THE GIANT BEHEMOTH (1959) – Episode 203 – Decades of Horror: The Classic Era

“Behold now the behemoth which I made with thee. He moveth his tail like a cedar. Out of his mouth glow burning lamps. And sparks of fire leap out from the behemoth. He maketh the oceans to boil like a pot. His breath kindleth coals and a flame goeth out of his mouth.” Yup. That pretty much covers it. Join this episode’s Grue-Crew – Daphne Monary-Ernsdorff, Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, and Jeff Mohr – as they take in some stop motion animation, Willis O’Brien and Pete Peterson style, in The Giant Behemoth (1959). Yay!

Decades of Horror: The Classic Era
Episode 203 – The Giant Behemoth (1959)

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ANNOUNCEMENT
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Synopsis: Marine atomic tests cause changes in the ocean’s ecosystem, resulting in dangerous blobs of radiation and the resurrection of a dormant dinosaur that threatens London with electric shocks and radioactive beams.

• Director: Eugène Lourié (credited as Eugene Lourie)
• Writers: 
  • Screenplay: Eugène Lourié & Daniel James (originally uncredited)
  • Story by (initially uncredited): Robert Abel & Allen Adler
• Production Designer: Eugène Lourié (uncredited)
• Visual Effects
  • Willis H. O’Brien – special effects designer and creator (uncredited)
  • Pete Peterson – special effects designer and creator (uncredited)
  • Jack Rabin – special effects designer and creator (uncredited)
  • Irving Block – special effects designer and creator (uncredited)
  • Louis DeWitt – special effects designer and creator (uncredited)
  • Phil Kellison – miniatures (uncredited)
• Selected Cast:
  • Gene Evans as Steve Karnes
  • André Morell as Prof. James Bickford(as Andre Morell)
  • John Turner as John Duncan
  • Leigh Madison as Jean Trevethan
  • Jack MacGowran as Dr. Sampson – the Paleontologist (credited as Jack McGowran)
  • Maurice Kaufmann as Mini Submarine Officer
  • Henri Vidon as Tom Trevethan (credited as Henry Vidon)
  • Leonard Sachs as Scientist

Stop motion animation and dinosaurs! Is it any wonder Bill chose this classic creature feature from the 1950s? The Giant Behemoth (1959) features atomic tests as the tried and true method for releasing the monstrous lizard. Director Eugène Lourié (The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, 1953; Gorgo, 1961) knows how to handle giant creatures on film, and American Gene Evans and Brit André Morell, both familiar faces, are the human stars. The animation, performed by Willis O’Brien, Pete Peterson, and their crew, is smoothly done, although, shall we say, repetitious. The behemoth model suffers a bit from wear and tear and, possibly, the film’s budget, but the Grue-Crew doesn’t care. The Giant Behemoth includes a few disturbing scenes, but the order of the day is fun!

At the time of this writing, The Giant Behemoth (1959) is available to stream from Plex and various PPV sources. It is also available on physical media as a standard Blu-ray formatted disc from Warner Archives.

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 Chad – is Werewolf in a Girls’ Dormitory (1961), an Italian film, initially titled Lycanthropus, directed by Paolo Heusch. Could this possibly be a film about troubled schoolgirls being slaughtered by a wolf-like creature? Could there also be a mysterious, strangely behaving, new teacher? Is this film a dog or a hidden gem? Time will tell, fellow babies. Time will tell.

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