GIANT FROM THE UNKNOWN (1958)

In Pine Ridge, a small town in a wooded area of California, residents have been dealing with the mysterious mutilation of cattle and horses. Now a man named Banks has been found dead out near Devil's Crag, a spot where geologist Wayne Brooks has been hanging out doing research. The sheriff suspects Brooks, though for no clear reason, or maybe old timer Indian Joe who warns that vengeful Indian spirits may be roaming the area. Enter visiting archeologist Frederick Cleveland and his spunky daughter Janet, searching for the remains of the legendary seven-foot tall Vargas, the Diablo Giant, leader of a group of conquistadors who vanished five hundred years ago. As Wayne cozies up to Janet, the three set up camp at Devil's Crag and, using metal detectors, find some buried conquistador armor and a skull. Also nearby, though they don't see him, is Vargas who has been lying in suspended animation all these years—we're told later that something in the soil might have served as a super-preservative. He dons his armor, grabs an axe, and engages in more mayhem, eventually kidnapping Janet with Wayne, Cleveland, and a posse from the town in pursuit. As monster movies go, this is fairly mild stuff. Though he's definitely menacing looking, Vargas looks more like a cranky old prospector with a mud-caked face. Six-foot-seven Buddy Baer, who plays him (pictured), was the uncle of Max Baer who played Jethro on The Beverly Hillbillies and he's reasonably effective in the dialogueless role. The rest of the actors are just about adequate. Ed Kemmer (Wayne) was the star of an early 50s TV show called Space Patrol and had a long career in television. He has a heroic bearing but never comes off as very commanding. Sally Fraser (Janet) is fine and has decent chemistry with Kemmer. 1930s western star Bob Steele is colorless as the sheriff though Morris Ankrum is a bit more energetic as Cleveland. When we first see Vargas, he appears to be awakening from his long sleep, so I was uncertain if he was indeed responsible for the earlier mayhem. Maybe it was Indian Joe the whole time (though he becomes a casualty of Vargas' rampage). At the end (spoiler!) Vargas falls into a waterfall and is assumed to die, but the promise of a sequel does hang in the air, though it never happened. This B-film is no gem but it’s fine fodder for Chiller Theater night. [YouTube]