Eegah! (1962)

Eegah! (1962)

Comments 2 comments

“Dad, I didn’t say he was a monster — he was a giant! You know, a caveman!”

Synopsis:
When a teenager (Marilyn Manning) and her father (Arch Hall, Sr.) are kidnapped by a hulking prehistoric caveman (Richard Kiel), Manning’s intrepid singing boyfriend (Arch Hall, Jr.) goes searching for them in his dune buggy.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

  • Giants
  • Kidnapping
  • Mutant Monsters
  • Science Fiction

Response to Peary’s Review:
In his typically non-PC fashion (at least when it comes to discussing female sexuality on film), Peary writes that “in the most lurid scenes” of this “low-budget horror film” about “a giant prehistoric caveman (a pre-‘Jaws’ Richard Kiel) who abducts a pretty young girl”, this “horny man rubs his big hands all over [Manning’s] tiny, trembling body and we hope he’ll try something unforgivable”. !!!!

Okay, I don’t know where to go with that — especially when Peary follows up by stating, “But, dammit, she’s rescued by her boyfriend”.

He argues that the “picture is a lot of fun”, and “probably would have run into censorship problems if anybody’d paid more attention to where Kiel was placing his hands”, and he asserts that he thinks “everyone was too scared of Kiel to ask him to cool it”. With all that said (and ignored), is the film worth watching? Sure, but not for the reasons Peary outlines. Manning is actually an appropriately feisty heroine rather than simply an objectified pawn, but the main “fun” to be had here is in mocking the truly terrible production values, script, and acting. Discussed as one of the Fifty Worst Films of All Time by Harry Medved and Randy Dreyfuss in their 1978 book.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

  • Plenty of terrible dialogue, acting, and sets

Must See?
Yes, once, as a cult favorite — but be sure to watch it with the MST3K crew or other bad-movie-loving friends.

Categories

  • Cult Movie

Links:

2 thoughts on “Eegah! (1962)”

  1. A once-must, but *only* the MST3K version (and I’m being generous because that episode is with Joel as host, and not Mike – but the bots pick up the slack).

    This is a singularly bad film – on its own, it’s more or less unbearable.

  2. I’ve just got the new 4K restoration (from the OCN) having never seen it before. I’d been reading about this notorious clunker since the late ’70s in books and magazines on sci-fi, fantasy and horror flicks.

    A deeply silly hybrid of fifties monster movies and early sixties teen-beach party films; Arch Hall Jr. And Marilyn Manning seem to have wandered off a set with Frankie & Annette. The film looks surprisingly good with competent technical credits.

    In no way is this a good film but it’s certainly not quite as irredeemably terrible as it’s reputation, but I do agree that’s it’s one of the silliest bad films yet made and a classic of that ilk.

    Still, not a must see film.

Leave a Reply