster attacking a wrecked train) may bring on some good laughs. Throw in some rock & roll, teen lingo, a French exchange student (Lisa Simone, who was also in Missile To The Moon), a big city disc jockey, and some hot rods, and you've got a late 50's, drive-in flick which can be easily enjoyed for the type of movie it is.

Laugh, Children, Laugh

[mmthos · 4/10 · 20 February 2022]

As you leave the theatre, you'll be humming that immortal toe-tapping theme, penned and sung by heartthrob and top 1950's schlock horror star. Don Sullivan. A cut above your average cheapie, in that the quality of the acting, while not Shakespeare, is a bit better than most, and the shots of the monster are better integrated into the footage of the actors overall, except for the attack at the sock hop, but those beautiful models of classic '50's cars in the "parking lot" compensate for the splintered miniature balsa wood barn.with a gila monster's head through the wall.

Below average fantasy and monster movie dealing with gigantic lizard attacking local residents

[ma-cortes · 4/10 · 17 January 2022]

¨The Giant Gila Monster¨is a disconcerting monster movie in which a creature stalks a motley group of inhabitants from a small Texas town. Sheriff Jeff (Fred Graham) goes to garage his friend , Clarence Winstead (Don Sullivan) , a mechanic and leader of a hot-rod gang , asking for tracks about a pair of missing youngsters . After a series of tragic motor accidents , it turns apparent that a giant Gila monster is roaming the area depleting the little town of its townfolks and visitors . This is a mediocre terror film about giant lizard terrorizes a rural Texas community and following a typical plot from the 50s , middlingly written/directed by Ray Kellogg , a slick artisan . As an enormous monster stalking and attacking here and there , resulting in fateful consequences . Your skin will crawl with fear at their nearness ! . Only Hell could breed such an enormous beast. Only God could destroy it ! . Ravaging beast feed on human flesh! . The Killer Giant Gila Monster !. The Biggest Terror Ever Unleashed on the Screen!.

Thrilling film in low budget in which a heroic teenager attempts to take down a creature , it is plenty of chills , suspense , screams , lots of astonishing attacks , hot-rodding teens , unintentional laughs and a busy record-hop party . It displays poor special effects , concerning a flesh-eating, monstrous and huge Gila Monster that is actually a Mexican Beaded Lizard . Lots of fun for 50s monsters fans and anyone who appreciates the sheer silliness of it all and resulting to be a so-so flick , though effective and entertaining , at times . It belongs to 50s and early 60s' golden time of the Sci-Fi and monster genre , such as ¨The Giant Leeches¨ , ¨The Giant Claw¨ , ¨It conquered the world¨ , ¨The Killer Shrews¨ , ¨Attack of the Crab Monsters¨ , ¨The wasp woman¨, ¨The Mole People¨, ¨The Giant Behemoth¨ , ¨Fiend without a face¨ , ¨Night of the Lepus¨ , among others . I admire creative effort to keep budget down , being decently made in traditional craft , but this time is too little , as the astonishing creature is really a lizard . This ¨The Giant Gila Monster¨ (1959) bears remarkable resemblance to ¨The Killer Shrews¨ (directed by Ray Kellogg and equally produced by Ken Curtis) , as the monstrous Killer Shrews are actually disguised dogs created by Ray Kellog himself . However , The Killer Shrews is better than The Giant Gila Monster (1959) , that's why the first one transcends its status monster movie to approach the field of scientific terror , in which Science has a role in the development of anecdotal history , with a scientist who wishes to limit the starvation by creating short humans . Both films were made , as FX as direction, by Ray Kellogg who was an expert on special photographic effects by designing some imaginative resources that lets you play with a certain reality , and , at the same time, contributes mightily to create an oppressive ambient and haunting atmosphere . Predictability of the plot from a screenplay by Jay Simms , and original story by Ray Kellogg , outlining causes of settings and characters , but not hidden at any time a storyline skillfully constructed . At the beginning the spectator does not know at any time the dimensions and physical characteristics of the monster , but the abominable sound emitted is more than enough to imagine the horror it represents . The picture is regular , though it could have been so much better...instead , it's kind of laughable when the monsters appear . It turns out to be a passable production with a little known cast.

