Caltiki il mostro immortale (1959) watch online HD

This is not one of those slow-moving B-Movies from our youth. This is a wild and fairly exciting Italian-Mexican 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!

I saw this when I was 8 years old, and it scared me so much I had to momentarily leave my seat. I ran back to the men's restroom and hid inside for a minute or so, then slowly came back out and stood in back by the usher and watched for another minute or two more, and finally returned to my seat for the rest of the movie. This never happened to me in any other movie, and as an adult, I was very curious to know just what it was in this otherwise standard black and white B-Movie Monster fare that could cause such a reaction. I just watched it again, for the first time since 1959, and I believe it was a combination of having my wits scared out of me when I identified with the little girl and her mother trapped in the bedroom with Catiki swelling up against the door, and stomach churning revulsion at the nasty looking mess that was left after Caltiki started digesting its victims. Unlike Steve McQueen's Blob which looked almost like an edible piece of cherry Jello, Caltiki sometimes took on the appearance of a soiled cloth rag completely saturated with thick dark mud (or some unmentionable organic substance), and the mess that was left after it digested its victims was indescribably disgusting for the era. The plot is corny and hackneyed, with the obligatory hysteria over the evils of radiation, and knuckle-headed careless scientists. But it is campy and scary, and worth watching. I ended up springing for a DVD, since I never see this shown on television anymore, apart from once seeing it offered by Showtime many years ago. Why do movies like this just vanish?

Yes, this is the movie we ran out of ... my younger sister crying and the rest of us equally scared out of our pants. For years on end we have remembered this movie but never been able to find it. Finally I got a copy on DVD and enjoyed watching the rest of the movie... a great 50s Blob movie and one that brings back memories of that day when me and my brothers and sisters went to the Saturday matinée and were scared out of our wits... having to leave soon after the greedy scientist loses his hand to the Blob after he goes back for the bag of gold jewels. This review has to be longer so without giving away the ending I will just say that the only disappointing part of the movie is that the Blob is kinda slow... and needs radioactivity to grow and move. I would have like for him to cause more death and destruction before the end of the movie. There are some cool graphic death scenes and plenty of comic relief from the dated but entertaining acting and even a tribal belly dance. Plenty of greedy evil crazed scientists too.

Back when I was young this movie used to be on television frequently and I watched it with my aunt Carol. She is a thoughtful, sensitive woman and during the scene where Max (Gerald Haerter) runs back to grab the bag of gold and has his arm absorbed by Caltiki my aunt cautioned me "You see? That wouldn't have happened if he hadn't been greedy." So she found a way to teach me one of Life's lessons via an Italian monster movie! Meanwhile I like this movie because it is one of the best "blob" movies around (I don't count THE H-MAN as a blob movie because the H-beings are intelligent). These days the age of the movie shows. A computer takes up an entire room and is referred to as "an electric brain", poster art depicts the wounded Max as a Frankensteinian style mutant and serial buffs will recognise the scene of a car plunging off a cliff as coming from KING OF THE ROCKETMEN (1949)! Still, we watch these movies for the monster, right? Caltiki is an effective monster but such a messy eater. Unlike THE BLOB who absorbed all his (its?) victims Caltiki just takes the good stuff and spits out the bones. The scene of one victim being crushed and then absorbed is especially memorable. Lamberto Bava, son of Mario Bava who (it is said) finished this film after Ricardo Freda walked off the set (I heard a similar story about THE DEVIL'S COMMANDMENT) once recalled that the house destroyed by Caltiki at the end was actually a model of his father's real home and the miniature furniture was contributed by Mario's father Eugenio. That explains the meticulous attention to detail in the miniature sets. All in all a very well done movie and worth seeing again to-day. It used to pop up now and then on Showtime and would someone please hurry up and put it out on video? Oh and Aunt Carol . . .thanks for watching this with me so many times.

"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!

