(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.