Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by AudioHead (A) on January 26, 2006 at 15:07:58

'The Black Scorpion'-1957 is Warner Bros followup to their generally superior
'Them!'-1954. Directed by Edward Ludwig. Main cast are Richard Denning as U.S. Geologist Hank Scott, Mara Corday as Teresa Alvarez,cattle ranch-estate owner,
Carlos Rivas as Mexican Geologist Artur Ramos, Carlos Muzquiz as
famous Dr. Velazco and Pedro Galvan as Father Delgado. Setting is
near isolated village of San Lorenzo in Mexico.

Direction, acting, writing,etc is routine. Stars of the show are
the stop-motion animation effects(under supervision of Willis O'Brien) of
Pete Peterson. I rate these visuals as generally very good but a
notch below premo Harryhausen. Long shots of scorpions and other
giant creatures are the best, followed by drooling facial closeups (too many) and lastly by the transparent matte shots (ala 'Tarantula-1958). Some really nice set pieces.

The story is secondary to the effects, roughly modeled after
Them!-1954(volcano erupts, giant scorpions emerge at night to kill
people and cattle) so I won't elaborate on it.
The film will probably primarily appeal mostly to 1950's sci-fi film
fans in general and stop motion admirers in particular.

DVD digital quality is very good. Warner Bros opted for full frame
1.33.1 ratio). B&W. 88 mins. Sound is mono. Price was about $13.00
in U.S. currency, available at www.amazon.com. ~AH