Beast from Haunted Cave (1959) watch online HD

One of the rarest experiences for a B-movie fanatic is to find a film you haven't seen in 30-plus years is much better than your childhood memory of it. While "Beast From Haunted Cave" was obviously made on a shoestring -- it's a Gene "Brother Of Roger" Corman production, so what do you expect? -- first-time director Monte Hellman (The Shooting, Two Lane Blacktop) had a better-than-average script and capable actors, not to mention a director of photography who made effective use of the stark winter landscape near Deadwood, South Dakota.

The film starts out slow as a gang plans and executes a robbery, but then it veers off into darker territory as they and their guide are trailed to the hideout by a surprisingly well-realized and startlingly nasty monster.

This is by no means a perfect film: There are occasional stumbles in motivation, dialogue and the timing of events, yet for me these inconsistencies actually contributed to an atmosphere of dreamlike disorientation as the story plays out against the bleached-bone white of the snow and the soot-black shadows of winter pines. The plight of the Beast's victims -- cocooned alive, and fully aware as it feeds on them -- yields a heaping helping of shudders.

The DVD transfer (I'm talking about the most recent release, not the one paired with "The Brain That Wouldn't Die") was made from an excellent print; the soundtrack is quite clear. You may recognize the score as the same used for "Attack Of The Giant Leeches" and -- I think -- "Night Of The Blood Beast": These guys knew how to recycle!

Even with its defects, this is a distinctly weird and surprisingly gruesome chiller, a fine example of how much can be accomplished even with limited resources.

This is chilling in more ways than one: actually filmed in the cold, snowy Dakotas, it's the story of crooks who create a diversion by blowing up a cave, so they can rob a nearby town. Trouble is they've disrupted the lair of a vampiric spidery beast which follows them as they head toward a hide-out in the forest. This is a truly eerie effort, enhanced by ripe dialogue, excellent direction (Monte Hellman), co-produced by the Corman brothers, to maximum effect. The music is especially shuddery, also used in at least "Attack of the Giant Leeches" (1958), "Night of the Blood Beast" (1958) and "The Wasp Woman" (1959). Three performers never reached their potential: Richard Sinatra as a crook (and relative of Frank's) only made a few pictures, Frank Wolff, the head honcho, committed suicide 12 years later at age 40, and lastly Sheila Carol, who did only 3 films, and is memorable as the Lauren Bacall-ish, unhappy moll who longs for the kidnapped guide (Michael Forest), but is stuck with the abusive Wolff. The final sequence in the atmospheric cave, (pre-dates "Alien" - 1979), will give you nightmares for years.

when I saw it on TV, back in the mid-sixties, when I was about 14 years old. I was then, and continue to be, a lover of horror films. For some reason, this one really got to me, more than just about any other in this genre, except maybe "The Pit and the Pendulum". I don't recall now just what the beast looked like but I recall that it was suitably realistic for its time. It took a while for the story to get moving but was well worth the wait. I recall that I was truly horrified as the beast fed on its living victims. I had some nasty dreams for several weeks after seeing it. I haven't viewed this movie since then but would definitely jump at the chance. I recommend it.

Drive-in classic is the first time cult director Monte Hellman made a feature. Here its the story of a bunch of gangsters on the run after a robbery who hide out in a cabin in the mountains. Adding to the complications is a monster lurking in a near by cave. As the gangsters try to figure out how to get away from the law they also have to deal with the monster who is whittling away at their number.

Its a creepy little movie thats perfect for late night movie viewing on a cold winters night. Far from the greatest film ever made its just an enjoyable little horror film that manages to balance both the crime and monster (although I'm the first to admit that the monster at times seems to have been a secondary thought.) Worth a look and a bag of popcorn, especially on Halloween.

(The running time of this movie was originally 65 minutes. Additional scenes were added for TV broadcasts)

This film details the plot of a group of gold-robbers who unwittingly run into trouble when they become stalked by a strange spider-like beast while hiding out from the police in the woods.

This film is Slow..very slow..too slow for most people to stick with till the end and that's a shame as the ending has a surprisingly effective climatic showdown with the monster which is certainly entertaining. There's some decent thoughtful dialogue in this movie as well.

