The Black Scorpion (1957)
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Black Scorpion (1958)
- For the monsters, see Giant scorpions.
“
|
Every horror you've seen on the screen grows pale beside the horror of "The Black Scorpion"
|
„
|
— Tagline |
The Black Scorpion is a 1957 giant monster horror film co-produced by Warner Bros. Entertainment and Seven Arts Productions. The film was released to American theaters on October 11, 1957.
Plot
|
This article or section contains information which has been plagiarized from another source. Please edit, rewrite or add references to this article or section to fix this issue. |
|---|
Overnight, a volcano was born in Mexico because of an earthquake. After the incident, Dr Hank Scott and Dr Arturo Ramos were sent to assess the situation. They saw a police car and a house destroyed as they made their way to the village of San Lorenzo. There is an abandoned baby and a dead policeman nearby.
They were welcomed by a local priest, and there was evidence that the great scorpions were facing extinction and death. The disappearance of local people and the destruction of their homes have been accompanied by the slaughter of livestock and the strange noises of the night. There have been clashes between locals seeking help from Delgado as locals believe the perpetrator is a cattle demon. Geographical research is underway by Hank and Arturo as troops from the Mexican Army, led by Major Cosio, arrive in San Lorenzo to begin disaster relief efforts. The mysterious farmer Teresa Alvarez enters Hank's life and loves her, and a young Mexican boy named Juanito becomes a friend.
A new explosion occurred. It has been pointed out that the great scorpions were responsible for the disappearance and death of the people. Scorpions attacked San Lorenzo himself after killing telephone operators. Their guns are of no use to Major Cosio's troops. Leaving the authorities with no choice but to consult a well-known pestologist, Dr. Velasco, on the matter, the scorpions returned to their underground habitat (along with giant worms and spiders). Hank and Arturo will have to work together to decide whether to destroy the scorpions or close the cave door.
Despite the collapse of the cave gate, the train is wrecked, some passengers are killed, and the great scorpions enter the battlefield. All the little scorpions were killed by one scorpion, the largest, and the scorpion headed for Mexico City. As Hank and Arturo plan to lure him to the stadium, tanks and helicopters are waiting to catch him. In the arena, the scorpion is attracted to the use of meat in the butcher shop, which shows that it is useless to fight its weapons. The only vulnerable part of his body is his throat, which is where he shoots an electric cable connected to a spear. The rest of the army ended up destroying the scorpion by firing lightning after destroying tanks and helicopters.
Staff
- Main article: The Black Scorpion/Credits.
Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.
- Directed by Edward Ludwig
- Written by Robert Blees, David Duncan
- Produced by Jack Dietz, Frank Melford
- Music by Paul Sawtell
- Cinematography by Lionel Lindon
- Edited by Richard Van Enger
- Assistant directors Jaime Contreras, Ray Heinz
- Special effects by Willis O'Brien
- Visual effects by Pete Peterson, Ralph Hammeras
- Puppet creator Wah Chang
- Sound effects by Mandine Rogne
Cast
Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.
- Carlos Múzquiz as Dr. Velasco
- Fanny Schiller as Mara Corday
- Teresa Alvarez as Mario Navarro
- Juanito as Pedro Galván
- Father Delgado as Roberto Contreras
- Ángel Di Stefani as Military Man
- Jaime González Quiñones as Boy in San Lorenzo
- Leonor Gómez as Villager
- Bob Johnson as Narrator / Radio Newscaster / Police Radio Dispatcher / Public Address Announcer
- Margarito Luna as Crane operator
- Héctor Mateos as Military Man
- José L. Murillo as Military Man
- Manuel Sánchez Navarro as Victor Steven
- Isabel Vázquez 'La Chichimeca' as Villager
- Enrique Zambrano as Cayetano, lineman killed in truck
- Pascual García Peña as José de la Cruz
- Fanny Schiller as Florentina
- Arturo Martínez as Major Cosio
- Quintín Bulnes as Lineman killed on pole
- José Chávez as Train conductor
Appearances
Monsters
Gallery
- Main article: The Black Scorpion/Gallery.
Soundtrack
- Main article: The Black Scorpion (Soundtrack).
Alternate titles
- Black Scorpion (American VHS title; Siyah akrep; Turkey; Musta skorpioni; Finland; 黒い蠍 Kuroisasori, Japan)
Theatrical releases
- United States - October 11, 1957
- Japan - January 15, 1958 [view poster]
- Finland - March 14, 1958
- Sweden - December 1, 1958
- Denmark - January 26, 1959
- United Kingdom - February 23, 1959 [view poster]
- Italy [view poster]
- Australia [view poster]
- Belgian [view poster]
Reception
Harrison's Reports voluntarily gave The Black Scorpion a mixed review in September 1957, rating it acceptable for its stop-motion and special effects on monsters but reservations about its unexceptional character storytelling.[1]
Video releases
Warner Home Video VHS (1993)
- Tapes: 2
- Audio: English
- Notes: Released on December 13, 1993
Warner Home Video DVD (2006)
- Discs: 1
- Audio: English
- Subtitles: English, Japanese
- Notes: Aspect ratio is 1.37:1.
Shout! Factory DVD (2014)
- Audio: English
- Notes: Included in Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XXX DVD box set released on July 29, 2014.
Warner Archive Collection Blu-ray (2018)
- Region: N/A
- Discs: 1
- Audio: English (DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono)
- Subtitles: English (SDH)
- Notes: Aspect ratio is 1.78:1.
Videos
Trailers
|
Trivia
- The miniatures used for the trapdoor spider, the giant tentacled and the Giant spider, briefly seen in the film, are reportedly reused models of the spiders from The Lost Spider Pit Sequence, a lost deleted scene original King Kong film. However, in An Animated Life, Ray Harryhausen noted that many models used in King Kong were still in storage at RKO in the 1950s, by which time many were decayed. Biographers have disputed whether O'Brien actually saved his models.
References
This is a list of references for Kaiju No. 14/Sandbox/The Black Scorpion. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]
|
| ||
Comments
Showing 0 comments. When commenting, please remain respectful of other users, stay on topic, and avoid role-playing and excessive punctuation. Comments which violate these guidelines may be removed by administrators.
<comments voting="Plus" />
|
|