The motion picture was middlingly directed by Ray Kellogg , as it has several flaws , failures and gaps . Craftsman Ray Kellogg was a Visual Effects expert , Second Unit Director or Assistant Director , writer , producer and eventually director , making a few films , such as ¨Green Berets¨ along with his friend John Wayne , ¨My Dog, Buddy¨, ¨The Monroes¨ , and two monster movies¨The Killer Shrews¨ and ¨The Giant Gila Monster¨. Rating : 4/10 . Inferior monster movie , though with some acceptable set pieces . The flick will appeal to vintage monster movie fans.

One of the biggest duds of all time

[mrush · 1/10 · 3 May 2008]

This movie has it all--bad plot ,bad script,bad acting,bad special effects ,bad lighting...and on and on.What a total waste of film this thing was.

A small town in maybe Texas is terrorized by a giant Gila monster for some reason.The local sheriff,who mostly talks on the phone a lot,and a kind hearted young dragster,Chase,set out to rid the town of this threat.Chase races around town in his souped up car and beats the sheriff to all the wrecks and bad stuff that the monster does.Save this tidbit for later---Chase,for some ungodly unexplained reason, also has access to nitroglycerin that apparently comes in what looked to be coffee cans with "XXX" stenciled on them.

This movie was clearly trying to capitalize off all the teen trends of the late 50's---kids and their hot rod cars and their music,Elvis was mentioned, and all that.Chase is a good wholesome teen who is helping his single mom raise his crippled little sister.This cool cat is also trying to get a singing career off the ground.Anyway there is some singing and some DJ comes to town for a dance party and all the while this giant Gila monster is walking around.

Now the giant lizard is never really explained...the sheriff and Chase have some lame talk about gullies and washes and 'salts' that could have caused this lizard to grow to be a monster.But we never really learn how the lizard got so big and why it seemed to be the only lizard who was so affected by the 'salts'.

None of these people could act whatsoever....well one little guy could ..Shug Wilson ,I think was his name and he ended up on a few episodes of the Beverly Hillbillies and some other stuff like that.Everything else was terrible in this movie.....a shot of the monster crashing through the side of the building at the dance party was clearly just a lizard with it's head through a piece of cardboard.

A train wreck caused by the monster was simply a model train rolling off the end of the track down into some dirt.No grinding of metal or massive dust clouds thrown up or anything,just a little train flopped down in the dirt with some dubbed in screams from the 'passengers'.Anyway after the sheriff sits in his office a whole bunch Chase goes out and ends the movie in a really implausible silly finale.

I don't want to give too much away but there wasn't really a giant Gila Monster in this movie,it was just a regular sized Gila monster shot really close up amid some really crappy looking little models of stuff.

This is just a bad mess by people who had no clue about any facet of movie making.It isn't so bad it's fun either.It's just plodding and boring and a waste of time-not entertaining in the least.

1950's-Style Garbage Monster Flick

[roddekker · 1/10 · 22 May 2015]

Featuring some of the lousiest, z-grade effects ever, along with some of the most inept acting on Earth, The Giant Gila Monster is Sci-Fi/Horror that truly scrapes the absolute bottom of the barrel when it comes to cheap, worthless and incompetent film-making.

I would like to say that this dreadful clunker was actually so bad that it was good. But if I said that I would (truthfully) be lying.

The Giant Gila Monster is a typically predictable mix of 1950s, hot-rod teen-mentality and the bizarre appearance (for no explicable reason, whatsoever) of a mutated monster. This time it being a 70 foot gila monster.

Set in rural Texas - Minor, 50s pop sensation, Don Sullivan plays the sickeningly sweet bad-boy and car fanatic, Chase Winstead.

