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TIT

Monster From Green Hell: 4K Transfer
(Jim Davis, Barbara Turner, Robert E. Griffin, et al / Blu-ray / NR / (1957) 2022 / The Film Detective)

Overview: Cinedigm announced today that The Film Detective (TFD), the classic film restoration and streaming company, will release Kenneth G. Crane’s classic B-movie creature feature Monster From Green Hell (1957) on special-edition, restored 4K transfer via Blu-ray and DVD, March 8th, 2022.

From the era of giant bugs and atomic testing comes this low-budget howler about mutant wasps. When scientists try to understand the effects of radiation on earth creatures, the result brings them to an area of Africa known as “Green Hell,” where wasps have mutated into monsters!

Blu-ray Verdict: In truth, this is one of those movies done in such an awkward manner, that you just have to watch it all the way through just so you can say you did, and maybe even figure out what the movie makers had in mind!

Low budget, but it tries so hard not to look that way that it ends up screaming that it’s low budget, it is from the late ’50s so the basic premise of a scientific experiment gone awry is no surprise.

Indeed, these kind of films are a gem to watch, no matter what the script does with the idea. This time giant wasps are on the loose deep in the African continent.

That said, this isn’t your typical ’50s science fiction flick. Though it does use radiation, this time its space radiation, to transform and mutate insects, in this case, wasps. Hence, for me, it’s the breadth and depth with which the story is structured that lifts this above the average.

Before sending a man into space America sends up lots of different animals and insects to study the effects of space travel. One day, a rocket strays off course. Instead of staying in space for forty seconds the wasps onboard are subjected to forty hours.

This, in turn, means their reentry is no longer the Americas, but Africa. When news stories break about strange occurrences in the African continent both the scientists pack their bags to investigate. Once there, the wasps are only one of their worries!

This adds a lot of elements I like. The troubles aren’t restricted to America - especially American Deserts - this brings in an international feel.

We have a European Doctor (Dr Lorentz, Vladimir Sokoloff) and his daughter (Lorna, Barbara Turner), a guide who sounds and appears Arabian (Mari, Eduardo Ciannelli), as well as loads of African tribesmen, including Joel Fluellen playing Arobi.

When the American scientists (Dr Quent Brady, Jim Davis and Dan Morgan, Robert E Griffin) arrive they are met with bureaucratic red tape. They have to wait a couple of weeks before their mission can start. This is a totally unheard of concept in ’50s SciFi where the mutated monster is the main issue.

I like this though, because it adds realism into the tale. Then when they finally set off on their journey, they realize it’s going to take them nearly a month to walk the four-hundred-plus miles to the village. Along the trip, they run into problems and troubles that can only happen in Africa, adding adventure to the SciFi genre.

There’s clever usage of stock film being used to enhance the story. I’m not too sure if the attacking tribe of thousands was taken from another film or from stock. However, it’s spliced into the main film brilliantly and works to give the film a bigger production feel.

However, even with all these pluses the film still doesn’t rise above an average rating overall, sorry. This is mainly down to the direction and, especially, the pace. Even though there are monsters and action the film is sluggish and meanders through the story.

I mean, the tribal attack is quite exciting but it’s the monster wasps that ruin the film! In Tarantula 1955, a real spider was used. It was enlarged and superimposed over houses, cars, and such so if they had done the same here it would have been much better.

However, they decide to build the wasp, which doesn’t really look like a wasp, in truth. It is simply too big and its wings are too small. It also saddened me that we never get to see the wasp’s fly.

Even the special effects have good and bad points. For the most part, you can tell the wasps head is superimposed on other film scenes. But the effects men go further with the climax and start to layer different films to create the desired result.

So you have a film of the wasp, on top of that is a film of the background, and on top of that is a film of flowing lava. Very clever for the time, sure, but looks really dated today, of course.

In closing, there aren’t too many movies that follow a path quite like this one, and that’s what makes it such a novelty to watch. Have some coffee on hand for the safari portion though as it does take some time to get through the weeds, so to speak! This is both a Widescreen Presentation (1.85:1) and a Full Frame Presentation (1:33.1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs, restored in a new 4K transfer and comes with the Special Features of:

Missouri Burn: The Films of Jim Davis - Career Retrospective
The Man Behind the Monsters - An essay by author Don Stradley featured in a full color booklet
Commentary with artist/author, Stephen R. Bissette

www.thefilmdetective.com





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