In the great scheme of all things cinematic this is certainly not a great movie, but it is in many ways an intriguing one. Made in 1959, it is billed as and pretends to be another example of the '50s creature-features, but it largely eschews the standard formatting of those films for a deeper, character-driven narrative, more in common with subsequent films of the sixties and beyond. In that sense, it is slightly ahead of its time.

In fact, the horror elements take a back seat for much of the film, which plays more as a drama of tensions between a band of criminals and the skiing guide they have hired as part of their cover story. From this point of view, the film's real strengths come to light. The characters are written as though they could be actual people and not just devices to move the plot along, as some earlier films of the genre tended to portray their casts. The photography is very good, and there is a superb performance by Sheila Noonan as a troubled moll, one that virtually carries the movie and makes it much more interesting whenever she is on screen.

While the characterization is good for a B-movie, the writing is somewhat uneven. There are some quite deep philosophical insights offered up by the characters, such as the benefits of city life versus country living. If the writer wanted to take these musings in a more serious direction, perhaps this could have been Beast From Plato's Cave. But we can't read too much into a film where the guide's sister - Kay Jennings in a neat little performance - tries to sweet-talk a handsome stranger with the line "Did I tell you I knitted this sweater?" to which he replies "Is knitting your scene?" Some find the ending quite disturbing and scary for a film of its time. Others may find it somewhat flimsy and rushed. Either way, this film still has enough going for it to rate as a must-see for the serious fans of the genre.

In a skiing station in Dakota, a gang of criminals leaded by Alexander "Alex" Ward (Frank Wolff) plans the heist of golden bars from a small bank. While the lover of Alex, Gypsy Boulet (Sheila Carol), goes to an isolated cabin with the ski instructor Gil Jackson (Michael Forest), a time bomb explodes a cave to divert the attention of the locals and the gangsters steal the gold. But the explosion releases a spider-like monster and due to a storm, the group becomes trapped in Gil's cabin and threatened by the creepy beast.

The debut of Monte Hellman as director is a typical trash movie of the 50's. The story is not bad; the low budget effects are very poor and laughable; the heroine is gorgeous; the sudden conclusion gives the sensation that the shooting was interrupted; and the cover of the Brazilian DVD is extremely funny with the following text: "Young girls scared and sucked by a maze of horror and blood of a hunger beast from hell", which is delightfully funny and ridiculous, since the story has nothing to do with it. In spite of these remarks, I like this type of film, which are part of mine childhood, therefore "Beast From Haunted Cave" is a good entertainment at least for me. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "A Besta da Caverna Assombrada" ("The Beast From the Haunted Cave")

Well, it was the last entry in a a Roger Corman´s tribute DVD that I

bought couple weeks ago. The other movies were "Creature of the

haunted sea" and "The Wasp woman". I think this is the best

movie of this trilogy. ** SPOILERS ** I love the atmosferic final 10

minutes of film, especially when we realize that the beast sucks

the blood of its victims in the cave, where it kept people captive. I

think it was very impressive from 50s audience ** SPOILER

ENDS** Now I know were Ridley Scott and James Cameron took some

ideas for Alien saga. It' a must see for any creature fan or early

sci-fi/horror fan.

This was another childhood late late show haunting memory I saw some time back. Still excruciatingly SLOOOOOOW til the final exciting fifteen minutes of fame. HOWEVER, the characters are a bit better developed than usual, AND director Hellman (who went on to direct Jack Nicholson in some interesting 7O's cult films) cut his teeth fairly well on this early low budget effort by creating a dark and eerie haunting mood and morbidly chilling atmosphere.

We know the basic plot, but the genre reversal has its offbeat merits: the gangsters-on-the-lame crime noir tale that gradually slides into a scary supernatural story. 'Twilight Zone' and 'Thriller' used those narrative techniques effectively in building mystery and high-edged suspense. There are those few moments throughout when the Lovecraftian creature appears like a phantom from out of the cold darkness and attacks various charactors - and they still shook me.

'Blair Witch' took some subtle clues here of the fear of the unseen lurking menace that can see you, but you can't see it.

WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS

However, it's the last part where they finally encounter the beast in the cave that makes up for lost time. The monster is original and quite freakishly scary - and, to top the monster-menu, it's also inhabited by the evil revengeful Indian Warrior. Not a tame mix. This beast can suddenly move fast-as-hell and be upon you just like that -once its got you, that's all folks. And that blood-sucking scene was quite morbid for the time - even now. No gore, just a scary mood topped with final frightening action - GRIM GUSTO.

The actors do well enough that I came to know them a bit and even cared somewhat as to their dire fate in haunted cave. The ending stayed with me for a long time after my first 12 year old viewing. Yes, you can see an early 'Alien' precursor here.

The interestingly weird spider-like monster outfit was personally designed and operated from within by actor Chris Robinson, who appeared in supporting roles on "Outer Limits", "Fugitive" and "Invaders" as well as other mostly low budget, but notable films, later in the sixties. I wholeheartingly applaud his creative ingenuity and esoteric determination - who else would wear that bloody thing?

Like most B&W 5O's B's, it looks best at 2:OO AM. Corman was a sufficient wiz at these endeavors and always lent a strange absorbing charm and appealing offbeat character to these minor atmospheric gems; that often surprised me by being just a little bit better than I had anticipated.

Be ready to fast-forward during the drawn-out middle section. Climax is grisly, but it's the wicked stuff of good B horror. GIVE BEAST A CHANCE.

P.S. Did a younger Kubrick ever see this? The weird idea of the haunting, accursed Indian Spirit is a little similar to "The Shining's" supernatural Indian folklore theme. BRRRRRR! ,

When budgets are low you have to hope that story, script and/or good camera-work will carry a project. They certainly do here in a slow-moving, scene-setting and altogether superior b-movie.

Lovely scenery, a nice crossover story and gently appropriate music combine well to create a film with genuine qualities.

"Humphrass" was the behind the scenes pet name devised by actor Chris Robinson for his creature creation, a mysterious, web spinning, somewhat arachnid-like animal that stalks a small group of people in the South Dakota wilderness. Some of these people are criminals who came to stage a gold robbery, using an explosion in a cave as a diversion. Unfortunately, by doing so, they unleashed the beast, which occasionally catches up to its prey in order to do some pretty creepy things to them.

A 27 year old Monte Hellman, future icon of independent cinema (and director of classics like "Cockfighter", "The Shooting", and "Two-Lane Blacktop") made his directorial debut with this obviously low, low budget effort, done for producer Gene Corman and his brother Roger. On the whole, the movie isn't a great one, but it's under rated as far as this kind of B picture goes. It's got some genuinely spooky atmosphere, and Hellman and Robinson (himself star of such features as "Stanley") do their best to keep the monster in the shadows until the time arrives to show it in all its glory. And what a monster it is. It doesn't really look like anything seen on screen, before or since. It's wispy, long limbed, and has a largely featureless head.

The creature sequences are the main reason to watch, but not the only one. The extremely moody cinematography is by Andrew M. Costikyan; Alexander Laszlo does the effective music. The screenplay is by Roger Cormans' frequent collaborator, the talented Charles B. Griffith, and it does have some good dialogue. (Basically, the scenario is a reworking of the earlier Corman flick "Naked Paradise", but with a monster added.) There are some interesting characters in the bunch, especially gangsters' moll Gypsy (Sheila Noonan), who is already depressed and defeated at age 26. The acting is generally solid - Michael Forest is a likable hero, Frank Wolff appropriately despicable as the criminal mastermind, Corman favorite Wally Campo amiable as comedy relief guy Byron, and Richard Sinatra (Franks' cousin) has a solid presence as young punk Marty. Robinson does a good job at creating a nightmarish creature character that could easily spook younger children.

Not bad, this one. It's definitely worth a look.

Seven out of 10.

The film clearly was done on little money, but there are a number of matters that elevate it above other cheap monster films of the era.

Charles Griffith does a much better job with dialog than he did in It Conquered the World or Little Shop of Horrors. There's some actual meaning in the banter. Furthermore, it is delivered in an interesting style that also might derive from the low budget, so that chunks of the dialog are oddly timed, and naturalistic for that. I was only half-watching early on, and suddenly the delivery of the lines made me really attend to the thing.

I liked Sinatra in this--never heard of him before watching this movie.

As others have said, it's slow in the middle, fairly exciting at the end.