Chase and the bungling town lawman, Sheriff Jeff, unite as a team and join forces to try to find a way to combat and destroy this ferocious beast who, besides already gobbling up several town-folks, has had the sheer audacity to actually bulldoze its unwelcome way into the teens' barn-style sock hop.

In between all of the mayhem and carnage, our darling, little Chase manages to take some time off from all the heroics in order to sing some truly god-awful songs, like - Laugh, Children Laugh and My Baby, She Rocks.

Yep. This film is pure rubbish.

Bad enough that you may enjoy watching it just to laugh at the whole mess!

[planktonrules · 2/10 · 25 February 2007]

There are two types of bad horror films--those that are so dull and atrocious that no one likes them (except masochists or mental patients) and those that are so inept and silly that they are great for a laugh (such as PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE). I would put this one in the second category, though it is a bit duller than some of the cheesy old horror films from the 1950s. I would say that it's more fun than watching ROBOT MONSTER but not quite as much as TEENAGERS FROM OUTER SPACE.

The film is about, you guessed it, a giant gila monster that terrorizes a small town. One by one, it causes auto and train wrecks and then feasts on the inhabitants! While this all sounds very ridiculous and funny, the film actually plays most of the plot very straight. However, inexplicably, it also chooses to insert a lot of 50s rock and roll into the film--even at moments where it makes absolutely no sense at all. For example, near the end of the movie the sheriff finally realizes that the accidents were being caused by the giant lizard but doesn't warn anyone. So, naturally, the teenagers stage a big dance right where the gila monster resides. But to make things worse, even though many people have just died, the lead actor begins to sing (a la Arch Hall, Jr. in EEGAH!)! Huh?! About the only decent thing about the plot was the role of the sheriff. Aside from the big brain lapse mentioned above, he seemed like a nice guy and actually liked the teens and listened to them--not like MOST sheriffs in these sort of movies (like the cops in THE BLOB and INVASION OF THE SAUCER MEN and countless other films who ignore the warnings).

Considering how slowly the gila monster moves in the film, it's a great metaphor for the rest of the movie. Not exactly action-packed but still silly enough to provide a few chuckles to bad movie aficionados--but probably of no interest to others.

By the way, in one scene late in the movie, the sheriff and another local jump into the leading man's jalopy. As they pull out, the shadow of the boom microphone is very clearly seen in the foreground. Considering the low budget and lower expectations for this film, it's not too surprising that they didn't edit this out or re-shoot the scene!

Flimsy Production

[rak-27003 · 2/10 · 11 August 2022]

Another b&w sci fi horror B movie, made at a cost of only $175K.

This time around the giant killer animal is a Gila Monster. To keep track, so far we've had giant crabs, giant grasshoppers, and now a giant gila monster.

The setting is rural Texas where a giant killer gila monster is smashing cars along the roads leading into a small town, and devouring their occupants. It even derails a train. The monster builds up an appetite and by the end of the movie attempts to break into a barn rock hop party.

Quite a flimsy production. The Gila monster attacks on cars are before and after shots. We never see the actual attack. The train in the train wreck scene clearly looks like a toy train that is being drawn off its toy tracks. We are reminded of the monster by a sequence of separate close-up shots of a lizard crawling along. In fact, a Mexican Beaded Lizard was used instead of a Gila Monster. The movie ends with the leading man putting an end to the killer monster in a very implausible way.

The movie's male lead is Don Sullivan who also starred in the 1959 B horror "The Monster of Piedras Blancas". His female co-star is the French actress Lisa Simone who was Miss France 1957. The executive producer of the film, Gordon McLendon, was a wealthy Texan who owned several radio stations. McLendon saw to it that one of his rock disc jockeys was written into the script. We get to hear two or three catchy rock songs in the film.

The movie is currently rated 3.6 on IMDb. Available on YouTube including a colorized version.

change your expectations

[robert3750 · 4/10 · 11 March 2022]

The monster movie aspect is virtually nonexistent. There's never any sense that the perfectly ordinary lizard shown in the film is interacting with people. It's just a lizard. The film does have its nice moments with the nice guy mechanic singing to the little girl with leg braces.

