Beast from Haunted Cave (1959)

Let's be realistic.

Absolutely Fantastic

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

While this movie doesn't have all the typical low budget horror clichés, it's still manages to move slowly and confuse you at the same time. The acting isn't too bad, it's not a constant tight shot and they are smart enough to never let you get a good look at the low quality monster, yet somehow it's still not good. The premise is bad enough. Some guys steal six bars of gold and are prepared to kill multiple people to get away and they have the longest and slowest possible get away planned. The beast is first seen in a gold mine and then later it lives in a haunted cave so I'm not sure what's up with that but that's the least confusing thing about the movie. The best thing I can say about this is that most 70 minute movies are much worse. Two stars.

The Plot.Gangster Alexander Ward, his girl friend, Gypsy Boulet, and two henchmen come to Deadwood, South Dakota with the idea of stealing a few gold bars. They enlist the aid of a local ski instructor, Gil Jackson, and plan to use him as a guide out of the territory after the robbery. However, a blizzard forces them to take refuge in Jackson's cabin, where Gypsy lowers the inside temperature by giving the cold shoulder to Ward, her former sweetie until she saw Jackson. Ward don't care, as he plans to kill Jackson after they have no further use of him. But they had used an explosion in a cave to serve as a distraction during the heist, and this explosion had irritated the big spider that lived there and, sure enough, all hands have to seek refuge in the cave from the fury of the storm. All but two of them would have been better off facing the South Dakota elements.This movie is atrocious. Poorly written and not even directed. The acting is below sub par.Contrary to another review which says the monster doesn't show up until the lat 10 minutes, it actually appears about 19 minutes in. Not particularly scary however.A real miss for Corman.

"Humphrass" was the behind the scenes pet name devised by actor Chris Robinson for his creature creation, a mysterious, web spinning, somewhat arachnid-like animal that stalks a small group of people in the South Dakota wilderness. Some of these people are criminals who came to stage a gold robbery, using an explosion in a cave as a diversion. Unfortunately, by doing so, they unleashed the beast, which occasionally catches up to its prey in order to do some pretty creepy things to them.A 27 year old Monte Hellman, future icon of independent cinema (and director of classics like "Cockfighter", "The Shooting", and "Two-Lane Blacktop") made his directorial debut with this obviously low, low budget effort, done for producer Gene Corman and his brother Roger. On the whole, the movie isn't a great one, but it's under rated as far as this kind of B picture goes. It's got some genuinely spooky atmosphere, and Hellman and Robinson (himself star of such features as "Stanley") do their best to keep the monster in the shadows until the time arrives to show it in all its glory. And what a monster it is. It doesn't really look like anything seen on screen, before or since. It's wispy, long limbed, and has a largely featureless head.The creature sequences are the main reason to watch, but not the only one. The extremely moody cinematography is by Andrew M. Costikyan; Alexander Laszlo does the effective music. The screenplay is by Roger Cormans' frequent collaborator, the talented Charles B. Griffith, and it does have some good dialogue. (Basically, the scenario is a reworking of the earlier Corman flick "Naked Paradise", but with a monster added.) There are some interesting characters in the bunch, especially gangsters' moll Gypsy (Sheila Noonan), who is already depressed and defeated at age 26. The acting is generally solid - Michael Forest is a likable hero, Frank Wolff appropriately despicable as the criminal mastermind, Corman favorite Wally Campo amiable as comedy relief guy Byron, and Richard Sinatra (Franks' cousin) has a solid presence as young punk Marty. Robinson does a good job at creating a nightmarish creature character that could easily spook younger children.Not bad, this one. It's definitely worth a look.Seven out of 10.

This is actually a pretty interesting little crime-horror film. It surprised me. Really they could have changed it to just a crime film-noir and the movie would have been just as good but I like the horror aspect of the film.The movie is just as the plot-summary states "A group of gold thieves pull of a heist and flee into the snowy wilderness, only to be pursued by a horrible, spider-like monster." but it's actually better than one might expect it to be.This is a fun popcorn B-flick. I had a ball watching it. It's not the greatest horror film on the market but it is entertaining.6/10