TORMENTED (1960)

 Mildly entertaining movie produced and directed by Bert I. Gordon who often made movies about giant monster people. This one though is about a regular-sized fella(Richard Carlson) who gets caught in a love triangle. Luckily for him his gal pal(Julie Reding), who he's trying to get rid of so he can marry his rich other girlfriend, takes a deadly tumble off of a lighthouse. Unluckily for him, since he fails to lend a hand to save her, her scorned vengeful spirit returns in ghost form. It all kinda plays like an episode of THE OUTER LIMITS or something and there's a budinski little girl who shows up so it's kinda forgettable. I think I'll stick with Mr. B.I.G.'s more colossal fare.
 Shown on TV under the title EYE OF THE DEAD.




                            Bloodier Spanish poster and title BLOOD IN THE LIGHTHOUSE!:

EARTH VS. THE SPIDER (1958)

 This giant spider eats folks in a small town.  They probably coulda called this "a small hick town vs. the spider" but that's not nearly exploitative enough.  The spider is just a super-imposed tarantula and doesn't have the cool skull head promised on some of the cooler movie posters.  This one is a about as basic as these giant bug movies come.  Not too much is really explained, all the high-school students look way too old as usual from this era and we learn that rock n roll music helps spiders come back to life.  Also they make silly screaming noises as they attack random people.  It's obviously cashing in on the earlier and better TARANTULA but it's still an OK stupid watch in it's own right.  The good thing about these 50's monster flicks is that most of them are only around an hour long or so and you don't really have time to get very bored before they figure out some way to blow the creature up.  AKA THE SPIDER
 This was remade in 2001 by Showtime for cable TV but I'm sure that doesn't have any of the campy appeal of the original.

VILLAGE OF THE GIANTS (1965)

Little Opie himself, Ron Howard, plays a kid scientist who mixes up a goo that makes things gigantic. A bunch of animals get giant-sized including ducks, a dog, a cat, a spider and finally some go-go dancing 60's teenagers. It's funny that out of control teens were considered so frightening in 65. This movie is pretty much the definition of an intentionally silly B-movie but it can be fun if you're in the right mood. You get the band THE BEAU BRUMMELS playing, gals shaking their asses, too-small sweaters being busted at the seams, teenage mud-wrestling and lots of over-sized cleavage to ogle. I imagine this was kind of like porn for the respectable family man at the time. The FX are awful but that really just adds to the laughs. Director Bert I. Gordon also made a few slightly more serious 50's big people flicks like THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN and WAR OF THE COLOSSAL BEAST and also big bug movies like EARTH VS. THE SPIDER and the gloriously goofy 70's EMPIRE OF THE ANTS. I say check them all out if you're not too serious of a person and dig true B-movies.