Fan of 50s sci-fi? This movie is FUN!!!

[lespaulstandar · 10/10 · 31 July 2006]

OK, I know I'm in the minority here, but I have to say I love this movie.

Most people may think the acting is corny and special effects are lousy, but there is a certain kind of charm this movie has that stays with you. It's the kind of movie, if you saw it as a kid, you would never forget it.

I even think the Gila Monster is kind of cool .. Hey, he's cooler than some of those stupid Japanese monster movies (ever seen those Gamera flicks?)

The characters all have personality and charm (even the drunk is great!). The eerie music is great (it defines 1950s sci-fi), the hot-rods are cool and the low-lit scenes are great too. It just adds to the charm of the movie.

It's hard to describe, but the movie is like one of those scratchy old record albums you've loved since you bought it as a kid.

I surfed the internet after seeing the movie and found a site dedicated to the movie and its fans (the guest book is loaded with praise from the many fans who signed it).

In short, this movie is FUN, bad acting and all ... it's just a good time. Enjoy it!

A Pleasurable Guilty Pleasure

[BaronBl00d · 6/10 · 5 August 2001]

I know this film is bad. I know the gila monster is nothing more than a live one put on the ground with some miniature trucks, cars, buildings, and even a train. I know the acting is overall very poor. The script is full of holes, and the special effects are not special. But I really like this film overall. What this film DOES have is a whole lot of heart. The story deals with people missing in a very small town. The sheriff(played very nicely by Fred Graham) is pressured by the local industrialist to find his son that has been missing. Where does the lawmen go for help? Well, he goes to a teenager that happens to work at a local garage, drive a souped up hot-rod, sing rock and roll in his spare time, and is a swell guy in general. Don Sullivan plays the young man, and I think he is actually pretty good. Sure, the film is hokey. What film wouldn't be with a title like The Giant Gila Monster? But this film is more than your typical B science fiction film of the 50's. It really tries hard to create characters rather than just stereotypes. There are scenes that you just would not find in your average teen science fiction flick. The scene where Chase sings to his crippled sister is just one example. This film was produced by Festus..I mean Ken Curtis who also had his hand in that other fun, campy science fiction film of the same year The Killer Shrews.

Almost as poisonous as a real Gila Monster

[frankfob · 3/10 · 5 November 2003]

Terribly made, pointless, ultra-cheap '50s monster movie that tries to cash in on the hot rod/monster/rock n' roll genre and fails miserably. The gila "monster" is a normal-sized animal plopped down on miniature sets (that, like everything else in this picture, are tenth-rate) which slithers around trying to figure out where it is (and what the hell it's doing in this awful movie). The acting is sub-grammar-school level; veteran stuntman Fred Graham as the sheriff is one of only two professional actors in the cast and he can't do much with the stilted, senseless dialog he's forced to recite. "Star" Don Sullivan has absolutely no screen presence whatsoever; he's apparently going for the Robert Mitchum "sleepy eyed" look, but manages to seem more like he just woke up. Even more irritating, he warbles (badly) two of the most insipid, brainless "rock" songs ever written. One is called "And the Lord Said Laugh, Children, Laugh", which consists mostly of that particular phrase repeated for three solid minutes, and the other one has lines like "my baby rocks me when she rocks and rolls me when she rolls", whatever the hell that means.

In any case, the movie is an exercise in boredom. It fails as a teenage rock movie (the music's awful), it fails as a teenage monster movie (there's no "monster", just an over-sized lizard on an undersized set), it fails as a teenage J.D. movie (all the teenagers are sickeningly clean-cut, freshly scrubbed and law-abiding), it fails at everything it tries to be. Good for an unintentional laugh or two, but that's about it.

My mother is in this movie

[tarnower · 28 February 2017]

When I was a kid in the early 1960s, this movie came on TV and I watched it with my mother. She said she was an extra in the scene where the dance hall is torn down by the monster. There's a fairly good shot of her for a second or two.

