THE BLACK SCORPION

The voracious black scorpion

THE BLACK SCORPION (1957). Director: Edward Ludwig. Colorized. 

The eruption of a volcano in Mexico causes enough loss of life, but things are made much worse by the emergence of gigantic man-eating scorpions from suspended animation. Rancher Teresa Alvarez (Mara Corday of Naked Gun) and geologists named Hank (Richard Denning of Assignment Redhead) and Artur (Carlos Rivas of Machete) help Dr. Velazco (Carlos Muzquiz) and the military wipe out the monsters, but one gargantuan scorpion -- a black scorpion -- survives to wipe out any others and then advances on heavily populated Mexico City. 

The Black Scorpion downs a copter!

The Black Scorpion is one of the zestier -- and grimmer -- giant bug features that came out in the wake of Them! Stop-motion animation work by Willis O'Brien of King Kong fame and Pete  Peterson helps create some very lively, scuttling horrors to give the creeps to the audience, and the close-ups of the salivating monstrosities with their movable fangs are also unnerving, especially when accompanied by the rattling, scary sound FX. One scene in particular -- an attack on a train when the giant pincers of the scorpions pick out hapless, screeching passengers to devour and tear apart -- is a vision of hell. 

Mara Corday, Carlos Rivas, Richard Denning

The colorizing process makes the movie seem even more intense and horrifying, although it can't compensate for the fact that some of the sequences are underlit. Other highlights of the film include a tense business with a scorpion grabbing hold of a cable and nearly pulling a crane down into an abyss, and the exploration of said abyss with its scorpions, giant worms and so on, An unintentionally comical moment occurs when Dr. Velazco says that the monsters "are somewhat slow and lethargic," which scene after scene proves is definitely not the case! The Black Scorpion has a standard B movie cast and all are perfectly okay even if they offer nothing more than what is indicated in the script. Paul Sawtell offers an eerie and effective score.

Verdict: Absorbing monster movie with more than decent FX work. ***. 

MACHETE

Carlos Rivas and Mari Blanchard

MACHETE (1958). Produced, directed and co-written by Kurt Neumann.

Sugar plantation owner Luis Montoya (Albert  Dekker) comes back to Puerto Rico with a young bride in tow, the sexy blonde Jean (Mari Blanchard). Jean, of course, wants some security from this much older man, but when she sees his ward and foreman, Carlos (Carlos Rivas), she also wants him. Carlos tries to resist Jean's charms at first, but the two are caught in a compromising situation. Luis is filled with fury, and the situation isn't helped by Luis' cousin, Miguel (Lee Van Cleef), who has always been jealous of Carlos' place in the family and plots revenge. Then there's the housekeeper, Rita (Ruth Cains), who is in love with Carlos. It's a sure bet things are not going to end well ... 

Albert Dekker

Machete is a melodrama that could have used some steamy overheating. The younger wife falling for the handsome foreman is as old as They Knew What They Wanted, with sugar cane instead of grapes, but there the comparison ends. Mari Blanchard is as vivid and entertaining as ever, but the others just seem to be saying lines, although if this is bad acting, or just an indication that the film was probably shot in two days with little rehearsal time, is hard to say. Blanchard and Rivas make a sexy duo but they aren't allowed to actually do that much together despite an interesting swimming sequence late in the picture. Machete was filmed hastily on an actual sugar plantation, which gives the film some atmosphere, but little else. An interesting aspect of this production is the casting of Black/Latino actor Juano Hernandez, who was born in San Juan, as Dekker's major domo, Bernardo, who seems an adviser to Luis and a member of the family even though he doesn't sit and have dinner with them. Dekker and Blanchard also appeared in Kurt Neumann's similarly-mild She-Devil. 

Verdict:  This flick needs more steam! **.