The Valley of Gwangi

Just yesterday I reviewed a dinosaur movie that's one of the worst all-time movies I'd ever seen.  Now I liked it, but not for any good reasons where you'd feel safe recommending the movie.  However poorly executed it was, the premise of dinosaurs existing in modern times is an interesting one. Jurassic Park and its sequels surely speak to that.  But one that works on the same premise as Dinosaurus! is a much better movie released in 1969 that sounds ridiculous, but is nonetheless exciting, The Valley of Gwangi.

I don't really know why I like this movie so much. I saw it for the first time when I was 11 or 12 on AMC and then saw it on multiple viewings on the same channel as part of their Halloween movie marathons over the years.  It is the genre it based in which makes it interesting; a science fiction western.  Take the basic story from Dinosaurus!, subtract about 75 years, transplant the story to Mexico, and have cowboys tangling with prehistoric creatures.  It sounds as crazy as this summer's release Cowboys and Aliens.  For whatever reason though, it just works as a legitimately good movie, not a guilty pleasure.

Years after riding away from a job working with girlfriend/fiance, T.J. (Gila Golan) and her rodeo/wild west show/circus, cowboy Tuck Kirby (James Franciscus) reunites with her as the show travels through Mexico and Central America at the turn of the 20th Century. Their parting was less than ideal so Tuck is welcomed back in a half-hearted fashion. T.J.'s show has a new feature though, a miniature horse unlike anyone has ever seen. The horse escapes though into the desert with T.J., Tuck and all her cowboys following as they eventually discover a hidden valley that's gone unmolested for thousands of years. Inside they find things that no one could have planned on, a valley full of dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures. One of them is a local legend, an allosaurus given the name Gwangi. Can these cowboys capture the creature and put him on exhibit, or will the allosaurus kill them all in the process?

If the story sounds a little familiar, it should. Replace Gwangi with an immense gorilla, and you've got King Kong 2.  That is the movie at its most basic, but director Jim O'Connolly improves on the premise. In the 1950s and 1960s, creature features were a dime a dozen in theaters and drive-ins, but how many can you think of in a wild west setting?  Just on terms of originality, the movie gets points for being unique.  'Gwangi' was shot on location in Spain, using several familiar spots for any fans of spaghetti westerns, especially the bullring and the hidden valley. It's a gorgeous movie to watch, something I might normally take for granted with a movie like this.  As a topper, I'm a sucker for a good soundtrack, and there's an underrated one from composer Jerome Moross which you can listen to HERE and into Parts 2 and 3 at Youtube.

In a handful of other reviews, I've mentioned the work of special effects master Ray Harryhausen, but right up there with his work from Jason and the Argonauts is his work here in 'Gwangi.' The stop-motion filming technique for his creatures seems a little dated now in 2011, but there's a charm to watching his work in a film.  He gets to show off much of his repertoire here, especially with the title character, Gwangi, a blue allosaurus hell bent on killing everything around it. One scene especially impresses as T.J., Tuck and the cowboys try to capture Gwangi with their lassos. Watch it HERE in its entirety. That's just a taste though as Harryhausen covers the gamut from the miniature horse to an attacking pterodactyl, a freaked out elephant to a charging triceratops.

The story itself is in no rush to overwhelm you with all these dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures. Definitely a slow burn here as anything and everything is laid out.  Then about 35 minutes in, it's dinosaur time and the rest of the movie focuses on the cowboys tangling with all these creatures.  It does look dated, but these sequences are still pretty cool.  The finale is also very impressive as Gwangi goes on a rampage in the crowded Mexican village, finally cornering himself in a still-to-be built cathedral.  Harryhausen had an overload of talent, and this is the master at some of his best work.

If you were wondering, Gwangi and Harryhausen's creatures are the real stars of the movie, but the cast is nothing to sneeze at.  Franciscus was never a big star, but I've always liked him and here as heroic Tuck Kirby he is no exception. Model turned actress Golan is okay as T.J. but nothing special. There's also B-movie star Richard Carlson as Champ, Laurence Naismith as Professor Bromley, Gustavo Rojo as head cowboy Carlos, Freda Jackson as Tia Zarina, a gypsy witch, Dennis Kilbane and Mario De Barros as Rowdy and Bean, two of T.J.'s cowboys, and Curtis Arden as Lope, the requisite young Mexican boy.

There are a ton of fan videos and clips available to watch at Youtube for anyone looking to see more of Harryhausen's creatures.  I'd recommend checking the whole movie out though, and not just those specific scenes.  It is a movie that is a lot of fun and rises above just being a creature flick B-movie. Really, how can you go wrong with a sci-fi cowboy movie? Okay, don't answer that. Just watch the movie.

The Valley of Gwangi <---trailer (1969): ***/****