Amusing, cheap Italian imitation of "the Blob" (along the same lines as the British "X: The Unknown", this film exchanges heroic teenagers for the more usual scientists). Involves scientists who have dug too deeply into the mysteries of "Caltiki" and awakened the giant jelly after his centuries-long snooze. The lead scientist is so smart he leaves a chunk of Caltiki on a table near his kitchen.

Poor direction, hilariously impossible dialogue in the best 50s American style. The photography is noticeably better in quality from the rest of the film, so I wasn't too surprised to see genre pro Bava's name attached (looks like he may have directed some of the more fast and furious climax scenes, too).

All in all, a fun entry in the 50s horror cycle that holds up to the better American camp films of the same period.

The Caltiki monster is similar to the monsters in "The Blob" and "X, The Unknown", but this one is made of living lava. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie both as a kid and as an adult. Even though the plot line is very standard, it has some tense moments when they realize what makes Caltiki grow, and that they left it back at the lab in ideal growing conditions. If you're a B movie fan, this is a must see.

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…

Ours is a sick culture. Either that, or a strangely apologetic one. Because if there is any genre that is sure to garner praise without any reservation; it's a Holocaust flick. You want an Oscar? Make one. You don't like it? You must be an anti-Semite, cry the critics. Bizarre, America had no role in the Holocaust so why feel guilty? And with a few exceptions, most of those films are mediocre at best, exploitative trash at worst. Clearly, there is only one way to remedy this sickness that has held Hollywood in it's vice like grip:

Make more giant Blob movies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's true. That is the one sub-genre that can do no wrong. Think I'm joking? Look at all the great blob films of decades past, from THE film which led to Hammer's first big hit; 'The Quatermass Xperiment' and it's sequel, to the studio's own talky but engaging 'X, the Unknown', Steve McQueen's acting debut Tour de Force; 1958's 'The Blob', it's charmingly awful sequel, it's amazingly superior remake(And I hate remakes with a passion), that awesome segment in 'Creepshow 2', Japan's 'Dogora' and 'Yog: Monster from Space' all are great. Not a truly bad or unwatchable film in the lot. So why not make more entries in this unbeatable sub-genre? Clearly, Hollywood has no guts to explore the boundaries of cinema that these films could expand. They just want to make safe and marketable holocaust flicks. Shame.

BUT! As good as those films mentioned are, no discussion of these drippingly good classics or classics dripping with goodness is complete without mentioning the 1959 masterpiece 'Caltiki'. Directing was begun by Riccardo Freda, with much of the film completed by Mario Bava(I wonder if he moved on to anything good?*sarcasm*)and it's a gem.

Legend says that Mayan Goddess Caltiki will return when fire is seen in the sky, and wouldn't you know it? A meteor passes through! While exploring Mayan ruins, explorers made up of bickering couples(One is a square-jawed white man with a white wife, the other couple is a sniveling, accented man named Max with an interracial girlfriend who he abuses, jeeze, who do you think is going to be the couple that survives?)stumble upon a cave with a lake inside, best of all, it has jewels at the bottom! Max decides to take the jewels, but fails to notice the tar like substance that is at the bottom of the lake that is rising......

You can guess what happens next, it's all a lot of fun. From a plot development involving a maimed Max doing an imitation of Richard Wordsworth in 'The Quatermass Xperiment' for no real reason other than to provide a human villain, to a memorable sequence where the protagonist is jailed while his family is in danger, to a surprisingly deep performance from Daniela Rocca as Max's submissive girlfriend, to a surprisingly clever psuedoscientific explanation for Caltiki, to several scenes that must have been appallingly graphic for the era, it's all a hoot. You'll keep your feet off the floor in the dark for weeks.

It starts off slow and the dialogue is silly, but it's more entertaining than the majority of 'A' movies now!!! See it, or have your arm burned off by Caltiki! It's the 'Citizen Kane'....of Blob movies.

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.

