The Giant Behemoth (1959) T.G.I.F., folks.......so why not wrap up the week with BQ's favorite kind of movie........good old fashioned Dino stompin'!
I know there's better Dino-On-The-Rampage movies than this one.......but with all its flaws (and probably the lowest budget of any stop-motion Dino flick ever) it's always warmed my heart on cold autumn nights.....
First off, its's British, so even with the $1.98 expended on the special effects, it stays classy.......and loaded with top-drawer talent like Andre Morell, Jack MacGowran and Maurice Kauffman.
Secondly, even with the animated Behemoth scenes carefully rationed out and variable in their quality, nothin' but nothin' beats the sight of a stop-motion Dinosaur ambling down busy city streets.......squashing cars and people with equal abandon.......
And the squashed citizens are, in fact, the lucky ones......since the Big B far more enjoys giving out radioactive waves to slow cook his victims like shrimp on the barbie.....
All of this herky jerky Dino-Might served as the farewell film of stop-motion animation wizard Willis 'O Brian, who virtually invented the art form with the original silent film "The Lost World" and his 1933 masterwork "King Kong"
Also, a You-Bet-Jurassic tip of the hat to director Eugene Lourie. Though he had a long, prolific career as an art director, he carved himself a niche as the prime director of classic monster-on-the-stomp movies, including "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms" and that glowing tribute to mother love, "Gorgo"
Best of all, given the fear and loathing of the atomic age, the movie appropriately closes with a radio report of dead fish popping up in the sea......the sure sign that another rip-roarin', radioactive Behemoth is ready to rise up, kick ass, and squash us screaming, fleeing bystanders......
That's why Notorious G. B. is always worth checking out. 3 & 1/2 stars (***1/2)
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