The Black Scorpion
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Movie Reviews of The Black Scorpion
Movie Review: Mildly Entertaining, Best Recalled For O'Brien's Stop Motion Animination
Summary: 4 Stars
"Big Bug" movies were all the rage in the late 1950s and early 1960s--and the stop-motion animation for THE BLACK SCORPION was created by Willis O'Brien, who created the legendary KING KONG. Alas, there is a very big difference between KING KONG, which had a budget as big as its namesake, and THE BLACK SCORPIO, which looks like it was filmed for five dollars and twenty-eight cents! But while THE BLACK SCORPION is hardly the best of the best of its genre, it is still amusing enough to appeal to fans of 1950s horror in general and O'Brien in particular.
The story is essentially a riff on the 1954 creature-feature THEM!, which sported giant killer mutant ants unleased by atomic radiation; in this instance we have giant killer prehistoric scorpions unleashed by a series of earthquakes and volcanic erruptions in Mexico. The earthquakes and such attract the attention of geologist Hank Scott (Richard Denning), who is soon distracted by the charms of local ranch owner Teresa Alverez (Mara Corday)--but before the two can become seriously involved they find her ranch over-run by creepy crawlies that drool in close up and have a really nasty sting.
The high light of the film finds Scott and company lowered into a deep crevass, the better to show the scorpions in their natural habitat. It is indeed a mighty rip off from THEM!--but it works well on its own, and it is all the more interesting due to the O'Brien factor. A similar scene was cut from KING KONG, and rumor has it that O'Brien recycled both the spider and the worm from that lost scene for use here. There is also a memorable scene in which a train is attacked by multiple scorpions and a memorable finish for the last surviving scorpion, so it is easy to forgive the lackluster rest.
The DVD is quite interesting, for it includes several bonuses of interest to stop-motion fans. No, THE BLACK SCORPION is never going to rivial any of the really good "big bug" films, but stop-motion fans and those who love 1950s "B" horror will find much to enjoy. Recommended.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer
Movie Review: Surprisingly Effective
Summary: 4 Stars
THE BLACK SCORPION is a fine example of what cast and crew can do when money is in short supply and they need to film a story about a Big Bug. By the time director Edward Ludwig got around to filming THE BLACK SCORPION in 1957, Hollywood had churned out a number of similarly themed movies like THE GIANT CLAW and THEM. THE GIANT CLAW was a bomb on every level while THEM was an artistic and financial success. What THE BLACK SCORPION shares with THEM is its ability to present some realistic (more or less) Big Bugs that seemed threatening despite Ludwig's not having computer effects or a big budget with which to work. What he did have was the incomparable talent of Willis O'Brien, the FX master who decades earlier brought us KING KONG and showed that he had not lost his touch.
The cast was led by Richard Denning as Hank, a geologist who discovers an underground lair of colossal scorpions, and Mara Corday, as Teresa, a woman who owns a cattle ranch and provides the romantic coupling. Both Denning and Corday had plenty of experience as B movie stars and both of them fit in well in a film that could have been a turkey along the lines of THE GIANT CLAW, which Corday had starred in three years earlier. But here, they meet under menacing conditions and predictably fall in love. The real stars are the giant scorpions, which means that Willis O'Brien is the unsung hero. Since he lacked the money, he had to make do with facial close-ups, shadow super-impositions, and numerous shots of stop-motion scorpions running amuck. Surprisingly, most of this works. Toward the end, there are some gripping scenes of the biggest and baddest of the scorpions attacking Mexico City while crowds of panic-stricken citizens run in fear. THE GIANT SCORPION works on a number of levels, so much so that we scarcely notice the cheesy FX. We know when we are being manipulated but when a film as good as this one does the manipulating, we hardly care.
Movie Review: great memory
Summary: 4 Stars
I saw this movie for the first time at drive-in movie when I was 4 with my younger brother and older sister. This was in the era of "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman" and other flicks where much of the story was generated by the audience's imagination. It hasn't lost it's appeal in nearly 50 years.
Even at an early age I was well aquainted with scorpions, so this movie was like a personal experience. Even better was the fact that the scorpion had a snarling face with "sharp teeth???" complete with a little nose was even better. The part where the two scientists went down wearing canary suits and packing a light machine gun was classic 1950 attitude. With our technology and firepower we can overcome ANYTHING. So, why didn't they pack a bazooka. I suppose such firepower either wasn't in the Mexican Army arsnel or the movie budget. I still giggle at the centipede in the pit, that didn't crawl but pushed itself up to full height before pushing off again.
About the dumbest part was when the vaquero fell off the side of the pit and the leading lady wanted to know to know IF they found him and his horse alive , after he fell like 1,000 feet into this pit. Ahh, the 1950s were VERY innocent even in regard to the laws of gravity, but few people, as Bugs Bunny would say, studied law back then.
Especially exciting was the black scorpion chasing the populace through Mexico City. AND they were able to keep a head of it. I'd really like to know what moron they got to drive the truck loaded with cattle to the bull fighting arena or why that Mexican general reached for a harpoon he knew was charged with 2,000 volts of electricity.
This one is great for Halloween or just for cold, rainy nights. The special effects might seem hokey to today's teenagers, but that's their problem. I had nightmares for a week thanks to this flick! Ha!
Movie Review: excellent model work makes this a cult classic
Summary: 4 Stars
This one is similiar to "them' in that they built a giant slobbering scorpion that is still quite effective.
they also use harryhausen type stop motion work that is top notch. WB put out for it's time a first class monster feature. I remember watching this at a sci fi convention and it was still popular with fans. Of course this was made in the 1950's so it's what you expect but this was no very low budget movie for it's day. It's a b movie, that's true but it was made with a feel of a A budget flick. Being backed by WB meant that this one is not shlocky in the least. It's superior and straighforward and Love those great giant creature features of that decade and this would be up their with "tarantula' and 'them' as one of the better of it's type. I don't understand why none of these movies haven't come out on blu ray yet though. Oh well , we can always hope for it someday. At least this one has strong acting and a cool story in which giant prehistoric scorpions arise to terrorize people. To this day scenes like the black scorpion standing on a railroad track challenging a train still look impressive. As do scenes of the slobbering head ready to eat people. Don't expect a modern movie here , instead enjoy a vintage creature feature that looks great on this dvd. It is a darn good print and that makes it all the better to enjoy this one. This is for fans of fifties monster movies all the way. Those movies live on because new fans find them and see them for the fun that they are and this is one of the better in that regard.
Movie Review: A Classic!
Summary: 4 Stars
I am a fan of monster movies from the 50s and 60s than I am of the monster movies of today. The reason for that is because B&W movies just seem to capture the horrors better and stop-motion animation just seemed to be fun to look at. Plus with stop-motion animation being cheaper (but more time consuming), more and more monster movies were made possible.The Black Scorpion has always been one of my favorites. Why I don't know. But, in my opinion, it is one of the very few giant bug movies that actually looks good and doesn't have really bad acting. Willis O'Brian had some pretty good looking effects in this one. Although there were some scenes which they used a blackened cartoon scorpion and on the close-ups of it, you could see the matting. Also there is some stock footage that is in this film. Don't worry, it's only stock footage from this film that repeats now an then when the Black Scorpion attacks. That in itself gets somewhat annoying and because some scenes don't fit right. Like when the Black Scorpion attacked two smaller ones after they had attacked the train, a close-up of the Black Scorpion killing the other two was stock footage used in the cave scene just minutes earlier in the film.
All in all, a classic B movies that really isn't as goofy and bland as some of the other monster movies in the 50s and 60s. I would suggest picking this one up if you are a fan of the genre.