I'm not a big fan of fifties monster movies in general, but this one is pretty decent. The film was directed by Riccardo Freda, although he was going under the pseudonym 'Robert Hamton' in order to fool audiences into thinking that the film was an American picture. The film does take obvious influence from the American monster movies and is similar in style, plot and execution; and actually credit does have to go to Freda in that respect as if it wasn't for the awful dubbing, one would have no reason to think that this wasn't an American film. The plot is rather well worked and focuses on the demise of the Mayan civilisation. We focus on a team of archaeologists studying some ancient Mayan ruins when they come across a cave which houses a lake. After diving into the lake, they discover that it is full of gold; although things go a bit awry when they also find out that the lake is inhabited by an ancient blob-like monster. They end up taking part of the creature back to the lab where upon studying it, they realise it could threaten the whole world...

It was unveiled that many of the films which Riccardo Freda took credit for were actually directed by his young apprentice, Mario Bava - and Caltiki is one of those films. I have no idea how much of the film was directed by Bava, but I'd hesitantly say that I think it was mostly done by Freda as the film does not feature much in the way of Bava's trademark styling's; although in truth the filming style is all very by the numbers and there's not a lot of room for stylish visuals. The plot is well done, however, and is certainly more inventive than I thought it might be. The special effects are not particularly spectacular; though they certainly are serviceable for the type of film and are used well. There are a handful of good ideas on display - the fate that awaits a particularly greedy archaeologist being one of the best parts of it. The film tries to a bit spectacular towards the end, and it does work somewhat, although many of the American pictures did the spectacular ending better. Still, this is a decent little monster movie and I'm sure fans of this stuff will enjoy it.

I recall seeing this movie at the theater in 1960 and believing it was the scariest movie I had ever seen until "The Exorcist". The plot and the terror of a monster like Caltiki was believable to this 6 year old. However, running out of the theater was not an option. I would never have been able to live that down with my brother, sister and cousins. But I could not sleep for days afterward. The scenes of Caltiki devouring its victims was so graphic for its time and makes today's special effects pale in comparison. I have not seen the movie since but I remember it so vividly to this day. I plan to find the DVD if its still available. Sci-Fi directors take note: You don't need a lot of expensive, hi-tech special effects to scare people. Check this movie out to find out why.

Caltiki, the Immortal Monster (1959)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Some hidden Mayan ruins are being searched by a group of archaeologists and before long they are battling a blob-like monster. They're able to destroy the thing but before long it is brought back to full strength and goes on a rampage.

CALTIKI, THE IMMORTAL MONSTER is a film that's best known for its director controversy. Riccardo Freda is the credited director but he says he had very little to actually do with it. Mario Bava did the cinematography and special effects and is now considered the co-director of the picture. It seems that when people discuss this movie it has more to do with the directors and not really the film itself.

For the most part this is a mildly entertaining "B" movie but it's certainly a long way from being one of the best that the genre has to offer. What impressed me the most about this movie is the fact that it looks wonderful and was done on such a low-budget. Bava certainly deserves a lot of credit because the opening alone makes you feel as if you're really in Mexico but it's all special effects. I was really impressed with the atmosphere and look of the film and how they were able to do it with such little money.

The look of the monster was also quite impressive but I'm not going to lie, it's nowhere near as great as what we saw in THE BLOB, which was obviously an influence on this film. What really hurts this film is the fact that the characters are all rather lame and I personally didn't care about any of them. Whenever the monster isn't on the screen the film really drags and I'd argue that the dialogue is rather boring and doesn't help things.

CALTIKI, THE IMMORTAL MONSTER certainly isn't a masterpiece or even a good movie but at the same time there are enough interesting moments to make it worth viewing. Fans of the genre will certainly enjoy what Bava was able to do with such a small budget.

Somewhat of a "Blob" rip-off. Still, its unique style was apparent. One of the characters infected by the creature made this film memorable. Interesting cinematography added to the intense weirdness (typical Mexican/Italian). But, the monster was not half as interesting as the cast.