She told me that Don Sullivan hit on her. Not bad for a mother of 4. When he asked her out, she said, "I'll have to ask my husband first", and he just walked away.

Not Good Bad, Just Bad

[ReelCheese · 1/10 · 2 October 2006]

Yeah, yeah, I know... it's supposed to be stupid. Trouble is, THE GIANT GILA MONSTER doesn't supply the unintentional laughs that should accompany such an outlandishly titled, zero budget effort.

Don Sullivan, who would later land the coveted role of Steve in the 1962 blockbuster PARADISE ALLEY (no, not the one with Stallone), stars as young Chase Winstead. Winstead is so pure-hearted he makes you wanna throw up. He sings little songs about God and spends what little money he has on his sister's leg braces (she's starting to walk again!). Trouble is the last thing Mr. Sunshine wants, but it finds him in the form of a giant lizard terrorizing his community. (Okay, okay... it's really just someone's pet lizard crawling around on miniature sets, but bear with us). Luckily, Chase just happens to have four cannisters of nitroglycerin, which he's pretty sure would destroy the monster. You'll actually find yourself rooting for the slimy creature to devour all the humans whole.

The film's summary will have bad-movie lovers rejoicing, but it's really not as fun as it sounds. What makes for a "good bad movie" is intent to create something legitimate that ends up ludicrous (see THE BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS or, of course, PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE sometime). THE GIANT GILA MONSTER just tries a bit too hard to be campy. You'll be disappointed.

This movie has trivia

[julianbristow-1 · 3/10 · 1 May 2005]

The Giant Gila Monster is the story of a former child star named Scotty Beckett going under the name of Don Sullivan in an effort to salvage his career and someone named Ken Curtis who made a decision that being an actor is far better than being a horror movie producer. I couldn't help noticing those facts when I watched this movie. It's always fun to look behind the scenes and see a another story unfold over the present one. But going back to the movie, it was another one of those grade B- "quickys" meant to try and cash in on the teenage monster craze of the late 50's. Cheap sets, a pet lizard and a bunch of nutty teenagers make up for just about all of this show. The story was routine with the hero coming out ahead. It's not a bad movie if you like cult shows. If you see it around, go ahead and watch it. It will make you laugh and think about the good old day's.

As awful as it gets

[ericstevenson · 1/10 · 16 June 2016]

This has to be one of the most idiotic movies to ever come out of the entire 1950's. It's simply amazing how many movies they made about a giant animal or whatever attacking people. A gila monster seems like a good idea in principle. I don't think there's a single scene in the whole movie where it appears with the people. It's pretty obvious they just built models and had a gila monster destroy them. I mean, the gila monster doesn't seem like a good actor in this. The worst part is how this monster barely even appears in the movie at all. Half the time, I can't even tell if it's the monster that's causing the cars and trucks to fall over. It just seems like they're just falling over by themselves.

The characters are extremely annoying, especially the dumb drunk guy. I guess there wasn't a lot of comic relief in movies like this for a reason. It's just amazing how clichéd everything about this is. It's sooo obvious this took place in the 1950's. There are way too many overly long scenes of these people just dancing or talking. Apparently, there was a 130 pound baby born. No one really cares. I think this monster has a total of three minutes of screen time. Every single other scene is just utterly pointless and tries to pad out a movie that wouldn't have even made it as an episode of a TV show. The whole movie has no reason to exist. I'm fairly certain there's a blatant error as a guy's hand was in one shot. Then again, I don't even care if that was part of the movie. 1/2 *

the dangers of parking in Texas!!

[Nightman85 · 3/10 · 7 August 2006]

Freak, giant lizard terrorizes the fun-loving people of a small Texan town.

Cheap drive-in fare is what you would expect from a B movie for its time. The cast's performances are laughable, the special FX consists of a real gila monster walking around on miniature models, and the 'pop music' is wildly inappropriate, although the atmospheric score isn't bad.

All together, it's a bad movie, but it's B-movie gold that genre fans might enjoy and will certainly laugh at.