A bunch of gangsters holed up in a remote ski cabin face off against a giant monster...or something. But that doesn't really happen until the last 10 minutes or so! The rest is just a so-so gangster drama dealing with the members and their interactions. The monster is just incidental to the plot.

The movie isn't terrible. The script is OK (if predictable) and there's a very good performance by Sheila Carol. Also they manage to actually work up a few scary moments. But the rest of the acting is lousy, there's endless padding (even at 65 minutes) and it's never explained what the monster is or how it came into being (it's suggested once...then dropped).

I've seen worse but I've seen better too. An OK time waster--nothing more.

The Corman family (notably Roger) has this nasty habit of padding a movie with lots of walking. Oh sure, there are variations on the theme. Generally, though you will find yourself subjected to a tour of Bronson Canyon, or wherever they decided to film that day's movie. Brother Gene has added variety by giving us lots of SKIING!!

The plot involves four theives who stage a mine explosion in South Dakota to divert the town's attention while the bank is relieved of gold bars - but only six bars! Why six? Why, they're going cross-country skiing to the lodge of a local man, and that's all they can carry. From there, they will hop a plane to Canada. Unfortunately, there's a monster following the crooks, sort of a cross between a spider and Bigfoot with extra floppy arms.

If it all sounds odd, that's because it is. The tension between the boss (I suspect it's really Donald Sutherland undercover) and his *ahem* secretary is almost palpable. Frank Sinatra's cousin's performance is outstanding, definitely paving the way for Frank Stallone's run of fame years later.

The disturbing thing is that if these crooks are into putting their fellow fireworks manufacturers out of business, why are we robbing banks in South Dakota? Let's face it, South Dakota is not known for much other than Sturgis and it's motorcycle rally. I'm trying to figure out how partially robbing a bank in South Dakota cements your claim to the fireworks empire. Fortunately, I have other things to worry about other than these jokers.

Sterno says spin your spider web somewhere else.

This is actually a pretty interesting little crime-horror film. It surprised me. Really they could have changed it to just a crime film-noir and the movie would have been just as good but I like the horror aspect of the film.

The movie is just as the plot-summary states "A group of gold thieves pull of a heist and flee into the snowy wilderness, only to be pursued by a horrible, spider-like monster." but it's actually better than one might expect it to be.

This is a fun popcorn B-flick. I had a ball watching it. It's not the greatest horror film on the market but it is entertaining.

6/10

On paper, this simply couldn't go wrong! The long-feature debut of brilliant director/producer Monte Hellman ("Two-Lane Backtop", "Cockfighter"), owing its existence to legendary producer Roger Corman, and fully belonging in one of my favorite cinematic hypes of all time: cheap 50's monstrous B-movies! Evidently, a whole lot went wrong… From sheer boring dialogs over irrelevant sub plots and onwards to a largely absent and – above all – uninspired titular monster design. The "beast" looks like a vague shape covered in cobwebs and that's just plain lame; even according to zero-budget 50's horror standards. The basic plot definitely holds potential, and for the first 20 minutes or so, I felt convinced I was watching a undiscovered gem of the genre. But the, incomprehensibly, the plot somehow stopped evolving and became an unendurably boring ordeal to struggle through. A quartet of gangsters carefully planned a risky gold heist near a skiing resort. Whilst the drunken love interest already embarks on a skiing trip with the instructor, the other three break into a bank before joining the others. During their perfect alibi, however, the assembly encounters (eventually) a hairy and aggressive monster living in the mountain caves. "Beast from Haunted Cave" is a nearly insufferably dull film, and that's all the more painful to acknowledge due to the promising intro. The heist concept is ingenious, the characters are intriguing (the girl is a manic depressive drunk and one of the robbers is a womanizer) and the ski-resort setting is quite effective (cashing in on the contemporary Abominable Snowman paranoia). The rudimentary plot ingredients for a charming 50's monster-mayhem flick are well present, but I'm extremely reluctant to announce this movie is an utter failure. Disappointing to the nth degree…

There are not many movies I will sit and watch twice in a row, but I love this movie ! Not because it is an award winner but because it has unique characters and dialog. I enjoyed the entire storyline, it has suspense, romance, danger, and a monster. This is one of my top five Roger Corman flicks. I like the bad guys, I like the good guys, their all quirky yet very likable people. This is not a slasher / splatter film. This film has a beginning, middle and end without a lot of gore and sex. The sex is hinted at, so it makes it more interesting, just like the monster is hinted at until it is ready to pop out and scare you :) This movie is not in any big hurry. The characters have actual conversations, that is not to say there isn't any suspense, you just have to relax and let it happen.

