CALTIKI, THE IMMORTAL MONSTER (1959, Caltiki il mostro immortale) – Episode 195 – Decades of Horror: The Classic Era

“The garden is filled with monsters!” No more weeding! Hooray! Join this episode’s Grue-Crew – Daphne Monary-Ernsdorff, Chad Hunt, Doc Rotten, Jeff Mohr, and guest Bill Mulligan – as they dissect one of Italy’s first horror movies, Caltiki, the Immortal Monster (1959, Caltiki il mostro immortale), helmed by Riccardo Freda and Mario Bava.

Decades of Horror: The Classic Era
Episode 195 – Caltiki, the Immortal Monster (1959)

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ANNOUNCEMENT
Decades of Horror The Classic Era is partnering with THE CLASSIC SCI-FI MOVIE CHANNEL, THE CLASSIC HORROR MOVIE CHANNEL, and WICKED HORROR TV CHANNEL
Which all now include video episodes of The Classic Era!
Available on Roku, AppleTV, Amazon FireTV, AndroidTV, Online Website.
Across All OTT platforms, as well as mobile, tablet, and desktop.
https://classicscifichannel.com/; https://classichorrorchannel.com/; https://wickedhorrortv.com/

Synopsis: A team of archaeologists in Mexico encounters an amorphous, blob-like monster that appears to be connected with the collapse of the Mayan civilization.

• Directed by: Riccardo Freda (as Robert Hamton); Mario Bava (uncredited)
• Writing Credits: Filippo Sanjust (screenplay) (as Philip Just); Riccardo Freda (screenplay) (uncredited)
• Special Effects by: Mario Bava (as Marie Foam)
• Selected Cast:
  • John Merivale as Prof. John Fielding
  • Didi Sullivan as Ellen Fielding
  • Gérard Herter as Max Gunther (as Gerard Haerter)
  • Giacomo Rossi Stuart as Prof. Rodríguez’s Assistant (as G.R. Stuart)
  • Vittorio André as Prof. Rodríguez (as Victor Andrèe)
  • Daniele Vargas as Bob (as Daniel Vargas)
  • Arturo Dominici as Nieto (as Arthur Dominick)
  • Nerio Bernardi as Police Inspector (as Black Bernard)
  • Daniela Rocca as Linda
  • Gail Pearl as Indian Dancer (as Gay Pearl)
  • Armando Annuale as Journalist at Press Conference (uncredited)
  • Orlando Baralla as Scientist (uncredited)
  • Mario Bava as Mexican at Police Station (uncredited)
  • Tom Felleghy as Astronomer (uncredited)
  • Ferruccio Fregonese as Journalist at Press Conference (uncredited)
  • Sandro Mondini as Journalist at Press Conference (uncredited)
  • Renzo Palmer as Narrator (uncredited)
  • Renato Terra as Investigating Officer (uncredited)

The Grue-Crew’s subject this episode is Caltiki, the Immortal Monster (1959, Caltiki il mostro immortale), the “is it Riccardo Freda’s or is it Mario Bava’s” Italian horror movie featuring a giant glob of tripe. Whether Freda’s film, Bava’s film, or both, Caltiki is a fun watch with surprising chills from such a low-budget, early entry in the now legendary Italian horror film industry. Of course, Bava’s cinematography and special effects are splendidly displayed throughout the film. Bill Mulligan comes along for the Bava ride, providing his valuable insights regarding his favorite director. As Bill has written, “(Caltiki) is definitely one of the top 3 blob movies of all time, a genre that is composed of The Blob, The Blob, and Caltiki.” The rest of the Grue-Crew are in complete agreement.

At the time of this writing, Caltiki, the Immortal Monster (1959) is available to stream from Tubi and PPV from Apple TV and Amazon Prime. The film is available on physical media as a 2-Disc Special Edition [Blu-ray + DVD] from Arrow Video.

For a different take, check out Paul Cardullo’s Groovy Gory Gruesome Gold Review of Caltiki, the Immortal Monster here: https://gruesomemagazine.com/2017/05/21/caltiki-immortal-monster/ 

Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror: The Classic Era records a new episode every two weeks. Next in their very flexible schedule – this one chosen by Jeff – is The Curse of the Crying Woman (1963, La maldición de la Llorona), a Mexican horror film directed by Rafael Baledón and featuring Rita Macedo, Rosita Arenas, Abel Salazar, Carlos López Moctezuma, and Enrique Lucero.

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To each of you from each of them, “Thank you so much for watching and listening!”