The Killer Shrews

I'm shocked by the low rating this movie has on here. I have to assume most of the people who voted don't watch many movies in the genre. I have seen more mutated animal movies than I can remember and this is better than most. The acting is good and the shrews don't look too bad. I mean they are just dogs with throw rugs on their backs and some fake teeth but they only attack at night(BRILLIANT!)and they move very fast so you can't see them very well anyway. The movie starts with two guys on a ship going to an island and knowing a hurricane is coming. When they get there, the captain is immediately and obviously suspicious. Other than the scientists making up a bunch of lies and having guns, there's not much of the usual giant mutated animal movie clichés. One thing you might consider a flaw is that ten minutes in, you will know who is going to die. I actually like that. This was the first time I correctly picked every character who would die. This is definitely worth seeing.

This is one of my favorite all time schlocky movies from the fifties. The shrews themselves look like...well what they are, collies (or is it greyhounds?) in fur coats. The acting ranges from good (James Best, Ken Curtis) to non-existent (Ingrid Goude, Gorden McLendon.) The dialogue is lame. The editing bad and music poorly inserted; ominous music plays when James Best goes to wash his hands! That being said, I have to take exception with those that say giant shrews are a silly idea. Shrews are primitive mammals with high metabolism rates. They consume their own weight in food every couple of hours. They are known to attack animals larger than themselves. At least one species is mildly poisonous. The great naturalist Roger Carras, in his book, DANGEROUS TO MAN, in the chapter on poisonous mammals and montremes, states that shrews the size of collies would wreck unthinkable ecological havoc. Now you just learned something new.

"The Killer Shrews" is not so much a disaster as a by-product of its era, now dated and comical with audiences quite comfortable to enjoy such fodder in that context. With the passage of time, "The Killer Shrews" has achieved some measure of cult status. It's not as bad (technically) as its reputation anticipates; Kellogg's storyline is standard formula (experiments with a growth hormone result in mutated shrews that terrorise the inhabitants of a remote island, isolated by a hurricane), the acting is competent (particularly Best and Curtis), and the special effects are unintentionally funny.

In point of fact, the shrews are ably played by small dogs, fitted with rodent suits, but still move and act like, small dogs. Watching the 'pack' gallop up to the compound in which the stricken sailors and scientists are holed up, and seeing them claw and gnaw at the timber and stucco as their tails wag in anticipation no doubt of meaty-bites on the other side, is always unintentionally hilarious. One can only imagine how Ken Curtis felt as he was being licked and nuzzled by the 'voracious shrews', who apparently need to eat their body weight every day just to survive.

Functional dialogue is delivered well by Best and Curtis, but there's no mistaking former Miss Sweden Ingrid Goude's lack of thespian skills as she inanely affects shock, fear and general anxiety throughout the often tense proceedings. There's also a lot of time spent standing around a well stocked bar, nimbly throwing down martinis as the onslaught amasses outside. Aside from professionals Best and Curtis, Lumet isn't bad as the chief scientist and father to Goude, lamenting the unintended consequences of his ground-breaking research. The climax is novel and was subsequently used by Irwin Allen in a scene from "The Swarm". Camp, low budget entertainment that overcomes its limitations and deserves the minor cult status it carries today.

I got this movie from the 100 pack at Wal Mart. once I found out who was in it I just had to jump right in,, James Best.. Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrain. apparently on an island somewhere, overpopulation has become a real problem, and these Giant Killer Shrews are taking over the population and the island. just imagine yourself on an island like that where you are being over run by these huge gigantic shrews, I thought James Best did a wonderful job in this.. he was very funny, and his acting was also pretty good,, I guess back in the late 50's you could say that the undertone to this movie was a warning about overpopulation and what it will mean in the future if we as humans try to take over a certain land mass or area... very decent film from the 50's that isn't Oscar material, but not bad either,, I would recommend it even if I never heard of James Best.

The Killer Shrews is a low budget B horror movie from 1959. Are there problems with it? Does it seem simple and not as scary as modern horror films? Yes and yes, I just said it was a low budget B movie from 1959. Don't expect too much. Considering this, I've watched this movie several times over the years and find it to be a fun, suspenseful, and entertaining movie. I also believe it to be under rated and well worth viewing. Being under rated, it also is very reasonably priced. You just have to sit back, relax and enjoy it. This type of movie however could not stand up to a close examination. If it's taken too seriously or is put under a microscope, it just won't be able to stand the inspection.