The Cyclops (1957) - movie review

Plot Synopsis - A woman and a prospector hire a plane to fly into the wilds of Mexico in search of her husband and the world's largest Uranium deposit. They encounter an assortment of creatures enlarged by radiation, culminated with a visite from 'The Cyclops.'

Stars: Gloria Talbott, Lon Chaney Jr., James Craig and Tom Drake

What a ridiculous little movie! First, as they are flying into the 'restricted zone' in Mexico, Lon gets pissed at the pilot and punches him out. Of course none of them can fly a plane but it doesn't matter because the pilot comes to in a few moments, all is well, and they land in the mountains.

The special effects for the Cyclops are laughable, even by 1950's standards. Blue screen combined with perspective shots leaves you amazed that they would try to pass this off, the budget was probably low but I have seen much better in almost any other 1950's giant vs. man movie.

If you do watch it, watch the absolutely stupendous 'battle' between the cyclops and a boa constrictor. To me it almost looked like the guy playing the cyclops had to wrap the boa around his neck by hand to make it look more menacing.

I caught this on Monsters HD (Dish network) and the picture quality was stunning, probably much better than it ever looked in the theaters.


I can't find that it is available on a legitimate dvd but it is surely available from one of the many internet bootleggers... like here.