Leofwine_draca A textbook, cut-and-paste example of a '50s monster movie, with all the typical ingredients including strange isolated deaths, a rampage through a city. Really, you could swap the scorpions in this film for a group of giant ants, or a scaly lizard, and it would still make sense.However what these kind of films all have in their favour are the special effects. For THE BLACK SCORPION, Willis O'Brien, the creator of the original King Kong, is on hand near the end of his career, and he creates some superb scenes with the scorpions. Highlights include a battle between a scorpion and a giant worm (in these stop-motion fests, two monster always end up fighting each other. It's an unwritten rule) and a scene where the scorpions smash apart a model train. And then of course there's the rampage through a city, something which I'll never get tired of.The actors all do their bit but it's the stop motion effects which we are really watching for, and they don't disappoint at all. The scene where the scorpion smashes the helicopters is exciting, but unfortunately there is no pathos to be spared for insects, and this element is missing. However you do have to feel a bit sorry for something that has just been killed by a man wearing a tank top! THE BLACK SCORPION is a generic film with some excellent special effects to keep things moving along. It's an average example of a monster movie in every respect, but it'll keep you entertained if you're a fan of these things.

Wizard-8 If you have an interest in movie special effects, particularly those made during the 1950s, "The Black Scorpion" will probably be of interest to you. The main selling point of the movie is that the special effects were done by the legendary Willis O'Brien. Even by today's standards, the stop motion special effects look really good for the most part, especially since it's obvious that O'Brien wasn't working with a lavish budget. Indeed, towards the end of the movie, the money seemed to be running out, because we get footage reused as well as some really tacky superimposed scorpions that we can see through. The limited budget also often shows in the scenes that don't involve special effects, even though the movie was shot in Mexico to cut costs. Actually, the main problem with the movie is that outside of the scorpion scenes, it's sometimes dull and lacking considerable tension. To see how the drama should have been done between the special effects, the giant ant movie "Them!" well illustrates this. While "Them!" is a much better movie, if you really want to see this sort of thing again, "The Black Scorpion" will do if you are desperate.

AaronCapenBanner Edward Ludwig directed this science fiction horror thriller that stars Richard Denning as American geologist Hank Scott, who is recruited by the Mexican authorities when an earthquake unleashes a horde of giant scorpions upon the Mexican countryside, causing havoc and destruction as they threaten to overrun the nearby city, then the world. Good model F/X on display, with some harrowing attack scenes(including a vivid cavern sequence), but there is no story or character involvement at all, with the plot being overly familiar and uninspired. A pity, because the film pushed the violence boundaries for its time, but the film just comes up short, and has been strangely forgotten. Basically a rehash of the much superior "Them!"

JPfanatic93 Hugely underrated and often ignored fifties' monster flick. In Mexico, giant scorpions are freed from their subterranean imprisonment by volcanic activity and ravage the countryside, after which an American geologist (Richard Denning, a favorite actor in the genre of fifties' creature features) must work with the Mexican armed forces to destroy them before they rampage through Mexico City. The plot of course is not the most important ingredient here, the fabulously animated stop motion creatures are, vividly brought to life by effects pioneer Willis O'Brien in one of his last features. Though he never relived the fame and success of King Kong (1933), this movie at least provides a similar amount of adventurous excitement and monster fun as that masterpiece did, while the animation is almost on par with its famous predecessor. The movie's most thrilling sequences include huge scorpions wrecking a train and an excursion into the underground realm of the beasts which is also populated by various other beasts (including some of King Kong's 'lost spider pit' leftovers!). Often maligned as just another silly forgetful B-movie of the drive-in days, this movie deserves more love and respect, at least from stop motion enthusiasts.