Violence/Gore: All the actual deaths happen off-screen.

Sex/Nudity: There’s some disturbing Oedipal subtext with Chase picking up his mother and spinning her around on his shoulder in addition to a few other oddities, but it’s probably just a 21st century paranoid eye cast over a more innocent era. Or Chase is a perverted SOB.

Best Line: “And the Lord said, laugh, children, laugh…”

Score:

This movie has become one of my favorite ’50s monster-on-a-rampage flicks, on par with the admittedly far superior THEM!, principally because the MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 folks did such a great job with it that I’ve grown to love the film itself. I can’t really watch it without Joel and the ‘bots, but it’s really not at all bad and holds up well even without the relentless ribbing provided by the MST3K team.

Chase Winstead is a typical teenager. He likes hotrodding, going to the soda shop with his French girlfriend, encouraging his handicapped sister to walk, and sharing eerily intimate moments with his mother. He also apparently has a nigh-inexplicable bond with the local Sheriff, who consistently calls on Chase to help him with little things like murder investigations and mob control. Into this idyllic portrait of familiar ’50s middle America wanders a preternaturally enlarged gila monster, and the stage is set for some wacky rock ‘n’ roll adventure.

While not as tightly scripted or as well acted as THEM or many other well-known ’50s sci-fi romps, GILA MONSTER has an endearing quality aided by its distorted view of American teen culture and its heart-warming friendship between the almost inept aging sheriff and the hotrodder with a heart of gold. In fact, a fellow GILA fan and I have often commented that if we ever had the chance to remake the film, we’d add a subplot revealing that the sheriff is actually Chase’s father. It certainly makes things a bit easier to understand, but I also think we’re spending too much time thinking so deeply about this Ray Kellogg-directed quickie. Oh well.

Don Sullivan, our hero Chase, was also an aspiring singing star, and the movie gives him a chance to regale a crowd of dancing teenyboppers with a catchy Elvis-like tune. The movie also allows him to bring the entire party to a crashing halt with a gospel ode that involves repeating the line “And the Lord said laugh, children, laugh” over and over again. And don’t get me started on “My Baby She Rocks.” No therapy can eliminate the emotional scars, I guarantee you.

After a series of murders, car and train wrecks, and auto headlamp and tire thievery conducted by Chase with the sheriff’s blessing, our two unlikely partners eventually deduce that a giant gila monster is responsible for all the carnage. Logical enough. Chase then hatches a plan that involves driving a hotrod filled with nitroglycerin right into the offending creature.

By the end of the film, Chase’s sister can walk with braces, the sheriff keeps his badge, and Chase not only gets a job offer but looks set to become a rock ‘n’ roll recording star. And the French girl continues to speak unintelligibly. It’s a happy ending all around…except if you’re a giant gila monster.

Once you’ve seen this gripping film, you will know the true horror that can be unleashed when a large lizard walks over some Matchbox cars and causes a toy tanker truck to fall over and burst into flame. And you will want to put your knee up on everything in sight. Just forget the skid marks!

DVD Extras: Get the Image Entertainment version with good buddies Chase and the Sheriff on the cover. It’s in anamorphic widescreen and it’s the best edition of this public domain film available at the moment.

ATB