Thieves in a ski resort set off an explosion in an abandoned mine-shaft and use the distraction to allow them to easily steal some gold from a vault in town. They make an escape to the hills, taking two people hostage with them. Unfortunately, their earlier explosion unwittingly unleashed a giant spider-like monster, a creature that subsequently goes on a killing spree.

Beast from Haunted Cave is a creature feature which doesn't play out nearly as generically as most of its peers. For one thing it is a hybrid of the crime and horror genres, which is not something you see as often as you might think. The much later From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) still stands out even now on account of this unusual combination, well Beast from Haunted Cave is a decidedly much earlier example of this genre mash-up. Maybe because of this, it has more emphasis on characterisation than most other creature features too. It even features Frank Wolff as the lead bad guy; Wolff, of course, would go on to star in several good B-movies as well as appear in Sergio Leone's masterpiece Once Upon a Time in the West (1968).

This film also benefits quite a bit from being set in the snowy regions. I have an automatic soft-spot for films set in the snow but in all honesty it is relatively unusual for these types of flicks to be set there and it does help make the movie more distinctive. But perhaps the most considerable aspect of this one is its horror elements. We have victims of the creature entrapped high up in a web like thing, in a half-dead like state; this would be an idea that would be repeated twenty years later in Ridley Scott's Alien (1979) in disturbing scenes added later to the director's cut. Furthermore, the final showdown in the haunted cave of the title are genuinely scary, especially so for a movie of this vintage. The monster is a quite unsettling creation all things considered. The film itself is still no classic in fairness but it is distinctive in that it does do certain things very well and so can be considered a 50's horror flick of some interest.

Last night I actually came across a classic B film that I had never seen so I sat down to watch "Beast From Haunted Cave". The picture was directed by Monte Hellman. The same man who went on later to film the straight to video slasher flick "Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out!" in 1989. This movie which was shot in South Dakota seemed a bit more risky in its choice of dialog than your typical 50's horror story. So right away I gave this picture a little more respect than I normally would. "Beast From Haunted Cave" tells the story of bank robbers fleeing in the snow who run afoul of a giant spider that feeds on humans.

As for the character relations for "Beast" my opinion is much the same as my opinion toward any 50's films. I just don't get that people related to one another in such offensive and atypical repertoire. I guess the lack of modern technologies and information we now have really stunted people emotionally in prior generations. I am not sure what it is but even though I like a lot of old black & white movies I never quite comprehend peoples single pointed view of one another in the dialogue. It is just part of the culture gap thing, I guess.

Anyway despite my ignorance of the 50's mentality I still enjoyed the fact that this movie was pretty progressive in its subject matter when it came time to display loose morals and wild behavior of the characters. Drinking at ten in the morning, premarital sex, and lude conduct, as much as the censors would have aloud in your 1953's cinema was ahead of it's time and showed the first signs of your now classic set up for creature features. There is the group of wayward souls set out in unknown territory, up to no good. Then you have the local legend, attention to animal attacks, followed by the reveal of the true monster plaguing the land.

In "Beast From Haunted Cave" there is actually only one hint as to why this creature existed. Mining in the region had unearth some prehistoric creation. This is the only hint as to how the creature came to be that I could tell. It was also the only mention as to industrialism expanding into nature and the consequences' that could result. This film managed not to be arrogantly preachy. It was just your basic drive-in monster movie. I love it when movies just play out the story with out spelling out the set up or true intent of the picture. This was one of the first classic stories that felt like it was meant purely for entertainment.

The story is a good simple one that just start, as if the story is already being told and we just peeked in during the crucial moments of these peoples lives. It was not over acted, well by 50's standards the melodrama was down played. The monster stays in the shadows except during crucial moments, so the fact that the creature looks cheap is excusable. It is a cool classic b-movie that I had never seen and I actually enjoyed it.

