The Black Scorpion (film)
Encyclopedia
The Black Scorpion is a 1957 American
horror film
released by Warner Brothers, with stop motion
special effects done by Willis O'Brien
.
hits Mexico
, resulting in the overnight birth of a new volcano
. Sent to study this phenomenon are geologists Dr. Hank Scott and his partner Dr. Arturo Ramos. En route to the village of San Lorenzo, the two men happen upon a destroyed house and an equally totaled police car. Shortly afterward, they find the dead policeman nearby, as well as an abandoned infant.
They take the baby to San Lorenzo and give it to some friends of its (now missing) parents, and are welcomed by the village's priest
, Father Delgado. In addition to the disappearances of locals and the destruction of their homes, there have been wholesale slaughters of livestock
and strange roars in the night. The villagers believe the culprit to be a demon
bull
, and have been pestering Delgado for divine assistance. Undaunted, Hank and Arturo begin their geological survey as members of the Mexican army, led by Major
Cosio, arrive in San Lorenzo to begin disaster relief efforts. Hank meets and falls in love with local rancher Teresa Alvarez and makes friends with a young boy named Juanito.
The volcano erupts again and the true culprits behind the disappearances and deaths are revealed as giant prehistoric scorpion
s. After attacking a trio of telephone
repairmen, the scorpions turn their attention to San Lorenzo itself, with the guns of Major Cosio's troops having no effect on them. Come morning, the scorpions have returned to their underground lair (which, in addition to the scorpions, is home to giant worm
s and spider
s), leaving the authorities to seek the help of renowned entomologist Dr. Velasco. It is up to him, Hank, and Arturo to figure out a way to either destroy the scorpions or seal off the entrance to their cavern home, before more innocent lives are lost.
Despite collapsing the cave entrance, the giant scorpions make it to the surface and destroy a train, killing countless passengers before fighting amongst themselves. In the end, one scorpion, the largest of the group and presumably the alpha scorpion, kills all of the smaller ones, making it the last scorpion alive and it heads for Mexico City
. Hank and Arturo come up with a plan to lure it to a stadium where the military is waiting with tanks and helicopters. Using a truckload of meat from a butcher shop, they manage to get the scorpion into the stadium where the military's weapons are again proved useless against its armor. However, Hank manages to finish it off by using an electric cable attached to a spear at its throat, which is its weakness. After destroying several tanks and choppers, the scorpion is electrocuted.
, creator of the highly regarded effects for the original King Kong
, provided the same services here, albeit on a much smaller budget. Pete Peterson, who worked with O'Brien on Mighty Joe Young and would again on Behemoth, the Sea Monster
, did most of the actual hands-on animation. O'Brien borrowed heavily from other previous movies for the special effects in this film. The models used for the trapdoor spider and the giant worm with tentacles are the same ones that were used in the famous "Lost Spider Pit Sequence" from the original King Kong. The sounds made by the scorpions are a reuse of the ant sound effect from the movie Them!. A large-scale scorpion "head" was used for closeup reaction shots, but the head's human-like features distracted from the realism of O'Brien's animated models.
The steam locomotive pulling the train that is attacked is clearly a Lionel Corporation toy train. The steam locomotive's tender clearly retains its "Lionel Lines" markings.
Three shots of scorpions attacking the city toward the end of the film are actually just empty traveling mattes as the producers had run out of money when the time came to composite these scenes.
This and numerous other flaws in the film were the subject of episode 113 of movie-mocking TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000
.
DVD release of The Black Scorpion has several extras. One of these extras is Stop-Motion Masters, where Ray Harryhausen
talks about his friendship with Willis O'Brien
. The famous "dinosaur sequence" from the 1956 film The Animal World
is present, as well as two pieces of rare test footage. The Las Vegas Monster was about a baboon
that was used in a rocket launch, came across the Van Allen radiation belt
, and crashed in the Nevada
desert. It now has sprouted two elephant
-like trunks, and is seen attacking a farmhouse
and delivery truck. After rampaging in Las Vegas, it is finally seen with a helicopter, which it fights on the ground. The Beetlemen was about astronauts in suspended animation
who turned into insect people. The beetlemen are seen walking across the landscape. Trailers for The Black Scorpion, The Valley of Gwangi
, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms
, and Clash of the Titans
are also present.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
released by Warner Brothers, with stop motion
Stop motion
Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence...
special effects done by Willis O'Brien
Willis O'Brien
Willis Harold O'Brien was an Irish American pioneering motion picture special effects artist who perfected and specialized in stop-motion animation. He was affectionately known to his family and close friends as "Obie"....
