Giant from the Unknown
| Giant from the Unknown | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release half-sheet display poster | |
| Directed by | Richard E. Cunha |
| Written by | Ralph Brooke Frank Hart Taussig |
| Produced by | Marc Frederic Arthur A. Jacobs |
| Starring | Ed Kemmer Sally Fraser Buddy Baer |
| Cinematography | Richard E. Cunha |
| Music by | Albert Glasser |
| Distributed by | Astor Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 77 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Giant from the Unknown is a 1958 independently made American black-and-white horror film drama, produced by Marc Frederic and Arthur A. Jacobs, directed by Richard Cunha, that stars Ed Kemmer, Sally Fraser, and Buddy Baer. The film was theatrically released by Astor Pictures in March, 1958 as a double feature with She Demons.
The make-up effects were created by Jack Pierce, known for his Universal Pictures' classic monster makeup for Boris Karloff's Frankenstein (1931), The Mummy (1932), and Lon Chaney Jr.'s The Wolf Man (1941). Baer, who played Vargas the Giant in this film, also played a giant in Jack and the Beanstalk (1952), starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. The film was shot in the San Bernardino National Forest.
Giant from the Unknown was featured in 1996's late night TV show, "Nightmare Theater's Chill-O-Rama Horror Show".
The film was released on DVD October 24, 2000.
Plot
 | This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. (June 2018) |
The citizens of Pine Ridge, a small California mountain town, are concerned about a series of livestock mutilations that have been happening in a local area called Devil's Crag. A local man named Harold Banks is also found dead there, killed in a manner similar to the livestock, and the local sheriff orders that everyone stay away. Citizens speculate that the deaths have a supernatural cause. A local Native American, "Indian Joe", confirms their fears of a curse, but the sheriff, hearing this, drives Joe away from town.
A local geologist named Wayne Brooks is told of Bank's death by friends Anne and Charlie Brown, two young siblings living in Pine Ridge. Parker, the town sheriff, having heard about a confrontation between Brooks and Banks several days before, is suspicious of Brooks. While the sheriff is informally questioning him about the death, Dr. Cleveland and his daughter Janet arrive to town. Cleveland is planning on conducting archaeological research in the area. While Brooks helps Janet pick up supplies, Sheriff Parker warns Cleveland about the recent murder. Brooks, Cleveland's formerly student at college, offers to be his area guide. Brooks, Cleveland, and Janet have dinner at the lodge.
Over dinner that evening, Brooks and Cleveland discuss the recent killings near Devil's Crag. Brooks informs Cleveland that the local Native Americans have a legend that evil spirits will rise up in that area. Brooks also informs Cleveland that Native American artifacts have been found near the Crag, and that he has them. Cleveland reveals his reason for coming to the area: He is searching for the remains of a Spanish Conquistador expedition he believes reached Devil's Crag 500 years earlier. The expedition was led by a man named Ptolemy Firello. The specific group Cleveland is hoping to find a trace of, known as the "Diablo Brigade", split off from the main expedition and was led by a huge man named Vargas, also known as the "Diablo Giant". Janet joins the two men and agrees to go with Brooks to the local cinema after he takes Cleveland to his field laboratory.
Brooks takes Cleveland and Janet to his laboratory. While Cleveland is examining Brooks' artifacts, Janet opens a box and finds a small lizard inside. Brooks tells them that he found the lizard inside a rock and that the lizard had been in a state of suspended animation for a very long time. Brooks and Janet then leave for the cinema while Cleveland continues examining the artifacts. Indian Joe peers through the window.
As soon as Brooks and Janet return from their date, Cleveland excitedly calls them inside. He pieced together broken fragments into a cross and now theorizes that the Conquistadors influenced the natives of the area hundreds of years before. The next morning, Brooks, Cleveland, and Janet leave and go to Devil's Crag where the broken cross was found. Sheriff Parker sees them and follows them in his police car. When they reach the site, Janet sees someone watching them from the undergrowth, but both men dismiss it as just a deer. Parker pulls up in his car, and chastises Brooks for leaving town since he knows Devil's Crag is off limits. Cleveland produces a permit from the Commissioner of Public Lands that allows him to conduct his research. Cleveland assures the sheriff that they are armed and can defend themselves. Unconvinced, Sheriff Parker leaves, and the small group sets up camp.
The next day, while Brooks is examining the area, Indian Joe fires his rifle in Brooks' direction. Joe then approaches Brooks and tells him that he is hunting rabbits. Joe asks pointedly if they are there to rob Native American graves, and Brooks assures him that they are only after Spanish artifacts. Indian Joe agrees to hunt elsewhere, but warns Brooks that the place is evil.
Brooks returns to camp and tells Cleveland that the area is changed. He theorizes that a recent electrical storm disturbed the entire area. The men discuss their plan of using metal detectors to search for Spanish artifacts, avoiding Native American graves. They leave Janet to take care of the camp.
Brooks and Cleveland use their metal detectors, without success, to search the area. Janet encourages Cleveland to give up, and he sadly agrees to stop the search. She uses a metal detector before they pack up camp and by accident detects something. The spot is excavated and a cache of Spanish artifacts, armor, weapons, and bones are found. Cleveland plans to bring the artifacts to the museum and publish his findings. Brooks finds a rock formation similar to the one the lizard was entombed within and the handle of a massive, still intact axe he believes belonged to the "Diablo Giant". Brooks is forced to return to camp because of a large electrical storm. As Brooks leaves, the "Diablo Giant" Vargas rises from the forest detritus.
The next day, the group examines the spot where Brooks found the axe, which is now gone, but they find giant-sized armor and other artifacts, and a large indentation in the ground. They discuss the possibility that Vargas, in a state of suspended animation like the lizard, is now alive. Later that night, the body of the 500-year-old "Diablo Giant" Vargas is revived by a lightning strike. He stalks the group and eventually kills Janet.
Sheriff Parker accuses and arrests Brooks for Janet's murder because a medallion, one of his excavated artifacts, was found clenched in her hand. It is later revealed that the giant Vargas is still roaming the wilderness after he has caused another brutal death. Local men from Pine Ridge, with the help the sheriff, go out to hunt down the giant, who causes more damage and deaths. Brooks is eventually able to kill the giant Vargas by causing him to fall from a bridge to his death down a raging waterfall.
Cast
- Ed Kemmer as Wayne Brooks
- Sally Fraser as Janet Cleveland
- Buddy Baer as Vargas the Giant
- Bob Steele as Sheriff Parker
- Morris Ankrum as Dr. Frederick Cleveland
- Oliver Blake as Cafe Proprietor
- Jolene Brand as Anne Brown
- Billy Dix as Indian Joe
- Gary Crutcher as Charlie Brown
- Ned Davenport as Townsman
- Ewing Miles Brown as Townsman
Reception
American film director, producer, actor, and editor Joe Dante described this film on his webseries Trailers from Hell as: "The ads for "Giant' quote 'It came from another world' and today it really does, the vanished world of dull black-and-white features that I for one really miss".[1]
See also
References
- ^ Joe Dante in Giant from the Unknown