O Monstro Atômico

One of my sci-fi/horror/fantasy reviews written 50 years ago: The brainchild of Bert I. Gordon, who produced, directed and co-wrote, with writer Mark Hanna, the film stars Glenn Langan, Cathy Downs and William Hudson.

The sentimental monster is created when an enlisted man grows huge after being exposed to a nuclear bomb test. When he starts creating havoc, nothing can stop him until he falls off Grand Coulee Dam.

The American-International Pictures release was photographed by Joseph Biroc, whose movies include "It's a Wonderful Life", "Bwana Devil" (the original 3-D feature) and "Blazing Saddles"!

I liked this film. I liked it a lot. Sure it is by no means anything other than a poorly-crafted, deficient special effects laden film about a man that survives a plutonium blast that starts to grow almost 8 inches a day. Soon Colonel Glenn Manning becomes fifty feet high and starts to lose his mind. Bert I. Gordon is able to do something he rarely ever does, and that is make you care a bit for the characters. Glen Manning is punished for a good deed and his heroic personality, and the irony of his situation is never lost on him or the audience. Glenn Langlan does a pretty good job as the giant man despite the acting experience it was trying to seem gigantic. The rest of the cast is not quite at his mediocre level. Cathy Downs does a credible job as his love interest, but the two fellas playing the doctors had all the bedside charm of a brick wall. How bout that scene with the camel and the elephant? What a hoot! The special effects are some of the cheapest to come out of the fifties. Giant Glenn Manning is just projected onto other film. Nothing too special about that. Except in the close-ups, the giant always looks transparent(a symptom of the projection process...watch Attack of the 50 Foot Woman and you will see the same effect). The scene with the giant hypodermic needle is easily the best. Glenn finally gets his point across to an army scientist. The biggest low of the film for me was the ending. It seems very abrupt, almost like, "Hey, we ran out of money....let's end it like this....real fast!" Shortcomings notwithstanding...give The Amazing Colossal Man a try if you like good/bad science fiction films from the fifties. If your ideas of horror classics are Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street...stay away...nothing in this film will entertain you.

This isn't exactly the Royal Shakespeare Company here and with a title like THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN, you know you're not about to watch something that's due for a re-make on Masterpiece Theater. So, as long as you realize it is first and foremost a schlocky sci-fi horror film from the 50s and have your expectations set relatively low, you'll probably have a good time watching it. On a campy and kitschy level, it's good stuff. I particularly like how his clothes seem to grow with him (thus allowing it to STILL be a family flick) and the scene near the end of the film when they give this crazed giant an injection--his reaction is priceless!! All-in-all, I'd recommend this as a good film to watch with friends. Watch it, laugh and enjoy.

Or ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT MAN, one year Nathan Juran's ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMAN. It is rather well made for such a small budget, the weak point being special effects. But the story, not that unusual for this period - the dangers of the atomic era - is made with enough talent to hold your attention. There also was WAR OF THE COLOSSAL BEAST, from the same Bert MR BIG Gordon, a year later. A sequel actually, very moving. So, for the fans of Bert Gordon, this film is not his best, but not his worst either. Great care is made for the actors directing, and not only for the visual aspects in a film precisely supposed to be science fiction, which it is at one hundred percent. But any person will prefer Jack Arnold's INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN; one hundred times better than this.

Burt I. Gordon's "The Amazing Colossal Man" was the first sci-fi film I saw as a kid that actually scared me. But it wasn't the effect of a bald Col. Glenn Manning running around Las Vegas that I found frightening; it was the actual atomic bomb test-blast footage I found so horrific. At the age of six, seeing houses blown like matchsticks into blazing debris was enough to cause nightmares. The same footage (recently restored by Peter Kuran for the "explosive" documentary "Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie") can still sends shivers down the spine of any self-respecting anti-nuker.

"The Amazing Colossal Man" still ranks as one of the better b-grade drive-in movies. It is unintentionally funny, full of impossible science and very entertaining. The cast does their best with the material (from a script by George Worthing Yates) but I suspect no one took the project very seriously, least of all Mr. Gordon. It is also highlighted by another thunderous Albert Glasser score.