.
Plot
The film begins when an earthquakeEarthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
hits Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, resulting in the overnight birth of a new volcano
Volcano
2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
. Sent to study this phenomenon are geologists Dr. Hank Scott and his partner Dr. Arturo Ramos. En route to the village of San Lorenzo, the two men happen upon a destroyed house and an equally totaled police car. Shortly afterward, they find the dead policeman nearby, as well as an abandoned infant.
They take the baby to San Lorenzo and give it to some friends of its (now missing) parents, and are welcomed by the village's priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
, Father Delgado. In addition to the disappearances of locals and the destruction of their homes, there have been wholesale slaughters of livestock
Livestock
Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...
and strange roars in the night. The villagers believe the culprit to be a demon
Demon
call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...
bull
Bull
Bull usually refers to an uncastrated adult male bovine.Bull may also refer to:-Entertainment:* Bull , an original show on the TNT Network* "Bull" , an episode of television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation...
, and have been pestering Delgado for divine assistance. Undaunted, Hank and Arturo begin their geological survey as members of the Mexican army, led by Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
Cosio, arrive in San Lorenzo to begin disaster relief efforts. Hank meets and falls in love with local rancher Teresa Alvarez and makes friends with a young boy named Juanito.
The volcano erupts again and the true culprits behind the disappearances and deaths are revealed as giant prehistoric scorpion
Scorpion
Scorpions are predatory arthropod animals of the order Scorpiones within the class Arachnida. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by the pair of grasping claws and the narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back, ending with a venomous stinger...
s. After attacking a trio of telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
repairmen, the scorpions turn their attention to San Lorenzo itself, with the guns of Major Cosio's troops having no effect on them. Come morning, the scorpions have returned to their underground lair (which, in addition to the scorpions, is home to giant worm
Worm
The term worm refers to an obsolete taxon used by Carolus Linnaeus and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck for all non-arthropod invertebrate animals, and stems from the Old English word wyrm. Currently it is used to describe many different distantly-related animals that typically have a long cylindrical...
s and spider
Spider
Spiders are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...
s), leaving the authorities to seek the help of renowned entomologist Dr. Velasco. It is up to him, Hank, and Arturo to figure out a way to either destroy the scorpions or seal off the entrance to their cavern home, before more innocent lives are lost.
Despite collapsing the cave entrance, the giant scorpions make it to the surface and destroy a train, killing countless passengers before fighting amongst themselves. In the end, one scorpion, the largest of the group and presumably the alpha scorpion, kills all of the smaller ones, making it the last scorpion alive and it heads for Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
. Hank and Arturo come up with a plan to lure it to a stadium where the military is waiting with tanks and helicopters. Using a truckload of meat from a butcher shop, they manage to get the scorpion into the stadium where the military's weapons are again proved useless against its armor. However, Hank manages to finish it off by using an electric cable attached to a spear at its throat, which is its weakness. After destroying several tanks and choppers, the scorpion is electrocuted.
Cast
| Actor/Actress | Role |
| Richard Denning Richard Denning Richard Denning , was an American actor who starred in such movies as Creature from the Black Lagoon and An Affair to Remember , and on radio with Lucille Ball as her husband George Cooper in My Favorite Husband , the forerunner of television's I Love Lucy, for which Denning was replaced by Ball's... |
Dr. Hank Scott |
| Mara Corday Mara Corday Mara Corday is a showgirl, model, actress, Playboy Playmate and a 1950s cult figure.... |
Teresa Alvarez |
| Carlos Rivas | Dr. Arturo Ramos |
| Mario Navarro Mario Navarro Mario Navarro was a Mexican actor, active in the 1950s and 1960s. He made his film debut in 1956 playing a leading role in The Road of Life, following in the same year with The Beast of Hollow Mountain. In 1960 he appeared in the TV series Captain David Grief in the episode Everybody's Boy... |
Juanito |
| Carlos Múzquiz | Dr. Velasco |
| Pascual García Peña | Dr. Delacruz |
| Pedro Galván | Father Delgado |
| Arturo Martínez | Major Cosio |
| Fanny Schiller | Florentina |
Special effects
Willis O'BrienWillis O'Brien
Willis Harold O'Brien was an Irish American pioneering motion picture special effects artist who perfected and specialized in stop-motion animation. He was affectionately known to his family and close friends as "Obie"....
