So much average

Expected more

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Local geologist Wayne Brooks (Ed Kemmer) teams up with visiting archaeologist Dr. Fredrick Cleveland (Morris Ankrum) to search the local mountains for the remains of a 300+ year old Spanish conquistador and a reputed giant of a man named Vargas. Another draw for Brooks is the opportunity to spend a little time with the Dr.'s vacuous but attractive daughter, Janet (Sally Fraser). The team is about to give up when Janet accidentally discovers a Spanish graveyard. But is there more here than helmets and breastplates? It's not long before the giant Vargas makes his return and sets his own sights on young Janet and anything else he can maim and destroy.By all rights, I've most likely overrated Giant from the Unknown. It features a multitude of easily identifiable weaknesses – a plot that moves at the break-neck pace of a slug, the dim-witted Janet randomly stumbling on the Spanish artifacts, Sheriff Parker's beyond ridiculous persecution of Brooks (Why in God's name would anyone think that Brooks would be running around the country-side slaughtering cows and destroying hen houses?), Bob Steele's laughably bad performance as Parker, the whole notion of Vargas "living" in a sort of suspended animation for 350 years, and the poorly done special effects in the film's finale. Giant from the Unknown literally has everything you could hope to find in any regular bad movie. It would be easy to write it all off as badly made 50s junk, but for whatever reason and despite these many shortcomings, I found myself inexplicably enjoying the movie. Entertainment can be different from one person to the next. And, it's often difficult to put a finger on what you find entertaining in a movie. All I know is that for most of Giant from the Unknown, I was entertained. I went for the characters, I got a kick out of legend Jack Pierce's Vargas make-up, and I enjoyed the acting of Keemer and especially Ankrum. Ankrum is one of those actors who's good in everything I've seen him in. Sure, it takes some patience to get through the slow parts in Giant from the Unknown (and there are a bunch of 'em), but it's worth it. There's a good little movie here if you just look for it. Like I said, it's difficult to explain, but I'm giving this one a 6/10.

Since there is no goofs section for this movie,I will give the big one I saw at the finish:The Giant crashes thru the bridge railing and into the river,but in the next long shot,when the hero is walking away from the bridge,the railing is intact. This is one of the most dreadfully bad of the 50's B flicks,rating right down there with turkeys like The Giant Claw,From Hell It Came,Killers From Space,Beginning of the End,Robot Monster,etc. I'm surprised they didn't get old Tor Johnson for this role, as it was right down his alley but I guess he couldn't fit into the armor,else they'd be calling it Fat,Bald,No Talent,ex-Wrestler From the Unknown!

Way way back in my childhood years (well okay, maybe not THAT far back!) I remember seeing this movie many times on the late late show. I was attracted to this film originally because I had previously seen THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN and ATTACK OF THE FIFTY FOOT WOMAN and I expected something more. When I say the giant of the title was just a little bit taller than the rest of the cast I was disappointed at first but the spell of this movie quickly won me over. I mean, how can you not like a movie that has former B western star Bob Steele as the no-nonsense sheriff of a small mountain town? Ed Kemmer (EARTH VS THE SPIDER), Morris Ankrum (INVADERS FROM MARS among many others) and Sally Fraser (WAR OF THE COLOSSAL BEAST) are searching a mountain area with the foreboding name of Devil's Crag in the hopes of finding proof that a legendary renegade Conquistador named Vargas really did exist ("A man of unusual size and strength . . .a depraved degenerate of a man."). To their amazement they discover that he still does exist after some 400 years. Preserved by chemicals in the soil (so Morris informs us) he is revived by a bolt of lightning. Vargas (Buddy Baer, brother of prizefighter Max Baer and uncle of Max "Jethro Bodine" Baer Jr.) is no gentle giant though. At first he just slaughters cattle but then he graduates to people! His attack on mountain girl Joline Brand hints that a brutal sexual assault preceded her murder and he leaves local "crazy guy" Indian Joe hanging from a hook! The scientists join the sheriff and his posse to hunt down and destroy the giant but either he is too tough to be brought down by bullets or that is one really good suit of armour he is wearing. So can the mountain folk win out over the rampaging giant? Well luckily this film is now on DVD so you can find out without having to stay up until 2 in the morning like I did when I was a kid.The makeup for Buddy Baer was done by Jack Pierce, who created such memorable scary faces as the Frankenstein Monster, I'm-Ho-Tep, Kharis and the Wolfman. It was directed by Richard Cunha who gave us 3 other memorable late night classics: MISSILE TO THE MOON, SHE DEMONS and the unforgettable FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER.

Ah! The 1950's and science fiction films. This was the decade that brought us giant ants and other mutant insects, evil aliens coming to take over our bodies, good aliens out to save mankind from destroying itself, Godzilla and all his Japanese monster buddies destroying every inch of Japan, and the films of Richard Cunha, Missile to the Moon, She Demons, Frankenstein's Daughter, and Giant From the Unknown. Cunha has a certain directorial style, that for me, is the mixing of bad film-making with an almost uncanny way of making bad seem good...or at least interesting. Giant From the Unknown is indeed a bad film. It tells the story of a professor and his daughter driving through the southwest looking for the remains of a giant Spanish conquistador known for his cruelty. While driving they just happen to come to a town where Ed Kemmer(an affable leading man if nothing else)just happened to find a lizard alive in rock that was thousands of years old. Okay, I know you know where this is going. And it does go there. The giant is alive in century old rock and begins to eat his way through everyone's livestock and likes to kill for no apparent reason. Kemmer falls in love with the daughter Sally Fraser, whilst proud pops(the great Morris Ankrum)realizes his dream come true of finding evidence that this giant once lived. Well, the story is without a doubt ridiculous. But this is a fun film. Jack Pierce did the make-up for the giant conquistador. It is not real impressive, but Buddy Baer certainly is a giant of a screen presence. The acting in general is adequate, and the direction is entertaining. The film does have some fine scenes, particularly the ending in the snowy mountains and the dam. If you just want to be entertained in that magical 50's B picture way....take a look at Giant From the Unknown.