The year 1959 saw the release of such classic films as North by Northwest, Some Like It Hot, and Rio Bravo. These are timeless movies that continue to inspire filmmakers and move audiences, regularly appearing on critical lists of the greatest films of all time as a testament to the artistic power of motion pictures. The Killer Shrews and The Giant Gila Monster are not like these movies.
But since premiering in Dallas on June 25, 1959, likely as a double feature at a drive-in theater, the sci-fi horror flicks have endured in their own way. Each film is a prime and early example of the so-bad-it’s-good cult classic, and each has received the Mystery Science Theater 3000 treatment. Whether it’s the the low-budget charm exemplified by the movie monsters — the “shrews” are dogs wearing mutilated shag carpet, and the Gila monster rampages over miniature sets — or the unintentional hilarity of a slipshod production, The Killer Shrews and The Giant Gila Monster have their appeal.
And, while it’s not exactly a crowded field, they may be the best monster movies filmed in Dallas.
North Texas audiences can thank radio mogul Gordon McLendon, a fascinating character who pioneered Top 40 programming, live sports broadcasts, and right-wing news commentary before dipping his toes, unsuccessfully, into politics. McLendon’s foray into film production resulted in this monstrous double feature and a third film, My Dog Buddy, which “seems to have permanently run away,” according to “It Comes From Dallas.”
The Killer Shrews, filmed in Lake Dallas, follows a group of closet alcoholics stranded on an island where an experiment to shrink the human population has run amok from its original, still horrifying purpose, creating a breed of vicious — you guessed it — killer shrews.
The Giant Gila Monster, in which a large reptilian rampages its way toward a sock hop, features scenes filmed on Spring Valley Road.
Both movies are on YouTube, a free home-viewing double feature for Halloween week.
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