I hope someone makes a remake. If not this film, perhaps the Blob, which would be a second remake. With computer graphics, anything can happen. Just don't give it to Peter Jackson. He made King Kong almost an endeavor to watch.

I believe this film was made in Italy. Was on VHS, but I can't find it anywhere now.

Bunch us nine year olds saw 'Caltiki the Immortal Monster', late winter, 1964, scared us to death. Leave it to the Italians, them guys brought us DaVinci, Michaelangelo and the founders of Criminology and stlawart supporters of citizen firearms freedoms, Cesare Becaria and Cesare Lombroso, to scare us to death with this horrific gem.

You think I'm kidding? I'm not. Caltiki left me, my friend Cappy, now referred to as 'La Buonanima Billy', our pal Fort and the rest us all bad nervous back there, '64. The following summer of '64, another lifeflong friend, Judge Stephen, said that Caltiki scared him real good. That following autumn, new classmate, Reg, today revered as Maximo Aviator, expressed his portentious impressions of this masterpiece.

You think after seeing Caltiki on the Zenith Space Command Black & White TV, we'd go down cellar? No way. What? You nuts, something? Not on a dare, for fear big, fat, radioactive blob-ola, Signore Caltiki, was down there, the root cellar or maybe even the coal bin, just waiting for us to come down so it could inhale us and spit out our skulls, while it killed time by shuffling around and stuffing its pie-hole with Grandma's pickles - or maybe just Grandma herself. Had Caltiki no deceny? No. None whatsoever.

You remember that scene where Caltiki billows all over the room behind one them French door things? Whenever our parents would visit friends whose homes had them French door things, you think we weren't on edge, all sweaty, twitching? You bet we were. Wouldn't go near no French doors, ever, for fear La Caltikalazoni lurked hungrily behind it, just itching to grab us for a snack.

How about them eerie sound effects you hear whenever El Caltiki Grosso Romano went active and worked itself into a lather? At night, drifting off to sleep? We'd swear we could hear old Don Calteech and we'd jolt awake, listening intensely and in terror for any indication he might be downstairs, slurping water out the Guests' Toilet, figuring a way to come up and git us. Too vulgar to be believed.

No, you gotta see this guy here, Caltiki, you really gotta. Scared the living tar out us then as does it still today.

Caltiki the Immortal Monster is as well, a blatant and perfect Cold War period piece, a parable in which Caltiki represents the covetous, vengeful, all-devouring Monster known as World Communism, one which will be done away with at Armageddon. Do you take comfort in that thought? Me to. Most my buddies do too.

But that is another lecture in and of itself and for another time, yes?

See Caltiki. Make Don Calteech part of your Film Library. Sit up late at night, open the windows, gaze skyward, and wait for Osaluway or whatever was the name the comet them actors said would 'come in the night sky' and cause Caltiki to grow fatter than does my stomach after polishing off dinner aboard a cruise ship by slurping down coupla/three deserts. T

Now that is a terrifying sight indeed, is it not?

Paul Vincent Zecchino

Auteur Maximo

Manasota Key, Florida

23 February, 2011

This movie was better than Steve's McQueens Blob movie which was okay, but i thought Caltiki's story was more interesting and the effects was very good for the period of time that it came out. The effects was a okay in my book and when i saw it as a kid in the early 1960's, it scared the day lights out of me! I think it is one of the best movies of blob like movies that i ever did see. There's a lot of good movies within the past 60 some odd years that had blob like creatures or single cell protoplasm creatures in them. This i feel is one of the BEST films i ever did see. None hold barred! Caltiki the Immortal Monster is the best movie i ever saw and i highly recommend it to anyone!

Heading to a Mayan village, a team of scientists looking to understand the mystery surrounding the disappearance of a long-dead city only to come across a living blob of radioactive material that kills whatever it touches and continues to grow in size, forcing the team to stop its deadly rampage.

