MONSTER FROM GREEN HELL!

When a test rocket full of -- gasp! -- experimental wasps gets a dose of cosmic radiation then crashes in Africa, there's not only hell to pay, but green hell to pay as the mutant, irradiated insects begin killing off the native population. It's up to a small party of scientists to figure out what's going on and take care of a problem so big that even Orkin can't eradicate it.

Starring a pre-DALLAS Jim Davis, the spunky Barbara Turner and Eduardo "The Mummy's Hand" Ciannelli, MONSTER FROM GREEN HELL was released in 1957 on a double-bill with HALF-HUMAN, and later, RODAN.

Aside from the film being the usual giant bug fare of the fifties, the special effects aren't too bad thanks to the genius of Wah Chang's design and Gene Warren's stop-motion animation.

Exterior location shots were done at Griffith Park's Bronson Canyon caves in Los Angeles.

The final minutes were tinted and filmed in Technicolor.

NOTE: The wasps in this film were the inspiration for the "Horrible Hamilton" figure included with Remco's HAMILTON'S INVADERS toy set from 1964.

LOBBY CARDS:

PRODUCTION STILLS:

MONSTER FROM GREEN HELL (TRAILER):

MONSTER FROM GREEN HELL (STOP MOTION EFFECTS SCENES):

MONSTER FROM GREEN HELL (FULL MOVIE):

EXTRA!

Marketing/promotion materials for Hamilton's Invaders toy set 1964. Selling on eBay for--wait for it--$2,500.

GOJIRA HOTTODOGGU!

I have no idea what's going on in this ad except that it looks like a promo for a Japanese "kaiju-sized" hottodoggu. I get the cheese doggu on the right, but is that supposed to be some sort of chili on the other one?

DWIGHT FRYE CASTING AD

Actors and actresses had numerous methods to promote their talents during the Golden Age of Hollywood. One of them was to place an advertisement in a casting directory which were thick volumes that casting agents and other production staff browsed for potential actors to cast in a picture. The books usually listed actors by category, such as Leading Men, Leading Women, Character Men, Feature Comedians, Ingenues and so forth. Even directors and writers were listed. Today, of course, the directories are in digital format.

Dwight Frye was in the March 1931 edition of THE STANDARD CASTING DIRECTORY which was the month after he appeared as Renfield in DRACULA.

Click for larger image.