IMDb > The Killer Shrews (1959)
The Killer Shrews
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The Killer Shrews (1959) More at IMDbPro »

Videos (see all 3 NEW)
The Killer Shrews (1959) -- On an isolated island, a small group of people is terrorised by giant, voracious shrews in the midst of a hurricane.
The Killer Shrews (1959) -- On an isolated island, a small group of people is terrorised by giant, voracious shrews in the midst of a hurricane.
The Killer Shrews (1959) -- archive.org - complete movie (various formats)

Overview

User Rating:
3.1/10   1,653 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 18% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Ray Kellogg
Writers:
Jay Simms (story)
Jay Simms (screenplay)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Killer Shrews on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
6 April 1962 (West Germany) more
Genre:
Horror | Sci-Fi more
Tagline:
All that was left after...THE KILLER SHREWS! (Used in conjunction with a woman's pink pump and splattered blood) more
Plot:
On an isolated island, a small group of people is terrorised by giant, voracious shrews in the midst of a hurricane. full summary | add synopsis
User Comments:
Not As Bad As All That more (87 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Additional Details

Also Known As:
The Attack of the Killer Shrews
more
Runtime:
69 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (RCA Sound System)
Certification:
USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | UK:PG (video rating) (1996) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:Approved (PCA #19311)
Filming Locations:
Dallas, Texas, USA more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The man playing Dr. Baines is Gordon McLendon. He was the uncredited executive producer and financier of this and its companion feature The Giant Gila Monster (1959). He owned radio stations and a chain of theaters in Texas. more
Goofs:
Continuity: As Thorne and Jerry are fighting at the gate, Ann and Radford look out the window to see what's going on. In the close-up Ann is wearing a black top, even though she had just changed into a white blouse. When Thorne comes back into the house after the fight, Ann is again wearing the white blouse. more
Quotes:
Thorne Sherman: Why, that's as big as a full-grown wolf! more
Movie Connections:
Featured in Ernest Scared Stupid (1991) more

FAQ

How many people are stranded on this island with the giant killer shrews?
Is it true that Ingrid Goude (Ann) won a Miss Universe contest?
How does the movie end?
more
30 out of 33 people found the following comment useful.
Not As Bad As All That, 20 June 2005
4/10
Author: Wilber A Neil from United States

Having seen any number of bad movies, I can state that this is significantly better than most of them, and even better in part than movies not considered bad at all. However, in those aspects in which this movie is bad it is not merely bad, it is awful.

We have the usual formula of two-fisted hero (James Best), damsel in distress (Swedish Ingrid Goude), the damsel's mad-scientist father (non-Swedish Baruch Lumet), and the villain (Ken Curtis). The formula in this case is less clichéd than usual. The hero is fairly articulate and the mad scientist is actually quite urbane, tossing off his creation of hundreds of giant, poisonous, man-eating shrews with the line "unusual experiments lead to unusual results". The dialog is competently written and the acting is above par (with the exception of the Swedish eye-candy, who is at least good eye candy).

The general concept is compact and dramatically efficient: a group of people are trapped first by a hurricane and then by an outside menace in a stronghold which gets less and less strong as time, ammunition and group cohesion all grow short.

However the execution is at times illogical. One problem is that the stronghold is made out of...adobe. On a rainswept island crawling with usable timber? The thrilling conclusion is also somewhat implausible.

The main reason for the film's abysmal reputation is the legendary and quite obvious use of ordinary dogs in bathmats to play the part of giant shrews. I suppose this just has to be overlooked.

As a sidelight, it is interesting to see Dukes of Hazard sheriff James Best tall and handsome as the hero, and it is apparent that producer/villain Ken Curtis labored long and hard in the trenches before gaining fame as Festus.

Was the above comment useful to you?
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Message Boards

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Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Stephen King says 'The Killer Shrews' is one of the scariest movies ever LarrupinLou
This movie is very underrated. wendybrad-544-230809
Very un-PC jmpswann
Actually scared me graboidkiller
Sequel Needed! WeNeedKillerShrews2
Giant Killer Shrews Coming South from AK? SPOILER ALERT rprescot-2
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