The Film Detective will be opening its 2021 home entertainment packaged media release campaign on Jan. 19 with the 4K film restoration (from the original camera negative) of Richard E. Cunha’s 1958 sci-fi thriller, Giant from the Unknown.
Available on that date will be both DVD and Blu-ray editions of this genre classic. There will also be a “Limited Edition Deluxe Promo Box,” which features the aforementioned DVD and Blu-ray selections, plus a box-full of goodies, including a collector’s magnet, a 13-month calendar targeted for genre fans, a collectible lapel pin, and a surprise bonus movie.
Harold Banks is dead and the people of Pine Ridge (filmed on location in the Big Bear/Fawnskin area of the San Bernardino Mountains) are very concerned. He was beaten to a pulp … add his death to the recent wildlife killings and you can see how they would be all over Sheriff Parker to do something … anything (Parker was played by the legendary Bob Steele, who began his film career in the silent era, was a Western star with the coming of sound films and then appeared in such films outside his mainstay as Revenge of the Zombies, The Big Sleep, Island in the Sky, Pork Chop Hill … over 240 film credits during his 50-plus year career).
However, spooky Indian legends are conjured up by Indian Joe (Billy Dix), but Parker sets his sights on Wayne Brooks (Ed Kemmer — perhaps best known as Commander Buzz Corry in the early 1950s sci-fi series, Space Patrol), who was seen arguing with Banks just before his murder.
But before this red herring is explored much further, we note the arrival of Professor Cleveland (played by screen veteran Morris Ankrum — Rocketship X-M, Chain Lightning, The Thin Man Goes Home, Earth Vs. the Flying Saucers, etc.) and his alluring daughter, Janet (played by the late Sally Fraser, a horror film queen of the 1950s — War of the Colossal Beast, The Spider, It Conquered the World), who have arrived in Pine Ridge to do some archaeological research. Brooks immediately recognizes Cleveland and befriends him, but certainly has his eye on Janet. Back at his cabin he shows the professor artifacts that he has discovered and agrees to point out their location … but they are about to make a discovery that will send shockwaves through the area.
The dead Banks and the butchered animals are all the handywork of — are you ready for this? Vargas, a returned-from-the-dead Spanish Conquistador … a giant of a man (played by Buddy Baer, the little brother of Heavyweight Champion Max Baer — as Ursus in Quo Vadis, as the giant in Jack and the Beanstalk … and more) who lived 500 years ago and was known as the “Diablo Giant.” He quit exploring the New World for the Spanish and struck off on his own to search for gold … and was never seen again, until now!!
It will take a while to convinced the people of Pine Ridge, especially after the teen-bopper Ann (Jolene Brand … perhaps best known as Anna Maria in Disney’s Zorro television series) is savaged by Vargas. Parker goes so far as to arrest Wayne for her brutal murder (he can’t catch a break), but eventually there is enough to convince everyone that an unstoppable monster is on the loose!!
Giant from the Unknown is a remarkable film, a goofy script to be sure, but what a cast … these were all pros and they made the film work. It is still an enjoyable lark even today.
As to bonus goodies, the Film Detective has conjured up not one, but two commentary options. The first features author and film historian Tom Weaver and the second is with actor Gary Crutcher (as Dr. Everett in cult director William Grefé’s Stanley) — he plays Ann’s teenage brother, and his screen name is Brown, Charlie Brown, isn’t that a hoot!!
Other bonus features include an extensive still gallery and two newly-prepared featurettes — “You’re a B-Movie Star, Charlie Brown” and “The Man with a Badge: Bob Steele in the 1950s.”
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