THE
BLACK SCORPION (1957)Director: Edward Ludwig
Warner Brothers
THE
BLACK SCORPION (1957)Willis O'Brien (1886-1962) is
considered the granddaddy of stop motion animation, having worked on the effects
for the silent THE LOST WORLD and the landmark KING KONG. O'Brien was the mentor
of Ray Harryhausen (who started as his assistant and eventually surpassed him
career-wise) and even received a special Oscar for his work on MIGHTY JOE YOUNG.
Still active in his 70s, THE BLACK SCORPION was one of the last films he worked
on (though he was helped greatly here by assistant Pete Peterson, as Harryhausen
was off on his own by this time). It's basically B-movie monster fare, with
a conventional plot not unlike many other similar films of the period.
Definitely robbing a thing or two from 1954's THEM (also released by Warner Bros.), geologists Hank Scott (50s sci-fi fixture Richard Denning) and Arturo Ramos (Carlos Rivas) are driving around Mexico in the aftermath of a volcanic eruption in the area. They first discover an empty house with a deserted baby (watch Denning pointing at the baby with his pistol!), a crushed cop car, and a dead cop with the look of panic on his face. It seems that the eruption has caused giant-sized scorpions to emerge from underneath the Earth, and are feeding on locals citizens and animals. Actually, the title refers to one really big scorpion, but there are dozens of the slightly-smaller buggers stomping about.
The
script and execution are fairly routine, with blonde hero Denning falling for
love interest Mara Corday (TARANTULA), and a typically cute kid named Juanito
always in the way of danger. But the scenes of the scorpions are creepy and
surprisingly violent. One of them plucks a telephone lineman from a pole and
impales him with enormous stinger and destroys an oncoming passenger train (remember
KING KONG?)--great stuff! The best sequence is probably when our two geologist
heroes are lowered into the underground nest, and barely escape from various-sized
clashing scorpions, as well as spiders and worm creatures of oversized proportions.
The stop motion effects are very good (there are stop motion victims as well),
but the scorpions also have to divide there time between a large model head
(that looks nothing like its animated counterpart) which is repeatedly shown
drooling, and a badly matted silhouette seen when a scorpion is trudging over
the city.
Previously available on VHS and laserdisc, Warner now presents THE BLACK SCORPION on DVD with a nice-looking full frame transfer. The film was released in 1957 and was surely meant to be matted to 1.85:1, but compositions only look awkward on occasion, so I doubt anyone will really complain. The black and white image is very crisp with rich detail, and very little in the way of grain. There is some debris on the print source, and several shots display serious print damage, but are luckily very brief. For a 50s B movie, the mono audio is pretty solid. A French language track is also included, as are optional English, French and Spanish subtitles.
The
extras are really special here. A featurette has Ray Harryhausen talking about
his mentor, Willis O'Brien and how he came to meet him and the effect he had
on his life. Also included is Harryhausen's and O'Brien's full animation sequence
from Irwin Allen's THE ANIMAL WORLD (1956), a documentary feature showcasing
different animal species. Introduced by Harryhausen himself, the sequence (10
minutes) depicts various dinosaurs in battle and eventually dying out. The quality
on the sequence looks very nice here, and parts of this dinosaur segment where
also used in the British horror film, TROG (1970). Also included is two bits
of animation test footage shot by O'Brien assistant Pete Peterson in the 50s;
the first depicts a large mutated baboon ("The Las Vegas Monster")
on a rampage, the second brief clip (in color) depicts a race of marching alien
creatures ("Beetlemen"). Rounding out the extras are trailers for
THE BLACK SCORPION (which actually compares it ro THEM and THE BEAST FROM 20,000
FATHOMS), VALLEY OF GWANGI, THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS and CLASH OF THE TITANS.
(George
R. Reis)