Product Details

• Actors: Lisa Somone, Don Sullivan
• Directors: Ray Kellogg
• Format: Black & White, Dolby, NTSC
• Number of tapes: 1000
• Studio: Diamond Entertainment Corp.
• VHS Release Date: April 1, 2004
• Run Time: 74 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00021H58C
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #525,316 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best DVD transfer yet of guilty-pleasure monster cheapie, August 18, 2002

By 

Surfink "Surfink" (Racine, WI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Giant Gila Monster (DVD)

Everything about this movie says "stinker," yet I just can't help but like it; I've watched it at least half-a-dozen times since my early teens and just don't get tired of it. As every Giant Gila fan must know, it was produced by Ken Curtis (deputy Festus Haggen on TV's Gunsmoke) and directed by Ray Kellogg (The Green Berets, My Dog Buddy) back-to-back with The Killer Shrews. The pedestrian script is by Jay Simms, who did much better with Shrews, Panic in Year Zero, and Creation of the Humanoids, and the repetitious 'eerie' soundtrack is courtesy of Jack Marshall (who penned the memorable Munsters' TV theme). While all the kids tool around in custom "slingshots" and mouth some nifty jive talk, Giant Gila is just too NICE to qualify as a (typically sleazy) JD/monster flick. Don Sullivan (Teenage Zombies, Monster of Piedras Blancas) stars as keen teen Chase Winstead, who's so virtuous and upstanding that he ought to be canonized. He's working in a garage to support his family, keeps his buddies in line (no dragging!), helps the sheriff search for missing gila victims, writes and sings religious pop songs, is taking a correspondence course in engineering, and saves his money to buy leg braces for his polio-stricken kid sister! It's enough to make you gag. He gets additional saint points because his dad died on an oil rig owned by wealthy jerk Mr. Wheeler, and he's also got a beautiful but annoying and nearly unintelligible French girlfriend (Lisa Simone). Fred Graham, veteran of numerous westerns and flyboy flicks, plays the understanding sheriff, and Shug Fisher (formerly a member of the Sons of the Pioneers vocal group, along with Curtis) provides some cornball 'comedy' as Old Man Harris, whose 1932 Model-A is lusted after by the hot-rodders. Ken Knox is amusing as hep-cat DJ "Steamroller" Smith (he's driving while completely smashed when we meet him, yet nobody seems too concerned). The giant gila monster itself just seems to be sitting on the sidelines (exactly where is never really clear), observing a lot, and looking very normal-sized (the "effects" crew obviously had no idea how to shoot miniatures properly). When it does do some attacking it never interacts with any of the live actors (the film lacks a single matte shot, or even a cheesy double-exposure a la Bert I. Gordon, that would have put the monster and humans in the same frame). Since Ray Kellogg was a former special photographic effects technician at 20th Century Fox, it's a mystery why the monster scenes here are so lackluster. As if all this weren't enough, Sullivan sings the utterly cringeworthy "Laugh, Children, Laugh" (with ukelele accompaniment) not once, but TWICE during the picture (imagine a really lame Ricky Nelson or Everlys tune), although his rock'n'roll number, spun by Smith at the climactic "platter party," is fairly passable (it sounds like an Elvis ripoff). The gila monster gets to demolish a toy tanker truck and electric train, and is finally annihilated by Chase, naturally, who destroys his custom rod in the process. While never achieving greatness, Giant Gila Monster is a relatively painless 75 minutes of corn-fed schlock that should please fans of 1950s monster cheapies (and/or Green Acres).
Not as pristine as most Image/Wade Williams releases, Giant Gila Monster is still presented here in better overall shape than any video or DVD copy I've seen yet. The box says it's matted at 1.85:1, though by my calculations it's closer to 1.66:1 (1.70:1 to be exact) and anamorphically enhanced. Print quality is very good to excellent, generally exhibiting only light speckling, blemishing, and lining, although there are a few stretches where the speckling/blemishing is a bit heavier; not enough to be a major distraction, but noticeable. Otherwise, the black level, brightness, contrast, sharpness, and shadow/highlight detail are excellent throughout. The accompanying trailer is also matted to about 1.70:1 and looks fine except for some light to moderate speckling and lining. Additional extras include 12 chapter stops, five Wade Williams Collection trailers, and an Images Journal essay that's nearly as amusing as the movie, wherein Giant Gila Monster is discussed in scholarly terms more befitting a Bergman or Godard film. As is typical with this sort of thing the type is too small and condensed, making for difficult on-screen reading (at least on a 27" monitor). For the extremely cost-conscious, Diamond's full-frame edition (paired with Killer Shrews) isn't absolutely terrible (physical damage is a bit worse, plus it's softer, darker, more contrasty, and generally lacking in detail), but if you want the best available transfer, this is it.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Best lousy movie I've ever seen!, August 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Giant Gila Monster [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This movie is LOUSY! That's what makes it so much fun to watch! The gila monster is never shown in the same shot with the people he is supposedly attacking, the sheriff is a whiny, ineffective fool who couldn't solve a jaywalking case, and the main character, Chase, is so annoying with his "goody-goodness" and horrendously bad musical numbers,that you will relish the prospect of watching him get torn limb from limb by the gila monster (which unfortunately does not happen!). Having stated all that, let me say that if you like campy sci-fi you couldn't find a better movie if you raided Ed Wood's own personal movie vault! You'll savor every agonizing minute! Buy it now!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's great, but not worth $35, May 3, 2008

By 

Jeffrey W. Meyer "Bookrats" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mystery Science Theater 3000 : The Giant Gila Monster (DVD)

It's a very good (not excellent) episode of the show, and was substituted for GODZILLA VS. MEGALON in Rhino's "10.2" release of MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 COLLECTION VOL. 10. (Due to legal reasons. Sandy Frank, he's the source of all our pain...)

And there's a special bonus: Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, Kevin Murphy and Frank Conniff have created a brief new sequence, explaining how to insert your DVD without upsetting copyright lawyers.

But most importantly, don't pay $35 for it. It's available directly from Rhino's web site for $7.95 + S&H.

Take it away, Cambot...