'50s Trash: Monster from Green Hell

An obscure little gem or something that you should leave in the brush?  This is 1957's Monster from Green Hell, a Sci-Fi Horror Film.  

I like the Title.  I saw the Film.  

I like the Title still.  

The Plot involves a Region of Africa, which means we're going to get lots of old-timey Racism.  I won't linger on it- much- but know that it is there.  The Plot involves giant bug, presumably the ones that come before the tiny ones who will one day rule the Earth.  

On the plus side, the Dung Beetle will be perfect for working retail!  The Director of this only has 4 Credits, one of which is The Manster- joy.  One of the Writers worked on many TV Shows, and I Married A Monster From Outer Space.  

The other Writer has multiple TV Credits as well and wrote a Film called Desert Hell- he has a type!  

Let's not waste any more time (since the Film does enough of that) and read on...

Deep in Africa, a certain region (don't bother with a name- it's fake) is dealing with new people coming in and one other little thing...

Giant Wasps!

These hilariously-fake creatures have the ability to scare away Stock Footage and somehow not be noticed by people outside of the area.

While the Film focuses mostly on some guys studying Radiation causing growth in Animals, the 'meat' of the Film is really the bug attacks.  They're gloriously-silly!

Seriously, you have to feel for the Actors here...

Some guy is holding up a foam rubber bug head, while another has a claw puppet (or two).  The poor Actors have to 'die' at the 'hands' of this thing.

For all the fun that the silly bug stuff is, we get way too much of the boring people.  

They narrate CONSTANTLY too, as this is one of those Films which thinks that the Audience is made up of morons.

No, you're thinking of the people that enjoy Transformers Films!

To get the Film to 70 minutes, they get attacked on the way by a bad Tribe of people.  There's the old-timey Racism again.

Oh and the reason for the Title is that the Wasps are in 'Green Hell,' a Valley.  How they are ONLY there is anyone's guess.

To make a long story short, they throw grenades at giant wasps and accidentally jump-start a Volcano to kill the beasts.

It's less interesting than I make it sound.  The End.

Not all B-Movies are made the same.  Think about the premise- Giant Wasps are on the loose!  It sounds dumb, but fun.  To be fair, it can be...in small doses.  

The problem is that everything around the silly F/X Shots is pretty dull.  It is FULL of Narration that does little for anyone.  In the Story, it takes them ages to get to the titular Green Hell.  On that subject, why would 'Natives' with no concept of Judaea-Christian Religion name a place 'Hell' in the first place?  

It's like how the U.S. said that an Iraqi Soldier was known as 'The Wolf of Baghdad,' despite said area not having Wolves!  There's so much padding here, since they can clearly only do so much with the model bugs.  It's kind of a shame really- it shows so much potential for hilarity.  

If you're looking for more obscure '50s Films to watch, this one qualifies.  As far 'So Bad its Good' Films, it's not as 'good' as Plan 9, but it's also not as bad as Orgy of the Dead either.  I hope that helps.  

Speaking of helping, I love how this actual Promo Art for the Film couldn't make it look less silly!

Next time, I go back the 1980s for some shlocky fun.  No more giant insects though (probably).  Stay tuned...