Movie • THE BEAST OF HOLLOW MOUNTAIN • 1956There is a weird educational film narration that you get in the beginning of this picture. Then it goes south. Literally.
You better like westerns, or better yet south westerns before you consider spending an hour watching this film before you ever get a glimpse of the beast. I'm not talking about tension build up either. They hardly spend a few minutes letting you know that there is a beast to worry about. More time and dialogue is spent building up the tension between the Americano rancher, Jimmy and partner, Filipe versus the black market rancher, Enrique than telling the story of the beast.
If you can get past stereotyped characters like Pancho the drunk and his son Panchito, you might be able to swallow the love connection between Enrique's girlfriend and Jimmy, the Americano rancher, but why are we fusing two different genres that don't match?
Eventually you get to see the beast. The effects are not stellar or award-winning, but I did notice a few moments where the film projected live action synched well with the stop motion animation of the tyrannosaurus. Yep, the beast is just a tyrannosaurus rex with a Gene Simmons tongue and a bloody lip. Ever see Land of the Lost? This guy must have been left over from their model closet. Add a little red paint and a few cattle corpses, and you've got The Beast of Hollow Mountain. Good for a goof.
Bring your own sweets. Just because it's black and white, doesn’t mean it’s a cookie.
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