The Cyclops

Hokey 50s sci fi from Bert I Gordon, who despite the prevalent hokum, crappy effects and cheap sets, keeps cranking fun flicks from the 1950s sci fi heyday. It's one of those films, if you first saw it as a kid, it's left a pretty strong impression, just with the horrendous makeup. That was back before we noticed things like plot inconsistency and illogical character behavior, both of which are pretty rampant in this film. Apart from the monster makeup, which is one of the most powerful and distinctive of all 50s sci fi monsters, Gloria Talbot is the best thing this movie has to offer, as a young woman who undertakes a mission into remote Mexico to find her fiancée, missing for three years after a plane crash. She and her unlikely cohorts discover instead a lost world of gigantic animals (very poorly matter or even superimposed real animals, depicted in large size) and, of course, her surviving fiancée, now grown to gigantic proportions due to radiation abounding in the area, horribly disfigured and mute due to injuries from the crash. There's a still powerful bit of pathos in the confrontation between Talbio and her fiancée, but the rest of the story plays out pretty dully, although the film remains entertaining if you're able to suspend your disbelief and overlook the gaping holes in logic and behavior of the characters. An effective monster movie score from Albert Glasser, who scored most of Bert I. Gordons sci fi films, gives the plot most of its propulsion. This film was reported made in 1955, which puts it as a precursor to Gordon's THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN (1957) and its sequel, WAR OF THE COLOSSAL BEAST (1958), wherein the big dude sports the same makeup used for THE CYCLOPS. Other than the similarity in height and appearance, the film's story lines are unrelated.

Too bad the half-faced one-eyed guy is so hokey. The Cyclops head is grotesque but sticking it on top a normal man's body ruins much of the illusion. The matte shots creating the colossal effect are badly dated but then these were well before computerized effects. Seems our adventurous foursome have gone looking for Susan's true love who's disappeared on a plane flight into the Mexico wilds. Unfortunately for them, but good for us, radioactive uranium deposits saturate the search area. Thus, in typical 50's fashion, monsters are created out of ordinary critters. Actually the oversized lizards are pretty well done without the obvious matte marks that surround Cyclops. Then too, the small cast does a professional job, without mocking their parts--- something of a surprise for the often hammy Chaney Jr. Of course, I'll watch anything with cat-eyed Gloria Talbott, especially when she's in tight pants and top. The actress had a rather brief movie career, mainly in horror features of this type where her exotic features fit in perfectly. And, surprise, surprise, 50's audiences get yet one more look at Bronson Canyon, without which I doubt the monster genre would have happened. Still, the LA area locations are well framed, including The LA Arboretum used for jungle shots instead of the usual shaky studio sets. All in all, it's competent drive-in fare that's more shrewdly done than most.

Another great 50's Bert I. Gordon offering. Woman sets out in remote South American jungle area to try and find missing fiance. Hires rough, gruff, alcoholic Lon Chaney Jr. as her reluctant pilot. Crashes in remote area. Something is watching...big time. Seems her fiance has grown to gigantic proportions due to high radiation content of area; also had the misfortune to lose an eye along the way (hence the title). Interesting factoid is that the same actor (Dean Parkins) who played the fiance/cyclops was in the previous Bert I. Gordon film War of the Colossal Beast, using essentially the same makeup. Great rainy Saturday afternoon fair. Fun watching a (probably really) tanked up Lon Chaney Jr.

Susan Winter (Gloria Talbott) is searching for her missing boyfriend test pilot Bruce Barton. He's been missing for three years in the Mexican jungle. She has joined up with wealthy Martin Melville (Lon Chaney Jr.) looking for uranium. The other two people on the search plane are friend Russ Bradford (James Craig) and pilot Lee Brand (Tom Drake). They encounter giant creatures created by the radiation.

The special effects of the giant creatures are compositing two different footages. It's not the best looking. The big-size half tends to be transparent. It's classic B-movie stuff. It's a lot of cheese. It needs more drama from Melville. When he first push the plane down, I thought he would be tied up and later cause problems. The others are not reacting enough to his aggressiveness. The plot is not good enough. As for the cyclops, his mask is fake old style. It's not that good, but it is weirdly interesting. That's this movie. It's not good but weirdly interesting.

Cyclops, The (1957)

*** (out of 4)

A woman (Gloria Talbott) travels to the Mexican desert to locate her husband whose been missing for three years. She finds him but he's now a huge, one eyed Cyclops. Here's a classic of the 50's sci-fi directed by Bert I. Gordon who would make a career out of these "man/animal grows big" films. The entire cast, including Lon Chaney, Jr. are a lot of fun and the dialogue gets some nice chuckles as well. Gordon made a lot of these "big" pictures throughout his career but I think this one here is the best of the bunch.