, creator of the highly regarded effects for the original King Kong
King Kong (1933 film)
King Kong is a Pre-Code 1933 fantasy monster adventure film co-directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, and written by Ruth Rose and James Ashmore Creelman after a story by Cooper and Edgar Wallace. The film tells of a gigantic island-dwelling apeman creature called Kong who dies in...
, provided the same services here, albeit on a much smaller budget. Pete Peterson, who worked with O'Brien on Mighty Joe Young and would again on Behemoth, the Sea Monster
Behemoth, the Sea Monster
Behemoth, the Sea Monster is an American-British science-fiction film co-production. Originally a story about an amorphous blob of radiation, the script was changed at the distributor's insistence to a pastiche of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms , though elements of the original concept remain in...
, did most of the actual hands-on animation. O'Brien borrowed heavily from other previous movies for the special effects in this film. The models used for the trapdoor spider and the giant worm with tentacles are the same ones that were used in the famous "Lost Spider Pit Sequence" from the original King Kong. The sounds made by the scorpions are a reuse of the ant sound effect from the movie Them!. A large-scale scorpion "head" was used for closeup reaction shots, but the head's human-like features distracted from the realism of O'Brien's animated models.
The steam locomotive pulling the train that is attacked is clearly a Lionel Corporation toy train. The steam locomotive's tender clearly retains its "Lionel Lines" markings.
Three shots of scorpions attacking the city toward the end of the film are actually just empty traveling mattes as the producers had run out of money when the time came to composite these scenes.
This and numerous other flaws in the film were the subject of episode 113 of movie-mocking TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
.
DVD Extras
The Warner Bros.Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
DVD release of The Black Scorpion has several extras. One of these extras is Stop-Motion Masters, where Ray Harryhausen
Ray Harryhausen
Ray Harryhausen is an American film producer and special effects creator...
talks about his friendship with Willis O'Brien
Willis O'Brien
Willis Harold O'Brien was an Irish American pioneering motion picture special effects artist who perfected and specialized in stop-motion animation. He was affectionately known to his family and close friends as "Obie"....
. The famous "dinosaur sequence" from the 1956 film The Animal World
The Animal World (film)
The Animal World is a 1956 documentary film that was produced, written and directed by Irwin Allen. The film includes live-action footage of animals throughout the world, along with a ten-minute stop motion animated sequence about dinosaurs....
is present, as well as two pieces of rare test footage. The Las Vegas Monster was about a baboon
Baboon
Baboons are African and Arabian Old World monkeys belonging to the genus Papio, part of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. There are five species, which are some of the largest non-hominoid members of the primate order; only the mandrill and the drill are larger...
that was used in a rocket launch, came across the Van Allen radiation belt
Van Allen radiation belt
The Van Allen radiation belt is a torus of energetic charged particles around Earth, which is held in place by Earth's magnetic field. It is believed that most of the particles that form the belts come from solar wind, and other particles by cosmic rays. It is named after its discoverer, James...
, and crashed in the Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
desert. It now has sprouted two elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
-like trunks, and is seen attacking a farmhouse
Farmhouse
Farmhouse is a general term for the main house of a farm. It is a type of building or house which serves a residential purpose in a rural or agricultural setting. Most often, the surrounding environment will be a farm. Many farm houses are shaped like a T...
and delivery truck. After rampaging in Las Vegas, it is finally seen with a helicopter, which it fights on the ground. The Beetlemen was about astronauts in suspended animation
Suspended animation
Suspended animation is the slowing of life processes by external means without termination. Breathing, heartbeat, and other involuntary functions may still occur, but they can only be detected by artificial means. Extreme cold can be used to precipitate the slowing of an individual's functions; use...
who turned into insect people. The beetlemen are seen walking across the landscape. Trailers for The Black Scorpion, The Valley of Gwangi
The Valley of Gwangi
The Valley of Gwangi is a 1969 American western-fantasy film directed by Jim O'Connolly and written by William Bast. The film is also known as Gwangi, The Lost Valley, The Valley Time Forgot, and The Valley Where Time Stood Still...
, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms is a 1953 science fiction film directed by Eugène Lourié and stars Paul Christian, Paula Raymond and Cecil Kellaway with visual effects by Ray Harryhausen. The film is about an atomic bomb test in the Arctic Circle that unfreezes a hibernating fictional dinosaur, a...
, and Clash of the Titans
Clash of the Titans
Clash of the Titans is an American 1981 fantasy–adventure film involving the Greek hero Perseus. It was released on June 12, 1981 and earned a gross profit of $41 million domestically, on a $15 million budget , by which it was the 11th highest grossing film of the year. A novelization of the film...
are also present.