''War of the Colossal Beast'' (a.k.a. ''Revenge of the Colossal Man'' and ''The Colossal Beast'') is a 1958

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interstel ...

, written, produced, and directed by

Bert I. Gordon Bert Ira Gordon (born September 24, 1922) is an American filmmaker and visual effects artist. He is best known for writing and directing science fiction and horror B-movies such as ''King Dinosaur'' (1955), ''The Amazing Colossal Man'' (1957), '' ...

for his Carmel Productions, and starring Dean Parkin,

Sally Fraser Sally Fraser (December 12, 1932 – January 13, 2019) was an American actress who appeared on television and in numerous films. She became best known for appearing in low-budget science fiction films of the 1950s. Biography Spotted after singin ...

, and Roger Pace. It is the sequel to Gordon's earlier ''

The Amazing Colossal Man ''The Amazing Colossal Man'' (also known as ''The Colossal Man'') is a 1957 American black-and-white science fiction film from American International Pictures. Produced and directed by Bert I. Gordon, it stars Glenn Langan, Cathy Downs, William ...

'' (1957) and was distributed theatrically by

American International Pictures American International Pictures (AIP) is an American motion picture production label of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution company known for producing and releasing fi ...

as the bottom half of a

double feature The double feature is a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatres would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown. Opera use Opera h ...

with ''

Attack of the Puppet People ''Attack of the Puppet People'' (retitled ''Six Inches Tall'' for its U.K. release) is a 1958 American black-and-white science fiction horror film produced and directed by Bert I. Gordon. It stars John Agar, John Hoyt and June Kenney. Gordon al ...

''. The film's storyline picks up where ''The Amazing Colossal Man'' left off, although it was not marketed as a sequel and features a different cast. The film's brief death-scene finale was filmed in color.

Plot

Upon hearing of several recent robberies of food delivery trucks in Mexico, Joyce Manning (

), Army officer Lt. Colonel Glenn Manning's sister, becomes convinced that her brother (Dean Parkin) survived after being exposed to radiation from an atomic bomb (as seen in ''

''). Along with Army officer Major Mark Baird (Roger Pace) and scientist Dr. Carmichael ( Russ Bender), Joyce goes to Mexico to look for Glenn and finds that he has, in fact, survived, but was left disfigured and nearly mindless by the trauma of his fall. Manning is eventually captured, drugged by the Army, and transported back to the United States. He is able to escape again and goes on a rampage through

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

and

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

. He nearly kills a school bus full of children. Joyce reasons with him, and he slowly is brought back to his senses. Now realizing what he has become and what he has done, Manning commits suicide by electrocuting himself on high-voltage power lines near the Griffith Observatory.

Cast

* Duncan "Dean" Parkin as Lt. Colonel Glenn Manning/Colossal Man *

as Joyce Manning * Roger Pace as Major Mark Baird * Russ Bender as Dr. Carmichael *

Rico Alaniz Americo Zorilla "Rico" Alaniz (October 25, 1919 – March 9, 2015) was a Mexican-American actor. Early years Alaniz was born in Juárez, Mexico, and began riding when he was a child. Selected filmography * '' The Capture'' (1950) - Policema ...

as Sgt. Luis Murillo * Charles Stewart as Captain Harris * George Becwar as John Swanson * Roy Gordon as Mayor * Robert Hernandez as Miguel * George Milan as General Nelson

Production

Tri-City Drive-In Ad - 6 August 1958, Loma Linda, CA

''War of the Colossal Beast'' was produced, directed, and written by

and co-produced with Samuel Z. Arkoff. Although most of it is shot in black-and-white, the ending was shot in color for the electrocution scene and doctored in black-and-white. The producers decided to use the very heavy make-up on Dean Parkin as a way to disguise the fact that a different actor was playing Colonel Manning, especially since a dream sequence flashing back to the original film featured Glenn Langan, the star of the earlier film. Dean Parkin also played the lead monster role in another Bert I. Gordon film, '' The Cyclops''. Some of the tiny-sized props created for ''The Amazing Colossal Man'' by special effects technician

Paul Blaisdell Paul Blaisdell (July 21, 1927 – July 10, 1983) was an American painter, sculptor and visual effects creator, best remembered for his work in science fiction and horror B movies of the 1950s. Life and career Blaisdell was born in Newport, Rhod ...

were featured again in this sequel via flashbacks.

Reception and legacy

Contemporary film fan-historians Kim R. Holston and Tom Winchester noted that the film was "... a low-budget ship with Bert Gordon at the helm, so the special effects are unsurprisingly average; one always knows the 'giant' was filmed separately and mixed in with other shots".

''Mystery Science Theater 3000''

''War of the Colossal Beast'' was featured in season 3, episode 19 of ''Mystery Science Theater 3000''. ''The Amazing Colossal Man'' was also shown in season 3. Mike Nelson again portrayed the film's title character. As opposed to his first encounter with Joel and the Bots, he shows more gentleness to them after seeing the transmission picked up by his "goofy dental work", but is still somewhat adamant when he tells them why Bert I. Gordon did not pick him for the sequel.Ranking Every MST3K Episode, From Worst to Best - Paste
/ref>

''Svengoolie''

''War of the Colossal Beast'' was featured on the September 4, 2021 episode of ''Svengoolie''. The show featured the usual trivia, jokes and song about the film which was being shown that week.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Holston, Kim R. and Tom Winchester. ''Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Film Sequels, Series and Remakes: An Illustrated Filmography''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 1997. . * Warren, Bill. ''Keep Watching the Skies! American Science Fiction Movies of the Fifties'', 21st Century Edition. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2009 (First Edition published in 1982). .

External links

* * *
Said MST3K episode on Shout Factory TV
{{Bert I. Gordon 1958 films 1950s monster movies 1950s science fiction films American International Pictures films American black-and-white films American science fiction films American monster movies American sequel films 1950s English-language films Giant monster films Films about giants Films directed by Bert I. Gordon Films scored by Albert Glasser Films about size change Films set in Los Angeles 1950s American films