Eegah (1962)

Director:

Arch Hall Sr.

Writers:

Arch Hall Sr. (story)
Bob Wehling (screenplay)

Genre:

Family | Fantasy | Music

Tagline:

The Crazed Love of a Prehistoric Giant for a Ravishing Teenage Girl!

Plot:

Teenagers stumble across a prehistoric caveman, who goes on a rampage.

Plot Keywords:

Giant | Caveman | Teenage Girl | Palm Springs California | Desert

Cast

Arch Hall Jr.	...	Tom Nelson
Marilyn Manning	...	Roxy Miller
Richard Kiel	...	Eegah
Arch Hall Sr.	...	Robert Miller (as William Watters)
Clay Stearns	...	Band Member
Bob Davis	...	George
Deke Lussier	...	Band Member
Ron Shane	...	Detective
Addalyn Pollitt	...	George's Wife
Bill Lloyd	...	Kruger (as William Lloyd)
Ray Dennis Steckler	...	Mr. Fishman (as Ray Steckler)
Bill Rice	...	Chef

Also Known As:

Eegah! (USA) (poster title)
Eegah! The Name Written in Blood

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:PG | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Fairway International Pictures

Trivia:

Arch Hall Sr. claimed that he came up with the idea for this film after meeting 7'2" Richard Kiel.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When the dune buggy turns in front of the camera, the shadow of a crewmember falls on the ground and part of the dune buggy.

Quotes:

Tom Nelson: I can drive, Mr. Miller. I have my dad's wheels tonight.
Robert Miller: Really? Do they fit on your car?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Laserblast (#8.6)" (1996)

Soundtrack:

Valerie

Disembodied Voices...

An unbearable movie (which feels about three hours long) about a giant prehistoric caveman - who one day actually decides (because of a nicely-scented girl) to walk just a little farther from his cave, straight into modern civilization. Problem Number One - is that according to what I understand about ancient man and evolution (which has nothing at all to do with Bible verses as the movie implies), cavemen were actually much SMALLER than modern man. By the way, where did he get that huge bone that still had a bit of meat on it? It looked like it came from a mastodon or something.

This movie should have been called "Disembodied Voices", because whenever someone (especially Eegah) is talking loudly or shouting, their lips are barely moving (or badly out of sync) or NOT MOVING AT ALL, from start to finish! The most ludicrous scene is when Tom is singing and playing guitar and instead of the guitar, we hear a band and some additional female vocals. The scene cuts to Eegah and the music seems at a lower volume as if he is hearing an invisible band and invisible singers from a distance, then it seems to get louder again when cutting back! The other thing that makes no sense (and nor is it amusing in any way) is how he keeps loudly growling "Eegah" (with lips not moving) throughout. Yes, I know it is supposed to be funny, but I didn't find myself enjoying it much. Why would you be wandering around growling your own name endlessly, anyway? Some sort of identity crisis?

Certain young children MIGHT enjoy this movie (except for the naughty grabbing and shaving bits), but I wouldn't be too sure.

Roxy can never seem to decide whether she wants to play with Eegah's face or scream in fear.

I absolutely DETESTED the ending, also, which didn't fit at all for the general style and overall comical mood of the movie. In fact, if it had actually had a decent ending, I might have given it a three. I also might have rated it one higher had it not felt like it was so long.

2/10. I gave it as high as a two because of the very interesting opening titles, which were about a hundred times better than what came later. In fact, the opening titles looked as if ten times more was spent on those sequences than the entire rest of the movie.