Movie Review: The Cyclops (1957)
Synopsis: Three years after her test pilot boyfriend, Bruce, crashed in a restricted region in Mexico, Susan Winter, believing he may still be alive despite plenty of evidence to the contrary, insists on conducting a search. Despite warnings, she and three men fly into the region, which they learn has high levels of radiation. They discover the radiation has caused many of the native species to grow gigantic in size. However, their biggest surprise is the cyclops that traps them in a cave.
Who's in it? The movie stars Gloria Talbott, James Craig, Tom Drake, Duncan "Dean" Parkin and Lon Chaney, Jr.
Review: I had another movie in mind for this morning but while looking for that one, I came across The Cyclops. Since it had been a while since I watched a Lon Chaney, Jr. film, I figured I'd give it a try instead and wasn't disappointed.
The movie is pretty much what you would expect from a 1950s science fiction film. The wild "monsters" are clearly just family pets cut and pasted on the screen to make them look enormous, as is the cyclops (Parkin). In other words, still entertaining but also with dated special effects.
The plot itself was also a bit predictable, especially when it came to the cyclops' origin story. Let's see, missing pilot lost in a region that makes everything grow large in size. I wonder what happened to him.
That said, there was still quite a bit to like about this film. For one, while the cyclops' real identity wasn't any big secret, though it did seem to take his girlfriend, Susan (Talbott), a lot longer than it should have to figure it out, he was admittedly scary looking. I liked how the filmmakers took Bruce's injuries from the crash into account when creating their monster, adding a bit of realism along with a horror movie effect.
The men Susan was traveling with also added an additional element of doubt. While Russ (Craig) was in love with her, the other two, especially Marty (Chaney), weren't anywhere near as loyal. Marty especially seemed like the kind of guy who would mess up a good plan out of fear or the chance at profit.
There was also the question about how they would get out of the restricted region. While the plane they flew in on was in good shape, it was unclear if it would be able to get off the ground fast enough to clear the mountains surrounding them. Between that and their own exposure to the radiation, it wasn't guaranteed they'd escape.
I wasn't a big fan of the ending. For one, while menacing, the cyclops didn't exactly prove it was of any real threat, only turning violent in self-defense and still showing signs of human memories. Yet, the movie seemed to expect me to be OK with Susan's team trying to kill it anyway. Maybe if the movie would have been a bit longer, it could have done a better job establishing the cyclops as a villain that was supposed to be feared.
Final Opinion: I could think of about a half dozen better ways the movie could have ended but, despite the limited special effects, I did think it was an OK film overall and one that is worth watching.
My Grade: B
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Here are some reviews of other Lon Chaney, Jr. movies:
Movie Review: The Alligator People (1959)
Movie Review: The Wolf Man (1941)
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