GIANT FROM THE UNKNOWN (1958)
Article #550 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 9-16-2002
Posting date: 2-9-2003

Archaelogists discover the revived body of a gigantic Spanish conquistador.

Though none of Richard Cunha’s adventures in moviemaking could really be described as having transcended their pulp origins, this was perhaps his most serious work; it is less given to the campy silliness of either SHE DEMONS or FRANKENSTEIN’S DAUGHTER. Unfortunately, it lacks the energy of either of those two films, so that the first two-thirds of the movie is a somewhat tedious slog, lacking really interesting characters, sharp dialogue or interesting plot developments; I found the only thing I could latch onto was Morris Ankrum’s familiar face. Things do pick up once the giant manifests himself, though, and the movie ends up making some quite surprisingly excellent use of locations; in particular, the last two scenes (one in and near an abandoned mill during a snow flurry and the other on a bridge over a waterfall) are memorable indeed in this regard. Incidentally, the man who plays the character of Charlie Brown (not the Charles Schulz character) is Gary Crutcher, who would later go on to write the script for the William Grefe movie STANLEY.