In The Cyclops, Susan organizes an expedition into the wilds of Mexico to find her fiancé after a plane crash. Instead they find uranium, giant lizards, and …
The Cyclops (1957), starring James Craig, Gloria Talbott, Lon Chaney
Yes, The Cyclops hits the definition of cheesy monster movie quite well. if you’ve seen it, you remember the monster with a face like a melted cheese sandwich. Having said that, the story’s not bad, but it is cliched. Lovely young woman looking for her lost fiancee? Check. Handsome young man going with her, only for them to fall in love? Check. Radiation causing horrible, cheesy mutations? Check. Unscrupulous member of the expedition, willing to risk other peoples’ live so he can get rich? Check.
And yet, despite that, and the cheesy effects courtesy of Bert I. Gordon — it’s still enjoyable.
Product Description
Lovely Susan Winter organizes an expedition deep into the wilds of Mexico. She hopes to find her aviator fiance, lost after his plane crashed. Instead she and her three male companions find behemoth bugs, giant battling lizards, mountains practically glowing with uranium, and a 25-foot-tall human beast with a single eye, a melted-cheese-sandwich face and a very scary attitude. If you like nifty ’50s horror, The Cyclops is the kind of over-the-top frightfest that’ll have you spilling your popcorn.
Among the cast: Lon Chaney (The Wolf Man) as a manipulative wheeler-dealer who”d just love to become a uranium millionaire…no matter the danger to the rest of the expedition. Writer/director Bert I. Gordon (Beginning of the End, The Amazing Colossal Man) masterminds the menace.
Cast of characters
- James Craig (Valley of the Sun; Our Vines Have Tender Grapes) … Russ Bradford
- Gloria Talbott (Daughter of Dr. Jekyll; The Leech Woman) … Susan Winter
- Lon Chaney Jr. (The Indestructible Man; Bride of the Gorilla) … Martin ‘Marty’ Melville (as Lon Chaney)
- Tom Drake (The Great Rupert; Meet Me in St. Louis) … Lee Brand
- Duncan ‘Dean’ Parkin (The War of the Colossal Beast) … The Cyclops (Bruce Barton) (as Duncan Parkin)
- Vincent Padula … The Governor
- Marlene Kloss … The Salesgirl
- Manuel López … The Policeman (as Manuel Lopez)