Beasts Unleashed: The Beast With A Million Eyes / The Beast of Hollow Fountain – Review

By Sarah Morgan

The 1950s… a decade when the Cold War really took hold, there was a population boom, various conflicts occurred and the European Common Market was formed.

It was a time of great change and upheaval, but thankfully there was plenty of escapism on the big screen, not least because it was also the decade of the Creature Feature, when monsters ruled the Earth, on celluloid at least.

The latest release from Eureka Entertainment, the company which has a reputation for giving long-lost gems a new lease of life, celebrates two such films – The Beast with a Million Eyes and The Beast of Hollow Mountain.

“A must for fans”

The first was originally released in 1955, and is an ultra-low-budget tale from the Roger Corman stable (it’s even rumoured he directed some of it, albeit uncredited). At the centre of the story is a family living on a remote ranch in the Californian desert.

After a UFO crash lands nearby, everyone begins acting strangely, while the local animal life appears to turn against humans. It eventually transpires that the alien aboard the mysterious craft has the power to dominate other beings, which it plans to use to gain control of the entire planet.

Although not a masterpiece, it’s a must for fans of retro sci-fi and Corman’s oeuvre.

The Beast of Hollow Mountain, from 1956, is a different kettle of fish altogether. Whereas its disc-mate is in black and white, we move to colour here and add a Wild West element to a tale set in Mexico at the turn of the 20th century.

Guy Madison, a handsome if not always very convincing actor, takes the lead role of Jimmy, a cowboy who has built up a ranching business with a friend. He’s also having a flirtation with a local beauty, bringing him into conflict with her fiancé.

“Enjoyable”

But there’s trouble of a very different kind brewing – people and animals are going missing, and while some claim it’s the result of a curse linked to a nearby swamp, Jimmy discovers something even more shocking is the cause.

The story was devised by Willis O’Brien, the special effects maestro who was Ray Harryhausen’s mentor, and who animated the original King Kong. While it’s not in that movie’s class, it’s an enjoyable time-passer very much of its age. Sadly the monster – a Godzilla-style giant lizard/dinosaur – isn’t up to O’Brien’s standards; the job of creating it was given to a different expert, perhaps due to costs.

Don’t expect to find the Citizen Kane of creature features within this box set, but there’s a lot of fun to be had nevertheless.

Sarah Morgan( Writer )

Sarah Morgan studied film journalism at post-graduate level with the BFI and has been writing about TV and film for PA Media’s newspaper, magazine and new media customers since 1996. She’s also written for a wide range of other publications, both online and in print, including the book Offbeat and Intermission magazine, and is a regular contributor to the Talking Pictures TV podcast. When she isn’t watching movies, she’s collecting and reading vintage crime and horror paperback books or, for her sins, watching her beloved Sheffield Wednesday.

You do not have any posts.