The Cyclops (1957)

A young woman (Gloria Talbott) organizes an expedition into the wild of Mexico searching for her fiance whose plane crashed three years previous. Coming along with her are a pilot (Tom Drake), her fiance's best friend (James Craig) and a uranium hunter (Lon Chaney Jr.). Instead, what they find are giant lizards, snakes, hawks and a disfigured cyclops! Directed by schlockmeister Bert I. Gordon (EMPIRE OF THE ANTS), this low budget (or should it be no budget?) piece of B&W sci-fi horror might be awesome to 7 year olds. I know I was impressed as an adolescent when it played on my local station's afternoon creature feature movie. Adulthood has revealed a cheaply made piece of nonsense with nostalgia value but not much else to offer. It's actually amusing when the characters encounter these giant beasts and their reaction is nonchalant as if it's no big deal instead of running away screaming in terror. For a change, Lon Chaney Jr.'s overacting is actually welcome. Even fans of schlocky 1950s B sci-fi films may have a hard time with this one. But I have a big soft spot for lovely Gloria Talbott who I'll watch in anything.