Film Forum

(1954, Jack Arnold) Pre-Jaws underwater terror as intrepid scientists Richard Carlson, Julie Adams and Richard Dennings search the Amazon for clues to the Missing Link and his prehistoric past, but instead the eponymous 50s icon - variously described as a bipedal amphibian, a batrachian, or, simply, “The Gill Man” - equipped with both a nasty streak when his territory is invaded for “science” and a fascination with Ms. Adams. DCP. Approx. 79 min.

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SPOOKS!

(1953, Jules White) It’s the Stooges (Moe, Larry, and Shemp) to the rescue as a mad scientist and his assistant menace a frightened girl in an old dark house. Even non-Stooges fans will be impressed by the special effects (a whole arsenal of objects coming at ya) in the best 3-D short of the 50s. DCP. Approx 16 min.

Reviews

“Director Arnold was an early pioneer of the art on playing on the fears of the average human being - as Speilberg did in the seventies with Jaws and Speilberg was reportedly heavily influenced by the brooding, menacing style of Arnold’s atmospheric film…Strong on atmosphere and plot, but with a low budget, an excellent example of how to make a good monster movie.”

- Phil Hardy