Collectible Time: Film Masters Presents The Giant Gila Monster/The Killer Shrews Remastered Blu-ray Set

Hip! Hip! Hurray! Film Masters has released an immaculate, Blu-ray set of director Ray Kellogg and producers Ken ("Festus") Curtis and Gordon ("The Maverick of Radio") McLendon's 1959, drive-in double feature, The Giant Gila Monster & The Killer Shrews. 

These public-domain titles have been released many times over on VHS and disc, but this new coupling is one of the best and most comprehensive, due to the restored elements and favorable features. 

Gila Monster, scripted by Kellogg and Jay Sims, stars Don (Teenage Zombies/Monster of Piedras Blancas) as good-natured hotrodder/rock-'n'-roll singer, Chase Winstead, who works as a mechanic by day, but finds time to spend with his special-needs sister, Janice Stone's Missy, and his girlfriend, played by Miss France's Lisa Simone. 

In the wake of mysterious disappearances, Chase teams with Fred (The Purple Monster Strikes) Graham's Sheriff Jeff to unravel the cause (as Shug Fisher's town eccentric interjects levity and Bob Thompson's concerned parent presses for answers). Through the process, Chase comes upon a recording opportunity through a local DJ, played by real-life, Dallas DJ, Ken Knox, letting Sullivan brandish his skills with two catchy tunes, "The Mushroom Song/Laugh, Children, Laugh" and "My Baby, She Rocks." This leads to a sock-hop climax where the behemoth attacks, leaving Chase (equipped with is beloved hotrod) to save the day. 

Killer Shrews, penned by Sims, stars James (Twilight Zone/Dukes of Hazzard) Best as Captain Thorne Sherman, who with Judge Henry Dupree's first mate, delivers supplies to researchers on an island as a hurricane nears, only to discover the landscape is infected by genetically altered, canine-sized shrews. The unabating beasts must eat their own body weight every few hours in order to survive, propelling them to seek and devour the principles, who must devise a clever means of escape. The aforementioned Curtis, Miss Sweden's Ingrid Goude, Baruch Lumet, Alfredo DeSoto and even McLendon comprise the co-cast.

The special features for Gila Monster consist of 

1) Theatrical (1.85:1) and TV (1.33:1) formats from the 35mm negative

2) Original, restored 35mm trailer

3) Commentary by The Monster Party Podcast's Larry Strothe, James Gonis, Shawn Sheridan and Matt Weinhold

4) A 2009 interview with Don Sullivan, conducted by writer Bryan Senn

The special features for Killer Shrews consist of  

1) Theatrical (1.85:1) and TV (1.33:1) formats from the 35mm negative

2) Ray Kellogg: An Unsung Master featurette by Ballyhoo Motion Pictures via writer, C. Courtney Joyner, narrated by Larry Blamire

3) Radio spots (for Killer Shrews & Gila Monster), per Gary L. Prange

4) Commentary by writer, Jason A. Ney

Despite the movies' frightful circumstances, there's an naïve charm about them. Moreover, they're close to avant-garde in their rebellious, bargain-basement unpretentiousness, with their creatures rendered by simple but viable methods (a projected,  Mexican Beaded Lizard set loose upon miniatures and agile, costumed coonhounds), relying the whole while on "everyman" characters (with a few foolhardy to a fault) to assist Kellogg's tidy direction. 

That the films share the same ominous ambiance helps, if one opts to watch them back to back. Much of the credit for this cohesion goes to photographer Wilfrid (The Tingler) M. Cline, and those who composed the complementing scores, Jack Marshall for Gila Monster, and Emil Cadkin and Harry Bluestone for Killer Shrews. (Without question, these movies were made for each other.)  

To enhance the pleasing conjunction, the set includes a stylish, photo-adorned booklet, containing the articles, "Pirate Radio, Presidential Assassinations and Gila Monsters: All in a Life's Work" by McLendon and "The Unkillable Killer Shrews" by Ney. 

For Gila Monster & Killer Shrews fans, the Film Masters contribution is a must-own. Order at 

https://www.filmmasters.com/giant-gila-monster-killer-shrews?fbclid=IwAR0UKjAsYLPZuLzbthaUw3KNQM1kMA5oJpdLpgEo5Ea9bnBtGCj81DQI7fQ

I saw the Giant Gila Monster...Remade!!!

I recently had the good fortunate to catch (at long bloody last!) Jim Wynorski's remake of the Ken Curtis/Ray Kellogg drive-in classic, "The Giant Gila Monster." The new version is called "Gila!" and much to my content, pretty much mirrors the original (a personal favorite, I might add), at least in spirit and zeal. 

In fact, like the original, this one's also low-budget and proudly hip, with Brian "2001 Maniacs" Gross playing Don Sullivan's most famous role (and that's not to take anything away from "Monster of Piedras Blancas", "Teenage Zombies" or "Rebel Set"), as the amiable hot rodder/mechanic, Chase Winstead. This Chase doesn't sing much, but he's friends with the conscientious Sheriff Parker (Terence "Children of the Corn II" Knox) and has a gracious girlfriend named Lisa (Madeline Voges), though this time without the French accent. Most significantly, he has a knack for combating mutant lizards!

In this instance, toxic waste is defined as the creature's cause, with workers dumping barrels of such in a cave, just outside a small (Texan?) town. When the giant Gila appears, it's computerized, but just as a real Gila was unpretentiously "magnified" for the Curtis/Kellogg classic, the new version stomps shamelessly about in the sunlight: never once concealed by fog, mist or rain, as is the case generally with behemoths in bigger budgeted films. Indeed, when this specimen strikes, you damn well know it!

Quaint and quirky characters punctuate the monstrous proceedings, with Rich "Amityville Horror" Komenich as Sherwood Compton, Winstead's tipsy, survivalist boss, and Gerard "Monster Cruise" Pauwels as the cantankerous Mayor Norbert Wheeler (named after an equally surly chap from the original). Chase Adams and Callie Burk are warmly convincing as Winstead's young friends, Elsa and Pike, with Wynorski favorite, Kelli "Chopping Mall" Maroney, as Wilma, the dippy deputy. Good, ol' Don Sullivan even makes a cool cameo, indirectly attributing a spot of green slime to the mammoth reptile.

Back on the lead-character front, Chase faces an old, junior-high rival, the wayward Waco Bob (Jessie "Cry Wolf" Janzen), who's accompanied by his sultry, but wise-acre gal, Carla (Playboy's "After Hours Babe", Christina DeRosa), who during a sock hop, belts a mean cover of "Fever".

For what it's worth, "Gila!" is full of such golden oldies, ranging from the '50 to the early '60s, though one might simply assume the story takes place in '59: the original's time frame. 

The script (by William Dever, Steve Mitchell, Jim Nielson and Paul Sinor), obviously doesn't follow the first film to a tee, even setting it during the Christmas season, but the redux should ooze more than enough innocent charm to please traditionalists. Oh, and fear not! Chase does finally croon at least one Sullivan tune, the beloved "Mushroom Song" ("Laugh, Children, Laugh"), to his crippled, little sister, Missy (Jenna Ruiz). Trust me, the rendition (touchingly accompanied by town folk) will bring a tear to your eye. 

"Gila!" won't likely eclipse the fondness many of us hold for the original, but the remake still stands as a swell, nostalgic nod: a gem, in essence, in a spree of larger, more heavily publicized, fantasy films. "Gila!", however, is lots more fun than most of those. In all honesty, who's to say that, in its own humble (but equally competent) way, it's undeserving of the same, respectful attention, especially among monster aficionados?