Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		2.5

Giant from the Unknown Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 17, 2020

There’s an indescribable but still undeniable charm to watching lo-fi “monster movies”, especially films that have been consigned to the dustbin of history for one reason or the other. Giant from the Unknown was the directorial work of one Richard E. Cunha, a man who has entered the annals of horror fandom due to the rather incredible feat of having directed not one but four Grade Z efforts that all came out in 1958, with, in addition to this particular film, She Demons, Missile to the Moon and Frankenstein's Daughter helping to cement Cunha’s “reputation” as (in some words quoted from a contemporary review in one of the enjoyable commentaries on this Blu-ray disc) “the poor man’s Ed Wood” (ouch). That may be a bit unfair, since Giant from the Unknown at least offers some generally professional(ish?) performances and some surprisingly good location cinematography (also done by Cunha). The story is ridiculous to the point of provoking laughter, but there are a few low grade chills along the way in a slow moving tale that sees a Spanish conquistador named Vargas (Buddy Baer, in makeup created by the legendary Jack Pierce, who receives a credit in the same oversized font as Baer himself) magically resurrected from “suspended animation” to wreak havoc on an isolated California community.

As with many films of this ilk, sometimes the “meta” aspects can be just as, if not more, interesting than the film itself. The story here takes a long time to deliver any real scares (even though the film barely runs over an hour), instead delivering a lot of talky expository scenes that help to establish something untoward going on in the forests surrounding the (fictional) town of Pine Ridge. As such, the hugely enjoyable commentary by Tom Weaver can serve as an excellent guide, providing little tidbits like the fact that co-screenwriter Ralph Brooke was the son of Walter Brooke, the guy who family proclaimed “plastics!” to one Benjamin Braddock in The Graduate. Weaver also documents how Cunha attempted to cut costs by hiring people who could serve as both cast and crew, kind of hilariously.

Weaver and one of the featurettes on this disc also get into the history of Bob Steele, who plays Sherriff Parker, a lawman trying to get to the bottom of mysterious cattle mutilations and the death of a rancher, also found in a state of supposed disembowelment. Parker looks askance at investigating geologist (there must be a lot of those, don't you think?) Wayne Brooks (Ed Kemmer). Also on hand is archaeologist Dr. Frederick Cleveland (Morris Ankrum, whom Weaver kind of hilariously discloses may have been suffering from extremely bad hemorrhoids during the entire shoot, in just one indication of how, um, informative Weaver's commentary track is). For some perceived if never developed romantic and/or damsel in distress interest, Cleveland's pretty daughter Janet (Sally Fraser) is also featured. Finally, a couple of local kids (and siblings) named Anne (Jolene Brand) and Charlie Brown (Gary Crutcher) are woven into the tale (in fact Charlie kind of kicks things off), meaning that there are a lot of introductions and basic setup before the film even gets to its titular monster, who is frankly more weird looking than scary (Weaver mentions how the image of Vargas was significantly altered for some key art for the Mexican market to make him seem more threatening).

If Giant from the Unknown is about as unabashedly silly as you'd expect, it has some surprisingly good location work (though the cutaways to obviously studio bound "forest" scenes are kind of comical). Some of the "low rent" charm alluded to above is in on display throughout the production, and gives the film a kind of surprisingly sweet ambience despite the ostensible "horror" of the story.

Giant from the Unknown Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Giant from the Unknown is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of The Film Detective with an VC-1 encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1 (this is the first VC-1 encode I've personally encountered in quite a while, at least that I can recall). The Film Detective is advertising this as a 4K restoration from the original camera negative, and the results are quite appealing almost all of the time. There are still some very minor signs of age related wear and tear or actual damage to the source that the restoration gauntlet hasn't been able to completely eliminate, as in a brief moment of warping in the forest chase scene toward the end of the film, but for the most part this is a nicely robust and damage free presentation. Smaller specks and flecks also dot the frame with a fair recurrence, but are never much of a distraction. Detail levels are often very good, as in the fine pattern on Morris Ankrum's suit jacket as seen in screenshot 3. There are occasional variances in contrast, and some of the optical work (including a supposed "snowstorm" at the climax) can look a little haggard. Grain occasionally ebbs and flows, but generally resolves very well. On the whole, though, and especially with regard to what a cult item this is (and how modestly it was originally budgeted), this presentation is often surprisingly impressive. My score is 4.25.

Giant from the Unknown Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Giant from the Unknown features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track. The "monster" in this film doesn't really have any identifiable grunts and/or groans, and much of the film is actually totally expository gab fests, with some background ambient environmental sounds in the actual location outdoor work occasionally entering the fray. This track supports all of that perfectly well, as well as rendering the occasionally bombastic score by Albert Glasser without any issues. Optional subtitles in English and Spanish are available.

Giant from the Unknown Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio commentary with author and film historian Tom Weaver and other special guests is one of the more enjoyable commentaries I've listened to in years, with Weaver joking quite a bit and also adding in sound effects at times, as in the opening bugle call for the Kentucky Derby and/or the theme from Dragnet (and you'll have to listen to it to find out why). He does make some interesting observations about the differing aspect ratios between the old DVD and this release, the first time the film has been presented in widescreen on home video. One of the kind of odder things he gets into is how Bob Steele's face is supposedly pale, ashen white in some old prints, something that Weaver thinks has been tinkered with on home video releases (Steele does look at least a little pale at times in this version). A number of fantastic recorded snippets show up, including some really fun conversations with both Cunha and producer Arthur A. Jacobs.


• Audio commentary with co-star Gary Crutcher is also quite enjoyable, if a bit more of a personal reminiscence for understandable reasons.


• You're a B-Movie Star, Charlie Brown (1080p; 14:17) is a sweet and often quite funny interview with Gary Crutcher.


• The Man With the Badge: Bob Steele in the 1950's (1080p; 9:51) is a really interesting overview of Steele's work, and so goes a good deal beyond the 1950s, both before and after. C. Courtney Joyner provides good biographical background.


• Giant from the Unknown Original Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 1:32)

Additionally, the insert booklet contains a nice essay by Tom Weaver.

Giant from the Unknown Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Giant from the Unknown is goofy as all get out, and Vargas is not exactly the most threatening "monster" in the history of horror films, but maybe that's part of the charm. If the film is silly, some of the extras on this release, notably the really fun commentary by Tom Weaver, may make it a "must buy" for some. For those interested, The Film Detective is also offering a limited edition box set with a bunch of non disc swag. Technical merits are generally solid and the supplementary package on this release quite appealing, for those who are considering a purchase.