MONSTER FROM GREEN HELL

monster threatens Jim Davis and Barbara Turner

MONSTER FROM GREEN HELL (1957). Director: Kenneth G. Crane. Colorized. 

When several rockets are sent into space by scientists Quent Brady (Jim Davis of Satan's Triangle) and Dan Morgan (Robert Griffin), one of them crashes on earth in equatorial Africa. This is followed by reports of monstrous creatures in the area. Quent theorizes that a wasp in one of the space capsules was battered with cosmic radiation for forty hours instead of forty seconds, and may have given birth to gargantuan mutations. After a long journey across the Dark Continent (courtesy of stock footage from Stanley and Livingstone) the two men come to an outpost run by Dr. Lorenz (Vladmir Sokoloff) and his daughter Lorna (Barbara Turner). When the former is found dead by his associate Arobi (Joel Fluellen), a group -- consisting of Quent, Dan, Lorna, Arobi and guide Mahri (Eduardo Ciannelli) -- set out to find the creatures and destroy them, which won't be an easy task.  

Big wasp on the rampage!

Monster from Green Hell is actually a fun and entertaining giant monster flick. The acting is perfectly swell, although I confess I've never been able to get a handle on the odd Barbara Turner. The monsters themselves are either full-scale props with dangerous stingers or are brought to life with credible stop-motion. A decided plus is the score by Albert Glasser, whose music always brings out excitement and suspense in the weird situations. The climax contains a cave-in after a scary run-in with a humongous wasp that temporarily traps the team in darkness. This is a well-done colorized version of the movie, which definitely adds a lot to the picture -- for one thing, the "Green Hell" region in the movie where the monsters dwell is actually green. A creepy scene has the wasps surrounding the gang's camp at night.

Verdict: You can't go wrong with big bugs -- in color!

SATAN'S TRIANGLE

Doug McClure and Kim Novak

SATAN'S TRIANGLE (1975 telefilm). Director: Sutton Roley.

A Coast Guard copter comes across what appears to be a deserted yacht, although there are corpses -- and one live female -- on board. Lt. Haig (Doug McClure) tries to rescue Eva (Kim Novak) but the cable snaps before they can be lifted into the copter. Back on board, Eva tells Haig her story: they are in a part of the sea known as the Devil's Triangle, and supernatural things began to happen after a priest (Alejandro Rey), who survived a plane crash, is taken on board. Haig insists that there is a natural explanation for all of the deaths, including the sight of the corpse of the ship's wealthy owner, Hal (Jim Davis), which appears to be simply floating in mid-air in his cabin. But Haig may be in for a very rude awakening ... 

Alejandro Rey

Satan's Triangle is yet another movie about the Bermuda Triangle, even though it is never referred to by that name (nor as Satan's Triangle, either). It has a creepy premise and a good ending but the direction is so mediocre that what might have been a nail-biter is just another flaccid Movie-of-the-Week. We also have such cliches as the priest who councils a fallen woman, the former prostitute, Eva -- these two nearly make out in a scene which might at least have been interesting --  and some of the outdoor scenes seem to be shot through a smeared and grimy lens. The musical score is hopeless and aside from Rey and Michael Conrad as Haig's co-pilot the acting is generally poor as well. Rey portrayed the playboy in The Flying Nun TV series and he's quite effective in this. 

Verdict: Sort of like an EC comics horror story but not as good. **1/4.