Caltiki, the Immortal Monster

"Caltiki", the story of a carnivorous micro-organism in the Mexican jungle grown to terrifying proportions by the radiation of a once-in-every-seventy-millenia comet, enjoys the same sort of on-the-surface "B" movie innocent schlockiness and underlying dark edginess mix which graced legendary Roger Corman's monster and sci fi work in the late fifties. The monster is a product of nature, however, and probably would not have been a problem to modern civilization, but true to the 1950s paradigm of idiot scientists not knowing when to leave well enough alone, a team of doltish researchers actually recover a bit of the slithery beast to play around with. Of course, the scientists discover that the monster considers laboratory induced radiation just as good as the natural kind. The results, as one may imagine, are not good (but are plenty entertaining for us!)

A scene in which a deranged victim of the monster is devoured outright is delightfully disgusting (the monster SLOWLY overwhelms its victim--pulsating and digesting--and then recedes to reveal a denuded skull). The low budget effect equals even the high tech grislyness of Chuck Russel's recent "The Blob". Not at all bad. I saw it when I was eight and it gave me nightmares for years!

I've seen this movie on TV when I was small. I couldn't remember the story's premise except for the fact that it was a Blob like creature that grew when hit with radio activity. Recently, thanks to the internet, I got to watch this movie after so many years, and was surprised to find that archeology was the basis of its sub plot.

Archeologists goes on an expedition to a cave near Mayan ruins of Tikal, and accidentally discovers the monster Mayans associated with goddess Caltiki. Piece of Caltiki arrives back in Mexico city with the scientist which it tried to consume. Meanwhile, a comet is due to pass close to the Earth - the same comet passed near the Earth at the time the Mayan civilization mysteriously collapsed. Will Caltiki rise again, this time to end our civilization ?

Seriously, this is one of the best sci-fi movie from the late '50s. I saw this movie before I saw Steve McQueen's "Blob", and the Blob was somewhat lukewarm compared to Caltiki. There's been many movies featuring slime monsters, but this in my opinion is the best. The movie has the monster placed in middle of a pretty serious background where all the actors and scenery looks real. This is what makes this movie extra creepy, and also interesting to watch. To categorize this as a common B movie don't do justice. One of the better movie from the '50s.

This is not one of those slow-moving B-Movies from our youth. This is a wild and fairly exciting Italian-made/Mexico set hybrid. Very much like THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT (aka THE CREEPING UNKNOWN) with a little THE BLOB, X-THE UNKNOWN and THE BRAINIAC thrown in, this is a highly enjoyable little lark. Track it down if you can!

In early January, 1961, my older brother and I noticed an ad for CALTIKI in the Chicago Sun Times. A few weeks later, one of my brother's 6th-grade classmates actually saw the film, and reported something about "...a guy who goes down...and comes back up a skeleton." Sounded like something I had better avoid.

In Spring of 1963, my brother borrowed an off-brand monster magazine from a friend that included a big picture-story article on Caltiki, featuring all of the commonly available stills. Significantly, they did NOT show any of the FOUR BIG SHOCK SCENES--so I had no idea what I was in for when, on Saturday night, May 18th, 1963, a Chicago station showed CALTIKI for the 1st time on local TV. My brother and I sat in our den with the lights out, attentively following the film as it unfolded. Suffice to say, when it ended, I was grateful for the phony looking doll-house furniture and toy tanks used in the final scenes, since they helped alleviate the sense of SHOCK caused by the first 25 minutes of the film.

CALTIKI is an astoundingly dark, disturbing film experience....up until and including the first hospital scene. Mario Bava and the Italian horror culture of that era were masters of the ominous, morbid, and grotesque, possessing that unique ability to probe the depths of the truly horrific, stomach-turning---but subtle--- fear that lurks within us all. For a low-budget film, the first 25 minutes of CALTIKI are remarkably well designed and directed---and the script and acting are also generally above average.

Of the four big SHOCK scenes, the fate of the hapless Bob (the diver--played by Daniele Vargas) was undoubtedly the most traumatic for me. WOW-- what a stunner! Expertly staged and edited.....the terrifying underwater scenes (and extremely effective musical score) and the intense pacing as the wet-suit clad body is pulled out of the water...and the fact that the guy is still BREATHING when he is unmasked..really knocked me out on first viewing. It's an image that keeps on giving over the years, a moment that I never recovered from as the film progressed.

Then there's Max's gory, outrageous death scene--but by the time it came around, my 12-year old brain was fried. And how about the infamous and truly disgusting hospital scene, when the hunk of Caltiki is peeled off of Max's arm....GEEZ, guys...could you have thought of anything more sensational and sickening? But that's the peculiarly gory "sensibility" of the Italian/Mexican/Spanish horror industry of the time. (However-- if you look closely, as the nurse walks toward the camera with the blob encased in glass, you clearly see Max's right arm stretched out on the table, looking perfectly normal).

