By the end of the 1950’s, Ray Harryhausen’s
career was really taking off. Meanwhile, his mentor Willis O’Brien was
winding down. O’Brien took the assignment for creating and executing
the stop-motion-animation effects for Warner Bros follow-up to THEM,
(the acclaimed insect-invasion thriller) called THE BLACK SCORPION.
However, this tale of giant scorpions running amuck failed to match the
intensity and terror of THEM. THE BLACK SCORPION features familiar face
Richard Denning as the heroic geologist. Richard Denning is one of those
talented genre stars who always makes his characters believable and
charismatic. If you are a fan of low budget genre fare from the 1950s,
then you’ve probably seen him in such movies as TARGET EARTH (1954),
CREATURE WITH THE ATOM BRAIN (1955), and DAY THE WORLD ENDED (1956).
!950’s pin-up icon Mara Corday stars opposite Denning. This gorgeous
B-movie starlet found success in such fan favorites as TARANTULA (1954)
and THE GIANT CLAW (1957). Spanish character actor Carlos Rivas also has
a major role in THE BLACK SCORPION. Rivas appeared mostly in Western
movies, but his genre efforts include THE BEAST OF HOLLOW MOUNTAIN
(1956), THEY SAVED HITLER’S BRAIN (1968), and TARZAN AND THE VALLEY OF
GOLD (1967). Warner Bros. Home Video releases THE BLACK SCORPION on DVD
for the first time in with a collection of Willis O’Brien shorts
guaranteed to please fans of his work .
A string of violent volcanic activity rocks the
residents of Mexico City. Luckily, Geologists Hank Scott (Richard
Denning) and Artur Ramos (Carlos Rivas) are on hand to assess the damage
and investigate the cause. Unfortunately, their jeep overheats in the
desert and Hank and Artur are forced to proceed on foot. They hear
strange noises and eventually come upon a corpse filled with some kind
of venom. Realizing that something is amiss, Hank and Artur cautiously
continue until they come upon Teresea Alvarez (Mara Corday), thrown from
her horse and tended to by Hank. Meanwhile, a pack of marauding,
over-sized scorpions terrorize the locals. Scorpion expert Dr. Velazco
learns that the mutant scorpions lurk in underground caverns, and
suggestd the local militia use poison gas to kill the insects. Hank and
Artur volunteer to go down into the pit and deploy the gas. They are
lowered down in a steel bucket—but a large scorpion pulls the bucket
off with his claws, leaving our heroes at the mercy of the killer
insects. Miraculously, Hank fights his way out of the pit and comes up
with a plan to stop the scorpion brood. They plant explosives at the top
of the volcano, which causes a landslide that buries the pit. Everyone
in Mexico City is relieved to have ended the reign of terror. What the
townsfolk are unaware of, is that the biggest mutated scorpion of them
all (the scorpion king?) escaped detection. The hungry Black Scorpion
turns his attentions to Mexico City with the intentions of devouring any
humans that it finds…
This low-budget affair falls well short of the
craftsmanship that Warner Bros. put into THEM. The script is a mess and
the dialog is annoyingly forced. Willis O’Brien’s special effects
upstage the human characters. Except for Richard Denning, the acting is
rather wooden. And in one particularly ridiculous execution of special
effects, a lousy prop monster head is used, even though it looks nothing
like the animated scorpions. But that’s not to say that THE BLACK
SCORPION is a total waste. The main concepts and execution of the
monster scenes are highly memorable. For instance, the volcanoes unearth
not only scorpions, but other giant insects as well (including oversized
worms, ticks, and spiders). These creatures chase the protagonists in
the pit sequence and it’s a great moment. In another scene, the
biggest, baddest (and blackest) scorpion turns on his fellow arachnids
in a bloodlust-driven rage. Also the final attack on Mexico City by the
blood-crazed creature and the retaliatory strike by the authorities are
well done. All these concepts are original in their own ways and bring
something new to the monster-on-the-loose genre. Let’s not forget the
excellent special effects of Willis O’Brien, which to most genre fans
are worth a purchase sight unseen.
THE BLACK SCORPION was originally projected in
cinemas at the widescreen 1.85.1. ratio. Sadly, Warner Bros has opted to
go with a full frame 1.33.1 presentation. But as a full frame transfer
goes, this one is pretty good. Outside of some scratches and film grain,
the image is sharp and crisp. The B&W contrast is fully balanced,
making the blacks extra dark, and the whites pure and under-saturated.
For the entire running time of THE BLACK SCORPION, the photography is
rather dark to match the tone of the film. Willis O’Brien’s monster
scenes are exhibited with great detail. Considering the age of this film
(1957), everything looks very acceptable. The sound track is Dolby
Digital Mono 2.0. Outside of some background noise and hiss, this is a
solid mono presentation which highlights the vocals, sound effects, and
the rousing score of Paul Sawtell. For this DVD, Warner Bros added some
surprisingly obscure shorts and featurettes from the two masters of stop
motion animation, Willis O Brien and Ray Harryhausen. Prominently
featured is their stop-motion-animation sequence from THE ANIMAL WORLD
(1956). Warner Bros. includes the animated short, BEETLEMEN, featuring
some insectoid alien critters. Another short is entitled THE LAS VEGAS
MAN, featuring an animated baboon running amok in LAS VEGAS. These
featurettes include introduction by Ray Harryhausen. On the disc are
trailers for THE BLACK SCORPION, VALLEY OF THE GWANGI, CLASH OF THE
TITANS, and THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS.
Though THE BLACK SCORPION isn’t the most
skillfully crafted giant insect around, the good definitely outweighs
the bad. Willis O’Brien’s special effects sequences are worth the
price alone, if you are into this type of entertainment. In my opinion,
Warner Bros. made a mistake by not releasing this in its original
widescreen format. However, the inclusion of the rare Ray Harryhausen
and Willis O’Brien test footage make this one hard to pass up.
BEAST
FROM 20,000 FATHOMS is available from DVDEmpire.com
VALLEY
OF THE GWANGI is available from DVDEmpire.com
BEASTHE
BLACK SCORPION is available from DVDEmpire.com
