The Black Scorpion (1957)

"What's the tequila for?", 28 August 2009

The Black Scorpion is yet another example of the big bug movie craze of the 1950s. And as far as these movies go, it's not a half bad example. The plot centers on American geologist Hank Scott (Richard Denning) and his Mexican counterpart Artur Ramos (Carlos Rivas) who are investigating the aftermath of a volcanic eruption in Mexico. They soon discover that that the eruption opened a fissure in the earth's surface through which giant scorpions are emerging and terrorizing the countryside. Along the way, they'll meet Scott's love interest played by Mara Corday, an annoying pest of a boy named Juanito, a bevy of concerned Mexican officials, and dozens of venom-dripping gigantic scorpions. They'll also have to come up with a way to stop the creatures before they rampage through Mexico City.

The highlight of The Black Scorpion is without a doubt the stop motion scorpions. Willis O'Brien, of King Kong fame, gets most of the credit, but Pete Peterson did the lion's share of the work. Insects like scorpions are particularly well suited for stop motion animation. The jerky movements of the animation is well-suited to match the natural motion of the scorpions. The first attack on the linemen, the descent into the fissure, and the final showdown in the bull ring are all wonderful examples of the excellent job of animation done on The Black Scorpion. My biggest complaint with the scorpions is the all too frequent close-ups of their faces. They look terrible. The drooling, motionless faces don't fit with the otherwise excellent special effects. Seeing the close-ups once or twice might have been fine, but after about a dozen shots of scorpion puppet faces literally dripping with venom, it gets to be ridiculous.

As for the rest of the film, while nothing may be overly spectacular, it is immanently watchable. For a fan of 50s big bug sci-fi, The Black Scorpion is a lot of fun. It's also nice to see a movie from this period set in a place like Mexico. In most of these 50s sci-fi films, you would think that there's nothing beyond the borders of the U.S.A. The acting is okay. The three leads (Denning, Rivas, and Corday) give solid, but not necessarily memorable, performances. The direction is likewise solid but not overly spectacular. The film's pacing is nice with few dull spots to slow things down. I suppose director Edward Ludwig could have built a bit more tension before revealing his giant scorpions, but it's not like we didn't know they were coming anyway. Like I said to begin this, The Black Scorpion isn't a half bad way to spend almost 90 minutes. I'll give it a 6/10.

6/10