The night of the sinister beasts

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Movie
German title The night of the sinister beasts
Original title The Killer Shrews
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1959
length 69 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Ray Kellogg
script Jay Simms
production Ken Curtis
music Harry Bluestone
Emil Cadkin
camera Wilfred M. Cline
cut Aaron Stell
occupation

The night of the scary beasts (originally The Killer Shrews ) is an American horror film directed by Ray Kellogg from 1959. The script by Jay Simms is based on his own story.

action

Thorne Sherman and his partner Rook deliver supplies to a remote island. The inhabitants of the island are the scientist Craigis, his daughter Ann, Ann's fiancé Jerry, the assistant Baines and the servant Mario. Suppliers are advised to stay the night indoors because a hurricane is approaching. Sherman accepts the offer, but Rook stays on the boat.

Craigis is working to get people half size to fight world hunger. Unfortunately, his experiments produced some huge poisonous mice. Thorne and Ann fall in love, much to Jerry's chagrin. The mice attack the boat and eat Rook, after which they besiege the scientist's house. When they break into the basement, Mario is easily bitten. The servant dies of the poisoning. After Baines was also killed by the mice, Thorne, Ann and their father try to escape by boat while Jerry wants to stay in the house. The three climb into empty oil barrels and are able to advance to the beach. Jerry changes his mind and wants to follow the others to the moor, but he is attacked and killed by the mice. The three refugees make it to the boat and can leave the island.

Reviews

"A partly involuntarily comical thriller."

- Lexicon of international film

background

  • This B-movie, now a cult classic, was shot in Dallas , Texas .
  • The film was economically successful. With a budget of around $ 123,000, he grossed just under $ 1 million in the United States.
  • In Germany there is a 35 mm film copy in the "Bielefeld Media Archive".
  • In the USA the film ran in a double program with The Giant Gila Monster , also directed by Ray Kellogg. Kellogg, a former animation technician, made his directorial debut with the two films.
  • The killer mice were represented by specially trained small dogs.
  • For Ingrid Goude, born in Sweden, it was the penultimate role in a movie.
  • For reasons of cost, Gordon McLendon took on the role of assistant in this film - his only assignment as an actor. His actual role was that of executive producer, also in the parallel film The Giant Gila Monster .
  • Producer Ken Curtis is known to television viewers as Festus Haggen from the television series Smoking Colts .
  • For Baruch Lumet, who was born in Poland, it was the third role in a movie. At the Yiddish Theater he was one of the leading actors.

World premiere and first performance

  • USA: June 25, 1959
  • Germany: April 6, 1962

continuation

  • 2012 came with the film Mega Rats - attack of the giant rats (original title Return of the Killer Shrews ) a sequel to the market. The film takes place 53 years after the events of the first part.
  • 2016 followed with Attack of the Killer Shrews! a parody of the 1959 classic.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Night of the Eerie Beasts. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  2. ↑ according to IMDb
  3. ↑ Ingo Strecker, booklet for DVD publication in the series Galerie des Grauens
  4. ↑ Performances according to IMDb
  5. ↑ IMDb information on the second part of 2012
  6. ↑ IMDb information on the parody from 2016

Web links