Film Review: The Black Scorpion
Giant monsters were all the rage in the 1950s, and I’ll be damned if Edward Ludwig’s The Black Scorpion doesn’t land on the “slightly above average” rung of that grand hierarchy. It isn’t “good,” mind you, but I’ve seen much worse, and if you’ve spent any time whatsoever in front of a tube television (especially late on a Friday or Saturday night), I’m sure you have too. Admittedly, I’m far from an expert on this strange little niche of America’s cinematic past, but I know when total nonsense crawls its way onto my screen, and The Black Scorpion, believe it or not, actually has some interesting bite to it.
Of course, this doesn’t stop Joel, Tom Servo, and Crow from completely lambasting it in an early episode of the mighty Mystery Science Theater 3000 (season 1, episode 13 – which originally aired on The Comedy Channel in early 1990), but even these learned scholars can’t help but admit that The Black Scorpion has its merits. Well, maybe just one or two merits.
Starring Richard Denning and Carlos Rivas as a pair of good-natured, grab-assing geology chums, The Black Scorpion centers on a series of mysterious disasters plaguing the small village of San Lorenzo, Mexico. A few destroyed properties, an orphaned infant, some dead cops, a love interest for the white guy (‘50s B-picture starlet Mara Corday), and a hail of artillery from the Mexican Army later, we learn that the strapping young doctors have discovered a network of tunnels underneath the desert that houses an array of impossible creatures, most notably a humongous scorpion.
If this sounds familiar, it should – The Black Scorpion lifts almost every one of its elements from other movies, most notably Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack’s 1933 production of King Kong. But, oddly, it’s exactly this King Kong familiarity that gives The Black Scorpion much of what makes it a unique watch: it’s fantastic special effects.
Helming this all-important aspect of the creature feature is none other than Willis O’Brien, the creator of the groundbreaking stop-motion techniques found in the original giant ape movie. What O’Brien delivers on what must have been a shoestring budget is impressive, so much so that, with a little more attention paid to the characters and story, it may have eclipsed some of the film’s other shortcomings. Unfortunately, coming close isn’t quite good enough for The Black Scorpion to be remembered by this Minnesota lad for much more than the Babe Winkleman and Wally Carvell references made by a stoner in a red jumpsuit and his talking robot puppets.
I have been watching Mystery Science Theater 3000 since 1989 when it originally aired on The Comedy Channel (the precursor to Comedy Central). I believe it is the single greatest contribution to television that has ever graced the medium.
The grade attached to this review is not meant to reflect the quality of the MST3K episode but instead the quality of the original film being roasted – which is usually quite bad by default.
