Monster from Green Hell (1957)

Charming and brutal

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

This is one of those movies done in such an awkward manner, that you just have to watch it all the way through just so you can say you did, and maybe even figure out what the movie makers had in mind.Low budget, but it tries so hard not to look that way that it ends up screaming that it's low budget. It's from the late '50's so the basic premise of a scientific experiment gone awry is no surprise, and these kind of films are a gem to watch, no matter what the script does with the idea. This time giant wasps are on the loose deep in the African continent. Jim Davis, the scientist who blames himself for the existence of these beasts, goes on safari to hunt them down and destroy them before they multiply into an unstoppable menace.Cut to stock safari footage. Lots of safari footage. Not much ado about the monsters, but if you like lots and lots of safari footage (from another movie), you'll love this film. Finally, the wasps appear, but the long-anticipated encounter between the five main characters and the creatures kind of fizzles. Certainly considering the time and distance they spent setting up the battle. Mother Nature was apparently also disappointed, and adds some of her own flair to the finale of the story.There aren't too many movies that follow a path quite like this one, and that's what makes it such a novelty to watch. Have some coffee on hand for the safari portion, though.

*Spoiler/plot- The Monster from Green Hell, 1957, giant Wasps in Africa.*Special Stars- Jim Davis, Robert Friffin, Barbara Turner, Eduardo Ciannelli, *Theme- Things from the atomic age can attack mankind, beware! *Trivia/location/goofs- Bronson Caves in Gower Park, Hollywood Calif. Stock footage from Spencer Tracy film, Stanley and Livingston'.*Emotion- The very basic and pathetic stop-motion animation of the attacking insects make this film somewhat ordinary and not very memorable. The cast of falling-stars is interesting to try and act their way out of this stinker.

After a nuclear rocket, containing wasps from a scientific experiment researching the effects of sending the insects into space, crashes in an uncharted part of Africa nicknamed "Green Hell" by the natives, the frightening result is gigantic mutated monstrosities the result of prolonged exposure to radiation. Now with word that these monsters are terrorizing that portion of the African continent, the scientists responsible for the experiment travel into the heart of Africa hoping to put a stop to this newfound threat.Dull. Dull. Dull. A better word could not be more apt to describe this turgidly paced movie filled with scenes of folks walking, and walking, and walking some more. Although this film is only 71 minutes in length, it feels more like three hours. Sure there's some half-decent stop-motion animated monsters but they are particularly disappointing in comparison to other stop-motion efforts of the era and the stock footage used from STANLEY AND LIVINGSTONE (1939) perks things up slightly as well towards the end but aside from those short moments of excitement, well there's lots and lots of walking. Did I mention that already? Did I also mention this movie is almost a surefire cure for insomnia?

My biggest question about this movie is simply: How did the folks at MST-3000 ever miss this one? It simply cries out for the insights of Crow and Tom Servo.Jim Davis ( "Dallas", "Guns Don't Argue" ) stars as the head of a group of scientists who attempt to launch some creatures into space. The rocket misfires and lands somewhere in darkest Africa where a bunch of wasps escape and grow into Sikorskys, thanks - natch - to atomic radiation. Davis then leads his own team of WASPS on an Orkin expedition to take care of the problem. Along the way, they are joined by Eduardo Ciannelli, looking a bit like Sabu's grandfather.Nothing much goes right until the final scene, supposedly filmed in "Lava Vision", during which a giant volcanic eruption takes care of everything. This consists of the surviving crew standing around bathed in a red glow as the volcano - obviously taken from stock footage, as is much of the movie - does it's thing. All harmless fun really, it's only a shame that the MSTYs never got a hold of this one.