THE CYCLOPS (1957) Blu-ray
Director: Bert I. Gordon
Warner Archive Collection

In the 1950s, cinema-goers were treated to a huge ensemble of giant monster movies, which at this point in time, seemed to be at their peak. Most of these big screen creatures were created by the atomic bomb, while others were released from their tomb after hibernating for millions of years. Drive-ins were packed with fans dying to be either scared or entertained by large creatures of destruction in films ranging from GODZILLA to THEM to THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS. These were the classic giant monster movies. The stories were coherent, the effects were fantastic and the monsters had characteristics of their own, as they were given life by some of the best effects people in the business (such as Ray Harryhausen and Eiji Tsuburaya).

In the midst of all these great ones, “B” films containing monsters, now known as the popcorn movies (they're all popcorn movies to be honest) were also being produced. Filmed on miniscule budgets with brief running times and average to below average effects, these films also generated a large population of the monster movie audience. And to this very day, these lower budgeted efforts are still beloved by thousands of fans all across the world. The two biggest pioneers of the nickel and dime filmmaking during this era were Roger Corman and the man who made the movie I am now discussing: Bert I. Gordon. Many of you may know Mr. Gordon’s work on films such as KING DINOSAUR, BEGINNING OF THE END, THE MAGIC SWORD, VILLAGE OF THE GIANTS, NECROMANCY, FOOD OF THE GODS and EMPIRE OF THE ANTS (among countless others).

Bert I. Gordon – known as Mr. BIG in some circles – was quite similar to Roger Corman in terms of their filmmaking style (at least during the 1950s), but the big difference was Bert was not only writing and directing the picture, but doing the special effects work on them as well. Corman was more into themes and deep thinking characters (as shown in IT CONQUERED THE WORLD and TEENAGE CAVEMAN), while Gordon was more into making a simple story with the main focus on the monster and the effects work. Arguably, Gordon’s biggest and most well known films are THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN and WAR OF THE COLOSSAL BEAST. These achieved big heights for Mr. BIG, but before these two were even made, a lesser known effort containing an oversized mutilated man was unleashed to drive-in theaters by Allied Artists: THE CYCLOPS.

Released in 1957, just before AIP's COLOSSAL MAN, the plot of THE CYCLOPS is fairly simple. Susan Winters (Gloria Talbott, GIRLS TOWN, I MARRIED A MONSTER FROM OUTER SPACE, THE LEECH WOMAN) is in search of her long lost fiancé, Bruce Barton (more on him later), and is able to get together a scouting party to do so. She hires pilot Lee Brand (Tom Drake, THE SPECTRE OF EDGAR ALLAN POE), scientist friend Russ Bradford (top-billed James Craig, THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER, THE REVENGE OF DR. X, THE DOOMSDAY MACHINE) and the overzealous Marty Melville, played by the late GREAT Lon Chaney Jr. (THE WOLF MAN). Chaney is of course an absolute legend among horror and cult movie buffs, and his role here as Marty is just so vile; he plays an absolute self centered nut that gets more and more batty and greedy as the film marches along.

The group takes a small plane and flies to some remote place in Mexico where the fiancé was last seen. There they encounter a number of massively overgrown animals (snakes, rats, lizards, etc.) and finally the titular Cyclops. This enormously mutated creature turns out to be Bruce Barton, and like the animals, he's grown to massive proportions due to the incredible amount of radiation that is in the area. Marty thinks its uranium and wants to quickly fly out with his findings, but they soon discover that it's actually radiation. Knowing Bruce is the Cyclops, Susan realizes there is nothing more they can do, deciding that the expedition is over and it’s time to go home. They divert the Cyclops (including a shocking – at the time – scene of a piece of wood spearing his one eye) and return home in the grand finale.

The Cyclops was played by Duncan “Dean” Parkin who went on to be the Colossal Beast the following year. In his autobiography, The Amazing Colossal Worlds of MR. B.I.G., Gordon said of casting Parkin, “One of my major concerns was finding the right actor to play the title role of the 25 foot-tall giant Cyclops. After an extensive search, I found him in Hollywood’s own backyard when I discovered Dean Parkin working as a guard at a major Hollywood studio. He did a good job with the horrific make-up...only one eye and all ... and with the dialog, consisting of only grunts, groans, and terrifying roars.” In actuality, the Cyclops’ voice (or rather his growls, moans and snores) were done by none other than Paul Frees, one of the busiest voice actors of his era, and he actually got prominent billing here. Frees also did the voice of a radio controller who warns the plane’s crew to turn back (or else), with his Mexican accent sounding akin to Speedy Gonzales.

THE CYCLOPS may not be Bert’s best or most well known effort, but it’s still 66 minutes of harmless fun with giant monsters, great dialog and Bert’s charming effects. First released on VHS through MPI’s Thriller Video (and hosted by Elvira), the Warner Archive Collection issued it on MOD DVD in 2010. Initial pressings were missing a scene where the Cyclops removes a spear from his bloody eye and cries, but this issue was quickly remedied, as Warner recalled the disc and restored the missing bits. Also fully uncut is this Blu-ray edition, which delivers the film in 1080p HD in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio, and the transfer is terrific. The black and white picture detail is very sharp, with good, consistently organic grain, and there are hardly any instances of dirt or debris on the source element. Contrast is excellent, and the gray scale adds excellent depth and texture. Black levels are rich and solid, and whites also hold up well. The English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track is clear and natural-sounding, so dialogue and the score (by Albert Glasser) hold up well. English SDH titles are included. The sole extra here is a “textless” theatrical trailer, which simply means there’s narration but no proper titles. (David Steigman)

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