Having the 1971 Shaw Brothers Musicial Caper The Venus Tear Diamond waiting to be viewed,I went in search of a short and sweet flick to watch for the ICM Sci-Fi Challenge. Finding a flick which sounded a perfect fit from a Mill Creek box set a fellow IMDber had kindly sent me,I unleashed the Shrews.
View on the film:
While sadly keeping to the cliché of him being the first to die, the screenplay by Jay Simms actually allows for some moments of friendship to be shown between Sherman and African American "Rock", (played by a good Judge Henry Dupree) with Rock being treated as a equal. Holding the wolves at the door, director Ray Kellogg & cinematographer Wilfrid M. Cline rub some Texas heat over the gang trying to survive in a cabin, with scratches, howls and heads of the Shrews popping out of the woodwork increasingly pushing the gang into a corner. Going from doing visual effects or second unit for likes of The Seven Year Itch, Kellogg actually gives the Shrews a sizeable amount of time on screen, thanks to the hand puppets for the faces giving the fangs a real snap, and the wide-shots turning the killer Shrews into charmingly naff dogs wearing carpets.
View on the film:
While sadly keeping to the cliché of him being the first to die, the screenplay by Jay Simms actually allows for some moments of friendship to be shown between Sherman and African American "Rock", (played by a good Judge Henry Dupree) with Rock being treated as a equal. Holding the wolves at the door, director Ray Kellogg & cinematographer Wilfrid M. Cline rub some Texas heat over the gang trying to survive in a cabin, with scratches, howls and heads of the Shrews popping out of the woodwork increasingly pushing the gang into a corner. Going from doing visual effects or second unit for likes of The Seven Year Itch, Kellogg actually gives the Shrews a sizeable amount of time on screen, thanks to the hand puppets for the faces giving the fangs a real snap, and the wide-shots turning the killer Shrews into charmingly naff dogs wearing carpets.