After making a getaway from the authorities with a ransom of gold, a group of thieves' plan to use an accident at a ski resort unwittingly releases a giant spider-like creature that puts a halt on their escape plans as it hunts them down one-by-one.

This was a decent but enjoyable effort that really works a lot better than it should, despite some noticeable flaws. The main part is the haphazardly-edited finale, which is so chaotic and confusing that there's no way to tell what's going on in any of the scenes and the method of killing the creature gets lost in the fray due to this, it's all done so fast. At times the creature looks way too cheesy and doesn't really seem a part of the scene at all with the way it's imposed onto the image, and the only time you see it in full is at the end which is quite confusing. That leaves a large portion of time on useless features where the cast is forced to go through their different story lines which just aren't that interesting or enjoyable with the heist or the group's distrust of each other really making for some lame times. That said, the suspense of the attacks works well with a few creepy moments, the film is never really all that slow so it's got a nice pace to it and the overall design of the monster creates quite an impression. Those are enough to make up for some of the flaws.

Today's Rating/PG: Violence.

One of the better Corman-stable creature features that emerged from the fifties, with sturdy Mike Forest playing a ski instructor and model citizen who unknowingly chaperone's a quartet of thieves on their getaway following a bank heist, under the pretense of a wilderness adventure. Bad guy Frank Wolff and his 'secretary' moll (Sheila Carol) bicker constantly about their crumbling criminal relationship, Carol wanting a better life, Wolff content to milk the cow for all it's worth. Amid all the intrigue, a blood-sucking snow beast is on the loose, looking for sauce bottles for its cave pantry.

I thought Charles B.Griffith's dialogue was particularly good, with the film noir like metaphorical banter servicing the picture well. While something of a poor-man's Lizabeth Scott, Sheila Carol does a reasonable job as the near-wasted jezebel whose boredom is barely contained by her lust for liquor, seeing the opportunity for a clean future with conservative salt of the earth type Mike Forest - the antithesis of Frank Wolff's ruthless, selfish stand-over man. Forest and Wolff are both very good and manage to make a lot out of a little.

Hellman's direction style is slow paced and detailed even at 75 minutes, but he still manages to land the hooks when it matters - the beast's 'stocked' pantry and the climax (though brief) offer some genuine thrills (relative to the B-scale). It needs to be kept in the context of a Corman 50's monster movie, and if you view it in that lens then it should entertain.

I hereby inaugurate a 10-movie tribute to the director of this film on the occasion of his birthday; I had always been interested in catching up with the horror/thriller hybrid under review, as much due to my fondness for the former genre as Hellman's own well-deserved reputation (here making his debut). I had even intended purchasing the Synapse DVD but balked at the hefty price-tag of their bare-bones edition (especially when considering that this is a 'Public Domain' title); as often happens, after going the extra mile to acquire the film, it turned up virtually unheralded on Italian TV (albeit in the original language)!

Anyway, the version I watched was the slightly extended one – running 72 minutes against the official 64, though I have no idea what constitutes the additional footage. By the way, the film is reportedly a semi-remake of a very minor Roger Corman outing called NAKED PARADISE (1957); incidentally, this one was produced by his brother Gene! It is obviously a low-budgeted effort whose lack of proper funds is mainly evident in the muffled soundtrack and the sparse, indistinct appearance of the tentacled, wraith-like titular monster itself (which is seen stalking the gang throughout and eerily keeps its victims, still alive, in a cocoon – the latter scenes are said to have inspired the ALIEN films to some degree)!

The main plot deals with a skiing trip (complete with instructor/guide) and an explosion in a cave (the ongoing excavation works had unearthed the prehistoric{?} beast to begin with!) being used as cover for a heist of gold ingots from the neighboring small town. The gang is the usual assortment of tensed-up types: a quarrelsome couple (he being played by future "Euro-Cult" regular Frank Wolff and she a hard-drinking nymphomaniac); a slightly beefy and nervous young man which, however, does not preclude him from eyeing a couple of ladies along the way (played by Frank Sinatra's cousin Richard{!}, he is the first to come into contact with the monster and also the one to ultimately dispatch it); and the obligatory comic relief character who is easily the least interesting and most annoying (especially when turned on by the hero's Hispanic maid!); the male lead, too, is the customary handsome fellow to whom the movie's female counterpart becomes attracted, in spite of her husband's repeated warnings to steer clear (a situation which eventually erupts into a violent row that involves practically all the protagonists), and whose own sister flirts with Sinatra but exits the picture soon after very early on into the movie!

