Director Bert I. Gordon's "War of the Colossal Beast" is a sequel to his 1957 opus "The Amazing Colossal Man." The original depicted the tragic circumstances surrounding the exposure of U.S. Army officer Lieutenant Colonel Glen Manning to plutonium radiation from a bomb blast. Manning experiences a growth spurt and towers 60 feet in height. Of course, growing so quickly takes a toll on his body and he goes insane. He stomps off for Las Vegas and winds up atop Hoover Dam where he falls apparently to his death.
"War of the Colossal Beast" picks up after Manning disappeared from his fall at Hoover Dam. Miraculously, although his body was never found, the eponymous monster survived the plunge and is alive and well in Mexico when the sequel starts! He is hiding in the mountains and he preys on vehicles delivering any kind of food. The film opens with a terrified youth, Miguel (Robert Hernandez of "Cavalcade of America"), careening hell-bent for leather to escape whatever he saw that has severely traumatized him. As a matter of fact, Miguel is fleeing from the "Colossal Man," but we aren't shown his foe. Gordon leaves it up to our imagination. John Swanson (George Becwar of "Bride of the Monster") owned the truck that Miguel was driving and he sets out to collect insurance on it. Unfortunately, he cannot find his truck. Eventually, he questions Sgt. Luis Murillo of local police and Murillo takes Swanson to the lad. Poor Miguel is supine in the hospital undergoing treatment for shock.
A television station, WTLA broadcasts word of the accident and it arouses the suspicion of Manning's sister, Joyce (Sally Fraser of "Giant from the Unknown"), and she goes to Mexico to see if she can learn anything about her brother. This is odd and interesting because in "The Amazing Colossal Man" we were told that Manning had no relatives. U.S. Army officer Major Mark Baird (Roger Pace of "Jump into Hell") and scientist Dr. Carmichael (Russ Bender of "Maryjane")who heads up the military's "radiation exposure department," accompany Joyce. Twenty minutes into the action as the heroine and company discover a graveyard of abandoned trucks snatched by the titular character, "The Colossal Man" makes his appearance. Clearly, all Gordon did was mask off part of the screen conveniently using he contours of the mountain and rely on rear-screen projection so the big fellow can stride into view. Baird and Carmichael prepare the "Colossal Beast" loaves of bread spiked with enough Chloral hydrate to knock him out for eight hours. Talk about fast-acting stuff! Not long after the "Beast" gnaws the bread, he collapses. Baird loads Manning's tied down body aboard a military transport and flies him back to America. Initially, he cannot obtain clearance to land the "Beast," but his relentless harassment of Los Angeles' mayor gets him a reprieve to land his cargo plane and lock up Colonel Manning in a nearby hanger. Naturally, the "Beast" escapes from the hangar and stomps up to Griffith Park Observatory where he picks up a bus packed with junior high school students and hoists it over his head like a barbell. Joyce seizes a jeep and drives up to where her misshapen brother is and persuades him to put the bus down. A dejected Manning utters his one comprehensible word "Joyce" and then commits suicide by electrocuting himself on a power line.
Movies like the two "Colossal" epics were standard fare during the paranoid 1950s when Hollywood loved to use atomic energy to mutate either man or beast or both for sensational consequences. Clearly, in one sense, these movie served as cautionary tales about the unknown dangers associated with nuclear power. One of the earliest examples of this genre was "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms" (1953) where an atomic bomb blast in the Arctic Circle melted the ice that had kept a million year old giant rhedosaurus confined. The following year saw the release of "Them!" (1954) about gargantuan ants irradiated by a nuclear explosion. "Tarantula" (1955) tweaked the narrative when researchers created chemical from atomic science to grow a gigantic spider. The Japanese appropriated only on the paranoia over nuclear energy but also the genre for more spectacular results with "Godzilla" (1956) and launched a franchise.
Not long after the monster is brought back to the States, it relives the part of its life when he was stricken with radiation, so if you missed the first movie, you know what happened. There is an amusing scene after word of Manning's survival when a legislator is asked what part of the government will rule about the mutant. Everybody in Washington gives the press the bureaucratic run-a-round about jurisdiction in the case. Gordon made movies for American International Pictures. What is interesting about "War of the Colossal Beast" is its finale when the monster seizes the high power lines. Everything turns into full color. This movie is entertaining for a laugh and is representative of Hollywood's obsession with nuclear power during the 1950s. Clearly, the title is all hype because there isn't much of a war in this 69-minute film.
