Available Now
$29.95 | $19.95
September 26, 2023
The Giant Gila Monster + The Killer Shrews
A 2-Disc Collection of Overgrown Proportions
A double feature of overgrown animals?! We call that a perfect pairing.
BD: $29.95 | DVD: $19.95
The classic era of drive-in schlock was near its end in 1959, but there was still time for The Giant Gila Monster and The Killer Shrews, a pair of no-budget howlers from producer Gordon McLendon. In The Giant Gila Monster, a lizard takes on a small town. If that's not enough for you, there are plenty of cool cars and some ersatz rock 'n' roll sung by the movie's star, Don Sullivan (The Monster of Piedras Blancas). The Killer Shrews stars James Best (The Dukes of Hazard) as a riverboat pilot stuck on an island where the shrews are the size of German Shepherds. The cast includes Ken Curtis (Gunsmoke) and Ingrid Goude (Miss Universe, 1957). These two features were originally released on a double-bill. Trust us – they belong together!
The Specs
The Giant Gila Monster
"Only Hell could breed such an enormous beast. Only God could destroy it!"
​
Dir. Ray Kellogg
Starring: Don Sullivan, Fred Graham, Lisa Simone
1959 | HD | 74 minutes
​
Only Hell could breed such an enormous beast. Only God could destroy it! Well, if not God, how about a heroic hot-rodding teenager? That's the idea behind this independent slime fest from the same film company that produced another low budget "classic," The Killer Shrews. Both were directed by Ray Kellogg, a special effects specialist and second unit director who would eventually work on some of Hollywood's biggest pictures, including Cleopatra and The Green Berets. In 1959, though, it was all about Gila monsters and revved up teens. If there's a schlock Hall of Fame, this one deserves its own wing!
The Killer Shrews
"They had to eat 3 times their body weight each day... OR STARVE!"
Dir. Ray Kellogg
Starring: James Best, Ingrid Goude, Ken Curtis
1959 | HD | 69 minutes
​
Maybe they’re just dogs wearing fake snouts and tails, in a low budget movie filmed in Texas by the same group that gave us The Giant Gila Monster. But suspend your disbelief, and they’ll become mutant, killer shrews, created by a mad scientist. Starring James Best (TV’s The Dukes of Hazzard), this howler has some good things going for it, namely a creepy musical score by Harry Bluestone and Emil Cadkin, and some solid direction by Ray Kellogg. If nothing else, this slice of schlock heaven may help answer the question, “What the heck is a shrew?”