For the most part, this one wasn't all that bad of an effort. One of the most impressive efforts featured here is the absolutely stellar and imposing atmosphere created by the ruins within the temple. The large, elaborate caverns that make up the majority of the spaces within the temple that we witness here as well as the excessive and extreme look of the different statues and decorations placed through offers a really enjoyable and creepy opening. This is greatly enhanced by the rest of the atmosphere around the village outside, where the local tribe being shown hanging around the temple gives this some extra benefits. The scenes of them warning the team away through their somewhat suggestive dancing and their customs about dealing with the figure within the area gives this one a rather enjoyable setup. As well, the film's most impressive and important feature here is the action scenes with the giant blob in action, getting off some really impressive scenes. The creatures' first appearance in the underwater cavern and attacks the member of the expedition starts this off with a great sequence, leading into the wild attempts to stop it that drives the film going forward as the second half gives this some more wild creature action in the village as now only does the rapidly-growing creature running loose but also the deformed victim trying to seek help for his condition in the wrong manner yet still leaving this one with a strong and frenetic finale that has so much to like. Coupled with the fine gore effects for the devoured bodies, these manage to hold it up rather well over its flaws. The main issue to be had here is where the middle section of the film bogs down to the point of being utterly bland and boring. Once the monster is released and thought dead, it drops the creature feature format into being more about the research into the creatures' origins to the complete detriment of scenes featuring it still being active and around. Normally that would be changed around into keeping the monster around during that time-period as this one is just dull to get through with the technical jargon describing the creature and its history so this becomes rather boring. The other big letdown is the surprisingly obvious cheap-jack nature of the film, from the low-rent sets to the lack of extras and overall look of the film that's somewhat hard to get over. Otherwise, there's not a whole lot really wrong here.

Today's Rating/PG-13: Violence.

After a quick introduction, featuring a narrated history of the title goddess, CALTIKI, THE IMMORTAL MONSTER begins. A team of archaeologists venture into a newly discovered cave, looking for a missing comrade among some unexplored ruins. Fearing that their friend is in an underground lake, they return to their tents. A film was discovered which only deepens the mystery. Diving to the bottom of the lake, one of the scientists makes a very valuable discovery. Unfortunately, greed causes catastrophe, when something emerges from the lake. Something formless and of great size. When one scientist loses a limb to the creature, the team returns to Mexico City to study a piece that was cut from the organism. It is found that the creature is one single cell, that is millions of years old! Science and superstition merge as CALTIKI is explained. Alas, the wounded man, named Max Gunther (Gerard Herter), has become bitter and hateful. Said hatefulness leads Max to his fateful visit to the home where a part of the organism is being kept. That night just happens to be when a certain astronomical event takes place, that could make the monster unstoppable! CALTIKI scared the hell out of me as a kid! Watching it again, it's still effective, and the monster is just as creepy as I remembered it! While some of the miniatures are less-than convincing, the overall movie is quite good. Reminiscent of THE BLOB, THE CHICKEN HEART, X: THE UNKNOWN, etc., CALTIKI is one of the best of this squishy sub-sub-genre...