"War of the Colossal Beast" picks up after Manning disappeared from his fall at Hoover Dam. Miraculously, although his body was never found, the eponymous monster survived the plunge and is alive and well in Mexico when the sequel starts! He is hiding in the mountains and he preys on vehicles delivering any kind of food. The film opens with a terrified youth, Miguel (Robert Hernandez of "Cavalcade of America"), careening hell-bent for leather to escape whatever he saw that has severely traumatized him. As a matter of fact, Miguel is fleeing from the "Colossal Man," but we aren't shown his foe. Gordon leaves it up to our imagination. John Swanson (George Becwar of "Bride of the Monster") owned the truck that Miguel was driving and he sets out to collect insurance on it. Unfortunately, he cannot find his truck. Eventually, he questions Sgt. Luis Murillo of local police and Murillo takes Swanson to the lad. Poor Miguel is supine in the hospital undergoing treatment for shock.
A television station, WTLA broadcasts word of the accident and it arouses the suspicion of Manning's sister, Joyce (Sally Fraser of "Giant from the Unknown"), and she goes to Mexico to see if she can learn anything about her brother. This is odd and interesting because in "The Amazing Colossal Man" we were told that Manning had no relatives. U.S. Army officer Major Mark Baird (Roger Pace of "Jump into Hell") and scientist Dr. Carmichael (Russ Bender of "Maryjane")who heads up the military's "radiation exposure department," accompany Joyce. Twenty minutes into the action as the heroine and company discover a graveyard of abandoned trucks snatched by the titular character, "The Colossal Man" makes his appearance. Clearly, all Gordon did was mask off part of the screen conveniently using he contours of the mountain and rely on rear-screen projection so the big fellow can stride into view. Baird and Carmichael prepare the "Colossal Beast" loaves of bread spiked with enough Chloral hydrate to knock him out for eight hours. Talk about fast-acting stuff! Not long after the "Beast" gnaws the bread, he collapses. Baird loads Manning's tied down body aboard a military transport and flies him back to America. Initially, he cannot obtain clearance to land the "Beast," but his relentless harassment of Los Angeles' mayor gets him a reprieve to land his cargo plane and lock up Colonel Manning in a nearby hanger. Naturally, the "Beast" escapes from the hangar and stomps up to Griffith Park Observatory where he picks up a bus packed with junior high school students and hoists it over his head like a barbell. Joyce seizes a jeep and drives up to where her misshapen brother is and persuades him to put the bus down. A dejected Manning utters his one comprehensible word "Joyce" and then commits suicide by electrocuting himself on a power line.
Movies like the two "Colossal" epics were standard fare during the paranoid 1950s when Hollywood loved to use atomic energy to mutate either man or beast or both for sensational consequences. Clearly, in one sense, these movie served as cautionary tales about the unknown dangers associated with nuclear power. One of the earliest examples of this genre was "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms" (1953) where an atomic bomb blast in the Arctic Circle melted the ice that had kept a million year old giant rhedosaurus confined. The following year saw the release of "Them!" (1954) about gargantuan ants irradiated by a nuclear explosion. "Tarantula" (1955) tweaked the narrative when researchers created chemical from atomic science to grow a gigantic spider. The Japanese appropriated only on the paranoia over nuclear energy but also the genre for more spectacular results with "Godzilla" (1956) and launched a franchise.
Not long after the monster is brought back to the States, it relives the part of its life when he was stricken with radiation, so if you missed the first movie, you know what happened. There is an amusing scene after word of Manning's survival when a legislator is asked what part of the government will rule about the mutant. Everybody in Washington gives the press the bureaucratic run-a-round about jurisdiction in the case. Gordon made movies for American International Pictures. What is interesting about "War of the Colossal Beast" is its finale when the monster seizes the high power lines. Everything turns into full color. This movie is entertaining for a laugh and is representative of Hollywood's obsession with nuclear power during the 1950s. Clearly, the title is all hype because there isn't much of a war in this 69-minute film.