The 50's is one of my favorite eras for horror and sci-fi as most of my fond memories as a kid come from watching Harryhausen flicks and Universal Horror movies of that time frame (thanks to my father introducing me to them of course, Im not that old). Along the way there was some really good ones and then there were others like the film here Im reviewing TBFHM.
The story has a basic premise, a Mexican village has a legend that when the waters lower a creature comes out of an unexplored mountain and looks for food anywhere it can get it. Like a lot of the 50's monster films this would be enough to satisfy and entertain. Top that off with stop motion effects and your thinking pure 50's fun right,wrong. The movie also has another story of an angry cattle herder feuding with another herder to gain a monopoly on the cattle business in the area. This part of the story is focused on for nearly the first 60 minutes only briefly bringing up the monster that the title describes.
As a western, which the movie predominately is, it really isn't that good. As a monster movie it is not good either. The monster which finally shows up in the last 20 minutes is more or less to be a T-Rex. It is a very unconvincing stop motion sub par on every level and the way the monster is finally defeated is so stupid you have to see it to believe it. The funny thing about the T-Rex is he has a tongue that Gene Simmons would be envious of and at times they us a guy in rubber monster legs and feet to show it walking, another effect that added a level of badness to the movie.
In the end there is not much here to see. several of the cast would go on to star in the better stop motion monster gone amok film, The Black Scorpion. This seemed like a warm up to that film. If you want to see the best cowboy monster movie out there see "The Valley of Gwangi" which is light years ahead of this dreck. A lot of talking with very little action and the action, when there, being of the very lame variety I have no choice but to give TBFHM: 3/10: Bad, one of the worst 50's stop motion monster films. despite a respectable cast the story and pacing were dreadful along with the special effects.
The story has a basic premise, a Mexican village has a legend that when the waters lower a creature comes out of an unexplored mountain and looks for food anywhere it can get it. Like a lot of the 50's monster films this would be enough to satisfy and entertain. Top that off with stop motion effects and your thinking pure 50's fun right,wrong. The movie also has another story of an angry cattle herder feuding with another herder to gain a monopoly on the cattle business in the area. This part of the story is focused on for nearly the first 60 minutes only briefly bringing up the monster that the title describes.
As a western, which the movie predominately is, it really isn't that good. As a monster movie it is not good either. The monster which finally shows up in the last 20 minutes is more or less to be a T-Rex. It is a very unconvincing stop motion sub par on every level and the way the monster is finally defeated is so stupid you have to see it to believe it. The funny thing about the T-Rex is he has a tongue that Gene Simmons would be envious of and at times they us a guy in rubber monster legs and feet to show it walking, another effect that added a level of badness to the movie.
In the end there is not much here to see. several of the cast would go on to star in the better stop motion monster gone amok film, The Black Scorpion. This seemed like a warm up to that film. If you want to see the best cowboy monster movie out there see "The Valley of Gwangi" which is light years ahead of this dreck. A lot of talking with very little action and the action, when there, being of the very lame variety I have no choice but to give TBFHM: 3/10: Bad, one of the worst 50's stop motion monster films. despite a respectable cast the story and pacing were dreadful along with the special effects.