Caught this movie way back in the 60's on Supernatural Theater. The movie The Blob Starring Steve McQueen was made one year earlier to American audiences. The success of the film despite the poor screenplay and acting gave Italian film makers an idea, a spin off.This movie was filmed in Black and white with poor dubbing. A group of archaeologists stumble across a cave laden with gold with the Mayan Goddess Caltiki. They find skeletons near the gold but fail to realize that a blob like substance is in the adjacent pool. Greed gets the better of our explorers as the first diver is consumed and the second diver Max (Gerald Haerter) barely escapes but has his arm consumed by the blob. Then you see the mass rise up from the pool ready to digest anyone in it's path. The crew barely escapes as the mass follows them out of the cave . Luckily a gasoline truck crashes into the mass/blob and destroys it. Next the team returns to Mexico City as their injured colleague is tended to to remove the blob scraps from his arm. Dr John Fielding (John Merivale) takes the blob substance and puts in his mansion for further analysis. Ironically a comet that passes the Earth every 850 years causes the blob to grow. Reminds me of the George Romero narrative in the Night Of the Living Dead. The Good Dr. Fielding tries to convince the Mexican government to destroy the blob but they arrest him instead. Meanwhile Dr. Fielding's house is being consumed with his lovely Wife and Daughter inside. I just enjoyed the ride from start to finish . Till this day foreign film buffs wonder who handled the bulk of the direction in the film. Was it Ricardo Freda or Mario Bava? I enjoyed this picture much more than the Blob despite it's many flaws especially in the special effects department. At times the mass looked like heavily stained bed sheets being pulled too and fro. The English voices were very distinguished, especially Max's character deep and throaty in nature. Just another 50's spaghetti sci-fi production that will leave you full.

Caltiki has some connection to the Mayans. The monster is a big bag of jelly that has the ability to ingest human flesh. The plot has to do with a cave and lots of gold and trying to deal with this thing. I remember that the monster is amorphous, unlike the blob which was more like a congealed wad of bubble gum. The production value on this one is really lacking, but, in fairness, they probably only had a few bucks and a coupled months to pull it off. As is usually the case, people do lots of stupid things as they encounter this menace. I feel sad now that we have become so jaded that we can't produce a tacky equivalent to this. It would never make the screen.

The other people who reviewed and rated this mess must have watched a different movie than I did. This movie has absolutely no plot and it almost never makes sense. It takes place in Mexico yet there are no Mexicans. You can quickly tell that it's been dubbed into English without ever looking at the screen. They say "mustn't" a lot. Have you ever said "mustn't"? The star has a three year old nameless daughter who is clearly voiced by an adult. At one point her mom even calls her "the child". Normally I would tear apart a movie like this but I'm not writing ten paragraphs about a movie that no one should see. Just know that if you watch this, you can never get the 75 minutes back.

With Mario Bava being my favorite filmmaker of ALL time, I couldn't afford myself to miss out on "Caltiki" as this film – along with the equally impressive "I, Vampire" - marks his debut as a director and then still the poor man didn't receive the proper credit he deserved for it. Riccardo Freda, the official director of the two films, is also a fairly prominent and admirable name in the Italian horror/cult industry, but both films simply have Bava's style and trademarks written all over them. His already gained craftsmanship as a cinematographer and his visionary look on directing built up during the fifties undoubtedly are the main reasons why Bava became one of the greatest of all time; starting from the early 60's already (with the tremendously brilliant "Black Sunday") and onwards. "Caltiki" clearly is a blatant rip-off of other and hugely successful "unidentified monstrous substance attacking people" Sci-Fi movies from throughout the 50's decade, like "The Quatermass Experiment" and most obviously "The Blob". But there were "The Blob" is an overall disappointingly dull and politically correct thriller, this Italian dish of deliciousness is a downright outrageous and extremely fast-paced shocker. The main characters are much more vivid and identifiable, the body count lies much higher, the violence is more confronting and the special effects and make-up art are more explicit than those featuring in American and British horror productions of that era. And still, in spite of the familiar concept, the screenplay of "Caltiki" nevertheless attempts (and often succeeds, I may add) to bring some variety and inventiveness. The titular monster doesn't come from outer space, for once, and it doesn't necessarily have to consume human flesh in order to grow in size or strength. "Caltiki" has always resided here on earth and relies on radiation instead to become more dangerous. It very much likes to turn victims into skeletons, but doesn't have to! How cool is that? A group of scientists and their whiny women embark on an expedition near an ancient Mayan temple in order to finally find out why an entire civilization just disappeared in a nick of time. Shortly after a volcano eruption it becomes clear to them that the lake underneath the temple homes a hideous and unstoppable monster. They have the opportunity to bring back a piece of the monstrous substance when the greediest member of the crew nearly loses his arm trying to reach for a piece of treasure when he clearly shouldn't have. Instead of researching the matter, they quickly find themselves battling the thing again as it grows in size and hunger. "Caltiki" is packed with suspense and an unexpectedly large amount of violence and disturbing imagery.

