‘All that was left after…’
The Killer Shrews is a 1959 sci-fi horror film about people terrorised by giant voracious shrews during a hurricane.
Directed by Ray Kellogg from a screenplay by Jay Simms (Panic in Year Zero!; The Creation of the Humanoids) and filmed back-to-back with The Giant Gila Monster (also scripted by Simms) by producers Ken Curtis and Gordon McLendon.
Special effects were provided by first-time director Kellogg, who served as the head of Twentieth Century Fox’s special effects department throughout most of the 1950s. Close-ups of the shrews were filmed using hand puppets, and for the wider shots, hunting dogs were costumed as the shrews.
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A sequel, Return of the Killer Shrews, was produced in 2012, again starring Best as Thorne Sherman. The time between the original film’s release and the sequel’s release (over fifty-four years) is one of the longest between film sequels in history. In 2016, Attack of the Killer Shrews was released.
Plot:
Thorne Sherman and his first mate Griswold deliver supplies to a group on a remote island. The group, consisting of a scientist named Marlowe Cragis, his research assistant Radford Baines, the scientist’s daughter Ann, her fianceé Jerry Farrell, and a servant named Mario, meet the captain and his first mate and advise them to stay with them in a house because a hurricane is approaching.
On the island, a doctor works to make humans half-size. This, apparently, will reduce world hunger as smaller humans would presumably eat less. Unfortunately, his experiments have also created some giant, venomous shrews.
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Choice dialogue:
“And I’m getting a little sick of being called an irresponsible drunk.”
Trailers:
Free to watch online on YouTube [4K UHD]:
Free online on YouTube [1080p Super resolution HD]:
Free in colour online on YouTube [1080p HD]:
Related:
RETURN OF THE KILLER SHREWS (2012) Reviews of belated comedy sequel
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