* 1/2 out of ****

"It's like getting married or going to New York City, everyone should do it once, nobody should do it twice." Dull monster film.

[poolandrews · 3/10 · 1 October 2005]

The Giant Gila Monster starts with young lovers Pat Wheeler (Grady Vaughn) & Liz Humphries (Yolanda Salas) making out in a car when a giant gila lizard attacks sending their car rolling down a hill, then the giant gila lizard moves in for the kill... The next morning Pats Dad (Bob Thompson) has a few words with Sheriff Jeff (Fred Graham) & basically tells him his job & to search for his missing son. Sheriff Jeff heads straight for Pats friend & local mechanic Chase Winstead (Don Sullivan) who is one real damn fine human being, I mean this guy is the absolute cream of American youth. He a caring, hard working, banjo playing stand up pillar of the community who even works all the hours god sends to support his Mum (Gay McLendon), sister Missy (Janice Stone) & girlfriend Lisa (Lisa Simone) after his Dad died, oh & he respects authority too & helps out the local Sheriff whenever he can. Anyway as they investigate Pat & Liz's disappearance they discover various car wrecks & when Chase's boss Mr. Compton (Cecil Hunt) becomes the latest victim of the giant gila lizard Sheriff Jeff & Chase think these incidents may be connected, things become even more bizarre when a local drunk named Harris (Shug Fisher) claims to have seen a giant lizard...

Directed by Ray Kellogg this giant 50's monster film really isn't anything to get excited about, Kellogg & the production company also made the much more entertaining The Killer Shrews (1959) at the same time & intended them both to go out on a double bill together. The script by Jay Simms stretches the thin premise out to an excruciating 74 minutes which is about 73 minutes too long. The Giant Gila Monster is painfully slow & very dull, I wouldn't have thought any film featuring a giant lizard would be but it most definitely is. We occasionally get the odd shot of a real normal gila lizard lazily walking through a model landscape which fails to generate any sort of menace or tension, between these almost random scenes there are plenty of good wholesome American teens doing their thing like dancing horribly to 50's music &, I have to mention it, a terrifying moment when Chase takes his banjo out & starts to play a tune & sing a song to his little sister who appears to lap it up as we get lots of loving reaction shots from everyone, urgh. The Sheriff is a bit of an idiot as well, he just walks around a bit & looks concerned without actually doing anything meaningful. The explanation given for this giant gila lizard lacks any imagination & is given a whole one conversation at the end. This film is a mess, poorly paced, annoying character's, boring situations & a complete lack of anything interesting or entertaining going on plus there are various scenes of people openly drink driving like it's a normal everyday thing which doesn't do it any favours. With a supposed budget of about $138,000 technically The Giant Gila Monster isn't too bad, the black and white cinematography is acceptable although the version I saw was extremely dark to the point I could barely see what was happening during the night scenes, I'm not sure if this is a fault with the film itself or just my version although my instincts say the former. The special effects consist entirely of a real gila lizard walking over a model landscape, derailing a toy train & not much else. The gila lizard is never in any shot with a person & I am amazed that this massive lizard can seemingly just sneak up on people without them noticing. The acting is flat & not very impressive. The Giant Gila Monster is a dull film, nothing happens for long stretches, the character's are highly annoying & the gila lizard itself is barely used. There is one funny scene which stops The Giant Gila Monster from being a complete disaster, during a barn dance at the end the gila lizard starts to break the wall down & enter to which Chase calmly says 'don't panic', as if anyone would panic because a huge monster is about to eat them. Maybe The Giant Gila Monster will appeal to 50's monster film fans but for everyone else don't bother with this one as there are much better monster films out there & I just can't see many modern audiences getting anything out of this.

'Deliverance' Meets 'The Creature from the Black Lagoon'

[richardchatten · 1/10 · 12 June 2020]

At least they went all the way to South America to find the Creature from the Black Lagoon! We're told that this part of North America is so vast and overgrown that the locals are able to just stand around talking (and talking), oblivious of the fact that a monster much bigger than the Gill Man is on the prowl eavesdropping on them.