Very good late 50's, Italian-made horror/sci-fi film. An archaeological expedition, searching some Mayan ruins, comes up with a blobish-like life form that wipes out a couple of their personnel and seriously injures another until they destroy it with fire. They go back to civilization taking their comrade and a piece of the tripey looking thingy for research. The injured scientist who is left scarred and maimed was a bit of a cad and a jerk and now adds dangerous insanity to his resume. In the meantime a comet flies by and reactivates all pieces of Caltiki (the blob-tripe) and things really start to multiply. Enjoyable and entertaining. Beautiful moody black-and-white photography, done I believe by Mario Bava. Any other DVD version can't compare with the Arrow Video BluRay + DVD release. Has a lot of extras too. Highly recommended.

As I read some of the other reviews, how kids were terrified by this, I have to laugh. I first saw it on TV when I was about 5, and even then found it inferior to The Blob. Having said that, it is a fun movie. The monster is creepy and for 1959, there are some really gruesome effects. I wish someone would re-release it with better dubbing. It seems that every foreign sf/horror/fantasy film from the 60's used the same six voices. This is a fun movie to see. In terms of Blob movies, I'd rate them: X-The Unknown, The Quatermass Xperiment, The Blob (58), The Blob (88). All fun movies.

I'd never heard of this one until yesterday, and now I find out that Mario Bava was involved too. That's nice, seeing as I've just watched Baron Blood. This is a proper creature feature, and the creature featured is one of my favourites – a man-eating blob!

This one is called Caltiki and our very white scientists discover him while mooching around some Mayan ruins looking for some cool jewellery to pawn at the local Cash Converters. We begin with one scientist staggering back to the camp, howling about Caltiki and how his mate has gone missing. Our other scientists (one is our square-jawed, married hero and the other a snivelling snidey guy who's hitting on our hero's wife) go looking for the missing guy and find some camera footage, which makes the film turn in Cannibal Holocaust for a couple of minutes.

The film shows the two guys finding a cave revealed by a recent volcanic eruption which leads to a temple to Caltiki. Suddenly, they are attacked by some unknown creature, which prompts the rest of the expedition to head down there and instantly forget about finding the missing guy after they find a huge stash of gold at the bottom of an underground lake. Dismissing the many, many skeletons lying around, a diver goes for the gold, gets attacked, and comes back to the surface minus his face. As the huge blob Caltiki attacks the rest of them, the snidey guy tries to get the gold and gets all the skin from his arm dissolved.

Our hero is having none of it and drives a truck full of gas into the cave, cooking Caltiki and saving the day. However, this is only fifteen minutes into the film, so maybe everyone should start worrying about that small piece of blob stuck to that guy's melted arm…and the fact that the guy's going nuts…and the radioactive comet that's passing by Earth (don't dwell too much on that plot point or you'll go nuts).

I wasn't expecting too much from a horror film made in 1959, but I was wrong. Freda (or Bava, depending who actually made it) knew that if you have a giant blob, you've got to have it eat people, fight the military, and destroy things, so that's what they have Caltiki do here. The special effects are quite well done (using tripe…very Roman!) and there's a lot of miniature effects on display too. There's the added bonus of the film only being seventy-five minutes long.

Giacomo Rossi-Stuart appears as a professors assistant who is dubbed with a rather camp voice and is there mainly to explain the strange comet sub-plot which barely makes any sense. Talking about not making any sense, I'm not sure quite what forced the professor to swerve off a cliff (unless it really was because he was thinking too much about the blob), and I'm also not sure why the military were dispatched before the hero could convince the cops there was such a thing as a giant man- eating blob.

Nice!