The Black Scorpion

Poster tagline: DON’T BE ASHAMED TO SCREAM! IT HELPS RELIEVE THE TENSION! Certainly, an above-par monster-movie for its day. No expense was spared on the Mexican locations, but especially on most of the visual effects sequences, although they are, admittedly, of an inconsistent level. The attacks of the giant scorpions are almost perfect thanks to the great stop-motion animation in charge of Willis O'Brien (he was also involved in King Kong and the most remarkable visual effects film of that time, Mighty Joe Young), even Ray Harryhausen would be proud. The movements of the scorpions are carefully studied and natural and their interaction with the surroundings is almost flawless. It's worse with the front projections, which are often hilarious with the shining scorpion bodies. Otherwise, the plot is nothing extraordinary, following the familiar formula of hidden tension + imminent threat + female element + final showdown, but there’s no shortage of memorable scenes. The cutest sequence is definitely the exploration of the cave of the monsters, where you can see ten-metre-long worms with forked arms fighting with scorpions, the scorpion king bayoneting its adversaries and Juanito, a boy who secretly joined the expedition, being chased around the cave by a giant tick. Best scene: hands down, the final showdown at the football stadium, where a giant scorpion takes on tanks, a helicopter and gets KO'd by an electric shock. (05/31/2008)

The rear projection in The Black Scorpion isn't perfect, but some of the fights are really good. I was affected by the right magic of old special effects, old films, of trying to make something fanciful, even when the means weren't there, even when the technology wasn't perfect and Ray Harryhausen wasn't available. In this case, this beautiful nostalgia is good enough for me. (10/11/2018)