The Giant Gila Monster [PG]

A sleepy little rural Texan town finds itself in the midst of a series of strange disappearances, deaths, and car wrecks with no rational explanation. The local sheriff faces a head-scratcher of a case as well as an angry community that demands the case be solved or he resign. Thankfully the sheriff has Chase, a local quick-witted mechanic, by his side and together they might just be able to find an answer to the deaths, the disappearances, and the strange striped creature that seems to be at the heart of it. 

The Giant Gila Monster sounds like another hilariously terrible B-grade horror flock does it not, but I am actually going to stand up and give credit where credit is heartily due with this movie. Whilst the story is predictable as anything the heartfelt performances, the strangely jazzy soundtrack that somehow works, and the sheer amount of creative effort gives this movie strong legs and allows it to raise itself up and walk on them all on its own. Like a toddler, you can’t really take it seriously, but the heartfelt effort and attempts make it compelling to watch and make you appreciate what it’s trying to do. 

A sleepy little rural Texan town finds itself in the midst of a series of strange disappearances, deaths, and car wrecks with no rational explanation. The local sheriff faces a head-scratcher of a case as well as an angry community that demands the case be solved or he resign. Thankfully the sheriff has Chase, a local quick-witted mechanic, by his side and together they might just be able to find an answer to the deaths, the disappearances, and the strange striped creature that seems to be at the heart of it. 

First, I want to give snaps to all the creative input regarding the ‘special’ effects. Rather than have some person in a shabbily-made monster costume like Creature From the Haunted Sea, shots of the giant monster terrorising the town were actually just shots of a relatively large lizard slinking through miniatures of the town. Some well-timed dubbing thrown over the top to make the steps of the lizard measure on the Richter scale and his tongue flicks rasp menacingly really round out the whole thing and whilst the monster is still not very scary, you have to appreciate that everyone went for cheap authenticity rather than cheap illusions. A for effort! 

You would not have thought that a jazzy, 50s soundtrack would seem at home within a horror movie, but the upbeat music that accompanies some of the film’s more intense sequences, such as the climactic car chase, really work and they get the adrenaline rising a little bit and bring a nice smile to the face. 

Lastly, the performances are pretty good, particularly that of Don Sullivan who stars as Chase. Don’s performance is witty, quick, charming, slightly cheeky, dramatic, and romantic. Plus he’s got a set of pipes on him! 

Starring Fred Graham, Lisa Simone, Shug Fisher, Bob Thompson, Janise Stone, Ken Knox, Gay McLendon, Don Flournoy, Pat Reeves, Jan McLendon, Jerry Cortwright, and Cecil Hunt, The Giant Gila Monster is a B-grade horror movie, but one that you have to appreciate for the sheer amount of sincerity that goes into the creative effort. Whilst there are no real scares to be gleaned, the heart that everyone put into this movie made it compelling! Filled with action, suspense, drama, romance, and comedy it’s not a great film, it’s not even a good film by global standards, but it’s a film that gave it its all and you have to respect that!