The Black Scorpion

A volcano erupts and spits up these scorpions that are huge and prehistoric. This is the premise for The Black Scorpion, a 50's sci-fi/giant bug film. As cheesy 50's films go, this one is entertaining, if not a little slow in places. The Mexican landscape looks authentic and the scorpions themselves are pretty good when left in the hands of Willis O'Brien. But the close-ups of the creatures are a bit overused, almost to the point of becoming annoying. The scorpions kill each other off until one giant one is left to wreak his vengeance(and whet his appetite) in Mexico City. The best scene is the one when scientist Richard Denning(and his incredibly boring assistant Carlos Rivas, and annoying stow-a-way Juanito) are lowered into a giant cavern and the realm of Willis O'Brien's wonderful stop-motion animation. The rest of the film is rather predictable but still entertaining, and Mara Corday is at least pleasant to the eye as she must have had her clothing painted onto her.