The fourth SHOCK (for me, at least), which is rarely mentioned, is the sight of Ulmer's corpse...deeply disturbing, yet almost beautiful in its nightmarish way--a bizarre piece of cinematic high art that confirms our worst fears about Ulmer's fate, points to the upcoming plot developments, and explains Nieto's delirious rants about "the mummy...!"

Viewing CALTIKI again on this superb new DVD is quite an experience; the very generous commentaries perform a valuable service in documenting the Bava/Italian cult-like appeal of the era, and Tim Lucas' expert observations are greatly appreciated--especially his explanations of the techniques used to create the opening jungle montage with glass-paintings, miniature set pieces, mattes, etc, which have always mystified me. I wish, though, that one or these expert commentators had something REALLY unique about the film to show us: behind-the-scenes production photos, an original script or storyboard, the National Geographic clippings that Lucas mentions were matted into the opening shot...ANYTHING that might still remain of the film. But there's nothing. We DO get a lot (and I mean a great deal) of chatter about the influence of the British Quatermass films on Caltiki...which gets a bit tiresome, especially in the absence of any of the above mentioned rarities which would have greatly enhanced the disc's special features.

My overall opinion of the film hasn't changed much in the 57 years since I first saw it: after the first 25 minutes--in which the sense of dread and ominous, suffocating terror slowly, methodically build and overpower the intrepid band of scientists---- the film really takes a nose-dive, becoming a rather drab, uninspired, routine sci-fi action/melodrama. The only scenes which really maintain the creepy, lurid tone of the opening are the scenes in which Max (Gerard Herter) is onscreen. He's one fascinating and crazy guy to watch.

In any case, this new DVD rescues one of the great, low-budget cult horror films from obscurity. Who knows?-- maybe CALTIKI will now get a little more respect, thanks to this new, admirably documented release.

PS-- If you'd like to see and hear Gerard Herter's (who played the demented "Mad" Max in CALTIKI) real (German accented) voice, check out the episode "The Great Casino Caper" from TV's "It Takes a Thief" (posted on You Tube), and the scene at 21:55". Herter lived and worked in Italy, where this episode was shot (with Robert Wagner, Fred Astaire, and Ed Binns). Make sure you watch an ENGLISH-dialogue version, not the Italian dub that's also posted. LR

This Italian sci-fi/horror film has been mentioned so often ever since I've been browsing the Internet (and prior to that on the occasional reference book) that it had practically acquired legendary status! Now that I've watched it myself, I can say that it's an effective blend of THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT (1955) and Mexi-Horror – though it's not as intellectual as the former, nor as campy as the latter (on the accompanying Audio Commentary, Luigi Cozzi also mentions the Japanese sci-fi THE H-MAN [1958] as a possible influence); the climax, then, seems to have been inspired by QUATERMASS II (1957) – while the archaeologists' discovery of footage shot by their missing/deranged companions actually looks forward to CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST (1979).

For its miniscule budget (which shows in the distinct lack of extras during a conference held to announce to the world the historic find!), the film's look (Rome standing in for Mexico!) and make-up effects (quite repulsive for the time, with the monster scenes themselves being perhaps more extensive than contemporary genre efforts) are very convincing; the attack by the blob-like monster on lead John Merivale's house (with his wife and daughter trapped inside) is especially well done – and reasonably scary. The cast – also featuring Gerard Herter (an unsympathetic variant on THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT's Richard Wordsworth), Daniela Rocca and Arturo Dominici – is interesting as well and there's a fine, suitably rousing score by Roberto Nicolosi.

The DVD supplements are superb (I'm lucky to be fluent in Italian) and include two separate interviews featuring genre exponent Luigi Cozzi – who attempts, firstly, to restore to its proper place screenwriter/designer Filippo Sanjust's undervalued contribution to the film and, then, outlines Bava's exact function behind-the-scenes (he didn't actually direct any of it but, following Freda's departure, took charge during the editing stage) – and critic/historian Steve Della Casa – who talks about Freda's place in the history of Italian cinema and mentions an especially amusing anecdote involving Freda and another cult film-maker, Vittorio Cottafavi, on meeting one another in their old age at a Film Festival (each thought the other would look down on his work only to discover that they were secret admirers of one another!). It's a pity, therefore, that film buffs unfamiliar with the language can't enjoy the Audio Commentary either, as it's a truly fascinating discussion: among other things, critic Giona A. Nazzaro voices his regret over the lost art of Italy's genre cinema; there's also an interesting sideline into the unusually creative contribution of editors to Italian films during this era, among whom Mario Serandrei (responsible for CALTIKI itself) was one of the undisputed masters; Cozzi, however, mistakenly refers to John Merivale as having played Sherlock Holmes in A STUDY IN TERROR (1965), when it was actually John Neville (Merivale didn't in fact appear in that film!).

Finally, since Image's DVD of an earlier Freda/Bava collaboration – I VAMPIRI (1957) – hasn't gone out-of-print and, so, will probably not be part of Anchor Bay's upcoming Mario Bava releases, I may well spring for it in the near future along with THE GHOST (1963), an unwatched classic Freda that's been coupled with a German Krimi – DEAD EYES OF London (1961) – on the Retromedia DVD