The thieves-hiding-out-in-a-snowy-locale element of the plot (for the record, the film was made concurrently with Roger Corman's negligible war adventure SKI TROOP ATTACK {1960}) recalls Jacques Tourneur's fine, recently-viewed noir NIGHTFALL (1957) – having mentioned Corman, he would himself repay the tribute done him by Hellman here by remaking it yet again (monster included this time around, and with a similar title to boot) as CREATURE FROM THE HAUNTED SEA (1961)!; since I also own the latter, I will be watching it as a companion piece to this one…and, reportedly, Hellman was actually engaged to shoot new scenes in order to expand its length for the TV version! On the other hand, the effective (if somewhat rushed) climax of BEAST seems to have influenced the finale to John Carpenter's THE THING (1982; itself a remake of the 1951 Howard Hawks sci-fi classic)! In the end, Hellman only returned to the horror genre when he needed the money to get his inherently personal projects off the ground – resulting in the straight-to-video sequel SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT III: BETTER WATCH OUT! (1989)...

I recently obtained a copy of Beast From Haunted Cave and found it rather eerie. I had been after it for a while.

A group of thieves flee into the snow fields of South Dakota and take refuge in an isolated log cabin (which is the home of one of them), little do they know they are being followed by a tentacled cobweb monster which wants to kill them. After killing a local barmaid, the group is gradually picked off one by one until there are two survivors, a man and woman who fall in love. The man eventually kills the beast by blowing it up in the cave mentioned in the title. Several of the people had been cocooned in there by the beast and it had sucked their blood.

This movie has a little known cast, although Richard Sinartra is Frank's nephew. The rather haunting music score keeps the movie eerie and atmospheric throughout. There is some nice scenary too.

I rather enjoyed this movie which was produced by Roger Corman and is a lot better than his Creature From the Haunted Sea that followed later.

Rating: 3 and a half stars out of 5.

A group of criminals steal gold from the bank and then hide themselves from police in the cabin of ski instructor while there is spider like monster on the loose who feeds from human blood.

'Beast from Haunted Cave' was filmed in the same location with Roger Corman's 'Ski Troop Attack' with some of the cast and crew members the same. Corman hired Monte Hellman to direct to whom it was first feature film and later went on to direct such cult classics like 'Ride in the Whirlwind' and 'Two-Lane Blacktop'. Screenplay was written by Corman's regular collaborator Charles B. Griffith who reworked it from his earlier screenplay of 'Naked Paradise' That is the reason 'Beast' is sometimes called the remake of 'Naked Paradise' with the monster. The acting is good in the most parts and the directing is bit uneven. Although with short running time, the middle part of the film drags and starts to fall into melodramatic territories, but when the monster attacks second time, the film picks up pace again. Design of the monster is pleasantly effective (on all the wrong reasons), but it is not as laughable like some others in low budgeted B-movies from that era.

It is not totally bad movie and it definitely has its moments, but all in all 'Beast from Haunted Cave' is pretty generic monster fare with crime film background.

Beast from Haunted Cave (1959)

** (out of 4)

Slow-moving but mildly entertaining horror film from director Monte Hellman has a group of thieves stealing some gold and deciding to hide out in the snowy mountains. Their plan seems to be working at first but soon they come across a giant spider deep within the cave.

This here was an early Roger Corman production and like a lot of the films from this era you soon realize that they were working with very little money, which means that there's going to be a lot of talking and very little action. One of the Corman's most known sayings was how when you're monster looks bad it's best to keep it hidden. That pretty much happens in BEAST FROM HAUNTED CAVE as the spider is rarely seen outside of a part here or a part there. The bad costume finally shows up at the very end but at that point it's too late to turn the film off.

I thought the cast were decent for what they were asked to do, which was basically hit their marks and say their lines. The cast were at least interesting enough to keep you glued to the movie and to stick with it longer than you probably would have otherwise. The spider creature design is obviously very cheap but there's some mild charm that you can take from it.

Hellman would go onto make much better cult movies but this one here was mildly entertaining as long as you don't take it too serious.