(1959)
Directed by Ray Kellogg
Starring James Best, Ingrid Goude, Ken Curtis, Gordon McLendon, Baruch Lumet, Judge Henry Dupree

Growing up in Michigan, with the only information I had about horror films was when I saw on the TV. Besides the TV Guide, there wasn’t any book or anything to go read up about a film before it came on, or afterwards. What you saw is all you knew. So, during my first viewing of The Killer Shrews, being probably around 8 years old or so, I believed every word in that film. I remember going to school the next day and retelling the story of the movie to my classmates that hadn’t seen it, filling their heads with the terror (maybe a little more exaggerated) that I witnessed on the TV the night before.

In that regard, my first experience with this film was a very positive one. I do remember the sound the shrews made as they were trying to burrow into the house as being pretty damn scary. Granted, I never disclosed that info at school, but I always felt the film was pretty damn effective. Years later, seeing the shots of the shrews running around, it’s clear that they are dogs with really bad wigs on them, admittingly making them look a little silly. Especially when most of the younger generation first saw this movie being screened on MST3K, with them telling the audience just how bad of a movie it is, that was what sunk into those watching.

I’m here to say, very proudly and very enthusiastically, that this film is actually much better than MST3K would give it credit for. Yes, there are dogs with silly wigs. And the dialogue is pretty cheesy, at best. But if you can look past that, you’ll find a pretty scary film, that with a budget of a little over $10 grand, I think they did a damn good job.

The film opens with a terrifying narration, that might be a little far from the truth, but to this young viewer, was the absolute truth.

“Those who hunt by night will tell you that the wildest and most vicious of all animals is the tiny shrew. The shrew feeds only by the dark of the moon. He must eat his own body weight every few hours – or starve. And the shrew devours everything: bones, flesh, marrow… everything. In March, first in Alaska, and then invading steadily southward, there were reports of a new species: the giant, killer shrew!”

That is a great way to not only introduce the threat that we’re going to be fighting against during the next 60 minutes or so, but way to get your audience already on the edge of their seat! Pure exploitation, at its finest!

The basic story is about a charter boat captain and his mate taking supplies to a remote island but gets stuck there during a hurricane. But they soon find out there is something a lot scarier on the island than some strong winds. The only inhabitants, wait . . . the only human inhabitants are a couple of scientists, a wife, and some helpers, that are there doing experiments in the hopes of saving the planet from overpopulation, or something good for mankind. Not sure the explanations of what they are doing their holds water, but for the movie were in, it honestly doesn’t matter. A negative result of some of these experiments, which was with tiny shrews, is that they were mutated into larger ones, which escaped into the wild, and now have spawned a whole new generation of larger, and much deadlier breed of shrew. As we learned in the opinion narration, they need to feed. A lot. The captain’s mate learns this first when he is left by the boat to tie it down, only to be chased up a tree by some of these large beasties, which doesn’t last long with the tree branch breaks.

While we don’t see his demise, we do hear it. We hear the screams and the noise the shrews make. That is part of what scared me during my first viewing and which I still think holds up today. Now while the shrews do look like dogs with wigs on them, when we see closes up on the monsters, especially when they are trying to dig their way into the house, with hand puppets being used, that have exceptionally large teeth, again, I think they are pretty terrifying!

The number of people there start to dwindle down by different attacks from the shrews, which, by the way, are also poisonous due to yet another side of effect of their experiments. So not only will they devour you in minutes, if they even scratch you, you’re still as good as dead. Important information here, folks. As the survivors try to keep themselves barricaded in the house, they also try to come up with a plan to make it to the boat and off the island to safety. Will they make it? And who will make it?

Starring in this film is two names that would become mainly known for their roles on two different TV shows. James Best, who plays the captain of the boat, Thorne Sherman, who would rise to fame as Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane in The Dukes of Hazard series, while Ken Curtis would always been known as Festus, Sheriff Matt Dillon’s sidekick in the TV series Gunsmoke, that ran for 20 years.

Gordon McLendon plays Dr. Radford Baines who, while not an actor really, does give a pretty entertaining performance. McLendon was actually one of the co-producers on the film, along with Curtis, but also was kind of a big deal in the radio business. Not only did he own several theaters, both hard-top and drive-ins, but he owned a few radio stations. In fact, he basically invented a lot of formats that still in use today, such as the top-40 hits, all-news format, and even live broadcasting sporting events, such as baseball. But he wanted to get into the film business, producing this film, as well as The Giant Gila Monster the same year.

Ray Kellogg directed the film but spent most of his film career working in visual effects. You can see it here since there isn’t any real special talent in the actual shooting. We can’t really credit screenwriter Jay Simms either, since some of the dialogue is pretty laughable. It seems anytime he had a break in this plot, he would have some of the characters start drinking. In fact, if you take a drink every time someone on screen does, well, you won’t last the 60+ minute run time. It is the story and the actors here that keep the film going, as well as the titular characters, which really, is the main reason to be watching this to begin with.

It really comes down to what you, the viewer, are open to. If you snicker at and look at the low budget films of the ‘50s and ’60s with contempt, then you will be right up there with the MST3K crowd, not being able to see the sparkle of this gem that is hiding under the dirt. If you can go beyond that, then you’ll see a fun little flick, that truly has some terrifying moments, some decent and scary looking hand puppets, and a short enough run time that keeps the action moving. So don’t necessarily listen to the critics to base your own opinion. Watch it for yourself, with an open mind, and then come out after the storm with your own thoughts and opinion.