The Killer Shrews (1959)
Genre: Scifi / Horror
Duration: 69 minuten
Alternative title: The Attack of the Killer Shrews
Country:
United States
Directed by: Ray Kellogg
Stars: James Best, Ingrid Goude and Ken Curtis
IMDb score:
4,2 (6.164)
Releasedate: 25 June 1959
The Killer Shrews plot
"All that was left after...THE KILLER SHREWS!"
After a terrible storm, a group of tourists ends up on an island where a mad professor tries to make people twice as small as normal. Unfortunately, a new kind of deadly shrew is created as a by-product of his experiments and the critters are not averse to a bite of human flesh.
Actors and actresses
Thorne Sherman
Ann Craigis
Jerry Farrell
Dr. Radford Baines
Dr. Marlowe Craigis
'Rook' Griswold
Mario
Reviews & comments
namingway24
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- 1117 messages
- 1403 votes
The film happily goes through all the clichés, with the bold hero who is a jack of all trades and eventually runs off with the girl, in this case a real blonde Swede. That love interest is scared at the slightest thing and has to be protected by the men against the evil element, in this case overgrown shrews!
The Killer Shrews of the title are nothing more than dogs with masks on and an old cloth wrapped around them. They emit a strange sound and in a brilliant twist are poisonous too! They probably couldn't scare anyone even in 1959, let alone now. But then again, that's the charm of a 50's piece of junk like this 
Of course, there's always an asshole on the team who gets everyone on edge and you know exactly what's going to happen to him, just like every other character in the movie. Theblack guy is the first to go and then we go down the list until only a few people are left, in a fun finale where the hero turns out to be a true precursor to the A-Team.
Of course, the film doesn't have much substance, the plot is quite predictable and there are too many pointless talking scenes, but the 68 minutes that the film lasts are pure enjoyment of this typical 50's horror/sci-fi product.
Translated from Dutch · View original
wendyvortex
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- 5309 messages
- 7326 votes
Yet one of the most terrifying monsters in the entire animal kingdom: the shrew!
Okay, these are quite large, about the size of a dog, in fact you could easily think that these are just dogs disguised as shrews. In close-up they actually have very large teeth and look very mean. Is there any animal that hasn't gotten its own movie?
Translated from Dutch · View original
Collins
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- 7551 messages
- 4502 votes
A team of scientists experiments to enlarge shrews get out of hand. They threaten the team, which is supplemented by a tough captain of a ship that came to bring supplies. A tropical storm provides an atmospheric setting. It sounds exciting, but despite its short playing time of 66 minutes, the film is actually a bit boring.
It is very striking that the only black man and the only Mexican are the first to die. It is predictable. Looking at it from today's perspective, it also feels a bit unpleasant. The way in which it happens creates a small sense of shame in retrospect. The way in which they meet their end is more comical than exciting and (this is very bad) I had to laugh about it. It was stronger than my sense of decency. Actually, I should have found it horrible. I am a bad person.
The attacks of the vermin are rare. With a lot of shadowing and clever maneuvering, the close-up shots are quite enjoyable. The few scenes in which a complete picture of the creatures and their victims is shown are much less impressive. I clearly saw dogs walking around covered in a strange kind of fur. The paws of a dog look clearly different from the paws of a large shrew, I thought. It looked hilarious and I was able to indulge in a good laugh without any form of guilt.
Translated from Dutch · View originalPre- and sequels
Return of the Killer Shrews
2012
2 comments
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