War of the Colossal Beast (1958)

This movie continues the story from the Amazing Colossal Man.  To recap that movie an army officer named Glen is caught in an A bomb test and begins to grow.  After reaching a height of 60 feet he is attacked and killed when he falls off the Hoover Dam.  Or so everyone thought.  In this sequel he is found alive and living in an isolated part of Mexico.  But he is horribly disfigured and his mind has been shattered by the fall off the dam.  He is little more than an animal, a dangerous 60-foot tall animal!  He is captured and brought back to LA, where he of course gets free and creates much havoc.  Can the army stop him before he does too much damage?  Is there any hope for him to recover his mind? 

I do so love me some silly 50’s sci-fi and no one did it any better than director Bert I. Gordon.  Here he follows up his movie the Amazing Colossal Man with War of the Colossal Beast.  Unfortunately what was a pretty cool story the first time around just doesn’t work the second time around.  In the first film you had an interesting protagonist that goes thru all sorts of terrible things while his body grows and changes.  You get to see him get more and more angry about becoming a freak.  I suppose it is because the actor who played the first Colossal man didn’t return for the sequel but the decision to make him basically a mute animal for this movie really hurt it.  Focusing on the people chasing him just wasn’t as interesting.  This probably is why I found myself fighting to stay awake at parts of the movie, which can be really slow.  The ending is okay, but I was rather annoyed by the gimmick of switching to color for the last 30 or 40 seconds.  It really ruined what was a thoughtful and interesting ending that I won’t spoil here.  I really don’t have anything to say about the completely generic and forgettable cast. 

The movie does show the strengths of director Bert I. Gordon in it’s excellent special effects.  From a simple, but disturbingly scarred creature to the toy trucks he tosses around the movie delivers.  And while the effects might look dated today, I still appreciate them for how innovative they were at the time.  Many tried to replicate the success that Gordon had with his colossal creatures, but few matched him.  The movie also uses sound to great effect here with the Colossal man’s growl, which is itself sort of scary.  Honestly this is one of the few movies I can identify from just hearing it, which is kind of cool if you think about it.  And as much as I don’t like the switch to color at the end of the movie I still think the bit with the electrical wires looks really neat. 

This sequel doesn’t come anywhere near the original, but still is worth checking out once if you are a fan of the sort of special effects that Gordon is known for.  I think this one is worth a rental, but don’t expect much from it.

2 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer 

© Copyright 2009 John Shatzer