Quick Reviews: The Killer Shrews

After all these years, this is still damn goofy.  I got a 4-Pack of Old-School Horror Films awhile back and decided to check out the ones that I hadn't seen before.  I like Shock (with Vincent Price), but I'd seen it.  I've seen Killers from Space with The Film Crew, so I can't watch it without imagining them 'doing a Robichet.'  That left 2 Films, one of which I'm doing now.  You may know this Film by reputation, but do you know it really?  Let's see...

On a seemingly-empty Island, a Pilot and his Crew Member get stuck delivering supplies to a group of people living there and doing research.

It turns out that they have done some freaky stuff and now the Island is rife with giant Shrews, who have run out of Animals to kill and now want a heaping, helping of man!

...they look pretty goofy.  I won't lie.

They do get some good scares out of them when they are an unseen menace scratching at the door.

This guy continues to hinder the escape plans by trying to kill our hero.  It's a love-triangle thing.

They eventually escape by...welding four barrels together and walking their make-shift tank to freedom.  The Shrews apparently kill each other from starvation (off-camera).  Yea?  The End.

Honestly, I thought that it would be worse.  Yes, the Shrews look silly most of the time.  I'm not going to sugar-coat that.  However, there is alot more going on here as far as the little things.  You have the Scientist Who's Work Has Gone Awry Plot, the Love Triangle Sub-Plot, the Scheming Help Sub-Plot and the Trapped In A Small Space Trope here.  The idea that the Shrews are poisonous (as apparently some are!) is used to make them more effective, which is nice.  The whole thing with them being trapped in the Adobe (not the Software) House adds a nice element as well, allowing them to feel less safe.  The visual of the Shrews burrowing through is a nice one as well.  There are alot of good ideas that help balance out the Stock ones.  Let me address one thing though: the Crew Member.  This Film came out in 1959, but the guy is one notch short of being a Stepin Fetchit Character!  He talks slightly better...but that's it.  He's silly, cowardly and dies first.  Wow guys, just...wow.  A minor (but notable) stain on this one...

Pretty stock, but not as bad as I thought.  Dig those poisonous Shrews!