Too bad the budget didn't run to colour, since we're actually told that the most distinctive thing about a Gila Monster (apart from it's name including the word 'monster') is it's "pink and black stripes".

Have you heard the reports of a "giant lizard"?

[lastliberal · 4/10 · 15 March 2008]

Sody pop and hot rods and teen lingo. This is definitely a movie out of the 50s.

No snakes or dinosaurs or alligators, but a giant gila monster snaking on delicious people.

Sheriff Jeff (Fred Graham) is at a loss and the town bigwig (Bob Thompson) is on his case. But, there is one teen (Don Sullivan) around that seems to have the knowledge and gumption to do something.

For his first two films Ken Curtis ("Gunsmoke") calls on special effects whiz Ray Kellogg (The Green Berets, The Killer Shrews) to direct his own story.

Not a bad tale for the time.

I bought this movie

[horsegoggles · 10/10 · 29 June 2005]

The acting is embarrassing, the special effects are terrible, the photography is okay except for consistently bad lighting, the dialog is awkward, and the locations of the shots are difficult to mentally resolve. I love this movie. It's like a movie I would have tried to make, and wish I had made. I would be proud of it today if I had. I bought it, it's that good/bad. It's not as bad as "Plan 9 From Outer Space", in fact it's Academy Award material compared to Plan 9. It's one of those 50's low budget movies that I can't get enough of. I would love to have a collection of movies like this one. One thing I never quite understood was how a Gila Monster survived in Texas or possibly a Midwestern locale. It obviously wasn't Arizona... Forgot to mention the singing, makes the acting look good.

Pleasant slice of life film

[drmality-1 · 6/10 · 3 June 2005]

As a monster movie, this is far from the best, but as a look at life in 50's rural Texas, it's top notch. The settings are authentic and realistic and the people talk like real people. Especially good is Fred Graham as the kind-hearted Sheriff...the opposite of the way most cops were portrayed in teen movies. Don Sullivan is not bad at all as hero Chase, a decent kid who just happens to love racing fast cars. With the exception of the rich Dad, everybody in the movie seems decent.

As for our title monster, he's pretty sleepy looking, but I always thought Gila Monsters were pretty cool. The somber, eerie background music helps this one a lot. Speaking of which, some of Sullivan's singing is OK, but "Laugh, Little Children" should be taken out and shot.

If the effects had matched the rest of the movie, it would have been a minor classic. As it is, it's a fun "time capsule" type movie.

Stunning Bpring

[Man99204 · 1/10 · 2 November 2015]

Why is this called a "Sci Fi" movie? Why do some sources categorize this as a "Horror Movie"?

I am a big fan of the Cheesy 1950s Sci Fi Movies. I realize that most of them were done on an extremely low budget so my expectations are lower than for other types of movies.

It is not fair to compare the movies in this genre to other movies. For the purposes of my review, I am comparing this movie to other 1950s era Sci Fi Movies.

I have seen over 120 different sci fi movies from this period. This one has to have the worst script of any of those movies. Absolutely NOTHING, nothing at all, happens for the first 38 minutes of the 1:14 minute long film.

At least 90 percent of this movie has nothing to do with Science Fiction or horror, or even suspense.. Leading man Don Wilson sings several mild rock and roll songs. His younger sister gets new leg braces and we see a touching family scene of her struggling to use them for the first time. (YAWN). A Disc Jockey dents his fender. Shug Fisher plays his standard "old Coot" character in several scenes. There is a teenage sock hop.... none of this does anything to advance the plot.

We are left with a big black hole of ennui. An incredibly boring small town in Texas where NOTHING ever seems to happen.

Even by the standards of cheesy 1950s sci fi films, the "special effects' if you can call them that, are totally absurd. When the camera cuts to shots of the Gila Monster, they show a regular Gila Monster in Extreme Close up.

No suspense at all. No action to speak of. No well developed characters. No motivation. Just 1:14 minutes of a boring Texas town.