Film Masters unleashes two classics of the drive-in era that were originally released as a double bill together. Originally released in 1959 by producer Gordon McLendon (Escape to Victory,  and My Dog Buddy) and director Ray Kellogg (My Dog Buddy and The Green Berets). Kellogg was a lot more prolific as a visual effects artist, taking in The King and I, Love Me Tender and The Girl Can’t Help It among many others. Both The Giant Gila Monster and Killer Shrews were deemed to be amateurish classics of the B-movie generation. Both films have been restored, The Giant Gila Monster is taken from a brand new 4k scan from original 35mm archival materials, whilst The Killer Shrews is described as a restored HD print of the movie.

Disc One features The Giant Gila Monster, a product of the times, it tells the story of a giant mutated Gila Monster attacking a small rural Texas town. After a young couple, Pat and Liz, are attacked in their car by the creature, the couple and their car are sent careering into a ravine. A search is launched for the couple, headed up by the local sheriff (Fred Graham, The Crimson Ghost, Congo Bill and Bandits of the Badlands) ably assisted by their friends including hot rod racing petrolhead Chase Winstead (Don Sullivan, The Monster of Piedras Blancas, The Rebel Set and Seven Guns to Mesa). Chase finds his friend’s car abandoned with blood inside but no bodies. Meanwhile, the monster continues its rampage causing major accidents and eating livestock. Can Chase find a way to stop the monster before it reaches the local dance where all of the town’s teenagers are taking part in a sock hop, and what actually happened to Pat and Liz?

The Giant Gila Monster remains a fun staple of the 1950s Cold War science fiction scene. Not the best of the films from that era, however, it’s an enjoyable slice of low-budget cheese. The performances of the cast are pretty solid, particularly  Sullivan, who is believable as the lead character, Chase. The film looks as good as it ever has and probably better. The new 4k scan brings renewed life to an old movie. The disc also gives you the option to watch the movie in both theatrical and TV formats, as well as adding an audio commentary from the Monster Party Podcast team and an archival interview with Don Sullivan.

Disc Two features The Killer Shrews. Shot back to back with The Giant Gila Monster, it’s more of the same cheesy low-budget Cold War Sci-fi. After delivering supplies to a research centre on a remote island, Captain Thorne Sherman (James Best, Roscoe P Coltrane from The Dukes of Hazzard TV series) and his first mate “Rook” Griswold (Judge Henry Dupree, whose only other performance was in My Dog Buddy) are meant to leave immediately with Scientist, Marlowe Craigis’  (Baruch Lumet, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Sex and The Pawnbroker) daughter Ann (Ingrid Goude, Never Steal Anything and Once Upon A Horse), however, there is a big storm brewing and they decide to wait out the storm on the island. 

Marlowe has been attempting to isolate the genes responsible for growth and metabolism in order to shrink humans in order to reduce the impact of human overpopulation, and he has been using shrews as his test subjects. Unfortunately, the shrews have mutated to the size of wolves and are now reproducing in the wild on the island and have become a threat to human life. The group become isolated in the compound and must try to find a way off the island. 

Not the worst film ever made, in fact, the storyline is pretty strong and the performances are good, however, the shrews themselves are blatantly dogs dressed in costumes, whilst in close-ups, puppets are used to represent the mutant killers. Once again, much like with The Giant Gila Monster the film looks as good as it ever has. The disc also features a documentary about director Kellogg, a collection of radio spots for each film and an audio commentary by author, Jason A. Ney.

Overall, this is an excellent set for two much-loved cult classics, and while neither film represents the best science fiction has to offer, they’re both loads of fun for an evening when you just want to switch off your brain and enjoy some cult low-budget science fiction goodness. On top of everything else, the set comes complete with an interesting booklet with photos, artwork and essays from Don Stradley and Jason A .Ney. Fans of classic low-budget sci-fi will get a real kick out of this set. For my money, this is the best way to view either of these films at this time. Buy this set, stick it in the player and have yourselves a cheesy sci-fi party.