Watch The Killer Shrews For Free

Don't listen to the negative reviews

A Masterpiece!

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

OK, the titular shrews are thinly disguised dogs and the shoestring budget is apparent but this tale of people trapped on an island, in an increasingly shrinking safe zone, surrounded by ravenous, poisonous shrews the size of wolves isn't all that bad. The characters and dialogue is typical for the genre but the quasi-scientific backstory is better than most (unusually, radiation is not involved), as metabolic manipulations designed to produce smaller shrews backfire. The growing tension between characters as the shrews close in is reasonably well done and the solution to their problem is novel (although a bit ridiculous). Not surprisingly given the title and content, The Killer Shrews, won't have many viewers outside of fans of the genre but for the most part, they will appreciate the film for what it is: a reasonably will done example of bargain-basement 1950's'nature-gone-wild' monster films.

"The Killer Shrews" - that has to be one of the most eye-rolling titles ever to be bestowed onto a movie, "Attack of the Killer Shrews" would have been an even better title. Anyway's - for as cheap and dispensable as this movie is, it's a very entertaining one. This flick often show's up in cheap, readily available box-sets that celebrate B-movies - in other words The Killer Shrews is never a hard find.Starring a young James Best (a full 20 years before The Dukes of Hazzard) who's easily the most talented and charismatic of an otherwise unremarkable cast. He's plays a boat captain who's making a supply run to a remote island, that's occupied by about half a dozen scientific researchers. Enroute, with stormy weather whipping up behind them, he and his mate motor to the island with the intention of waiting for the storm to pass through, however, that turn's out to be a very bad and fateful decision. As it so happens the scientist's on the island have been meddling in genetic research (so in that respect The Killer Shrews is a movie that's ahead of it's time), their subject of focus - the lowly and typically harmless shrew; however due to their scientific malpractice, the island's shrew population has suddenly undergone a most dramatic and unnatural of mutations - that eventually proves to be of dangerous and even "killer" proportions. This movie, as cheaply made and as stupidly ridiculous as it is (starting with it's title) is quite entertaining (especially the last 20 minutes), more so than most other low-budget horror film's of the 50's. I find The Killer Shrews to be a -perfect movie- to watch late a night and with a brisk running time of only 69 minutes it won't take you long, as it's a very compact and efficiently put together flick. Let's get into the effects of this movie, specifically the giant killer shrew's, undoubtedly what were are really looking at here are dog's that are wearing long, shaggy fur, with long hairless tails and masks with huge, nasty-looking teeth; and I think it works pretty damn effectively, surprisingly so, for a movie that was made with little money, over half a century ago - the giant killer shrew's simply look AND sound terrific. Getting back to the plot, with some reluctance the scientist's fill "Thorne Sherman" in on their dire predicament and it's during the ensuing stand-off, which one-by-one, see's the groups numbers whittled down, until their half the number they started at. They are actually up against two enemies: the shrews AND a hurricane that's blowing through (I for one have never been convinced that what blew through was a hurricane, a tropical storm at best - Tropical Storm "Timmy" perhaps). With up to as many as 200 to 300 giant killer shrews roving the island, the gang, held hostage in their little hovel are hopelessly out-numbered by the shrews, which eventually borrow into the house and that's when the movie really gets exciting. It's with the quick thinking of Captain Thorne Sherman that they devise a method of escape, not entirely unlike an ancient Roman military tactic, but instead of bronze shields they concoct something a bit more modern with galvanized steel tanks and a cutting torch. The gang of three, yes, several deaths have occurred, are constantly harassed by a rabid mob of killer shrews the entire way, as they find it's a long, slow and labored trudge to the beach, as the ocean is their salvation - onward's ho!Being a movie of such modest make, there's very little fancy stuff to comment about in this movie, the shrews being it's one and only strong visual, it's all together a very humble affair. To it's credit The Killer Shrews is certainly very tightly paced and efficiently plotted and thus it shouldn't bore anyone - who has an attention span that's longer then that of a bolt of lightning. And, as I think this movie proves, James Best was a great actor and he'd only get better.I find The Killer Shrews to be a fun fast-paced movie, made on a very tight budget, with a crazy, but well-explained story. With much glee you have at least two options available to you, you can watch either the regular version or it's funnier, satirized MST3K counterpart.

OK, it was made with a budget that even in 1959 would have been just barely enough to take your girl friend out for a root beer float at the local hamburger joint. It's not Oscar material, but it's one of those B-movies that entertains way over what its budget would suggest it can. Camp value, yes. Moments that beg for MST3K jokes, yes. But there's a flair to this thing that just keeps your interest. It has that drive-in craziness feel, and breezes along its merry b-movie way with a plot that's easy to go with. The actors make the most of the script they're given, and there's enough chase scenes, fight scenes, and attack scenes that things are never boring.The fact that it's filmed in b/w really seems to help the atmosphere, as does the claustrophobic situation of the characters being trapped in a house with the monsters trying to get in at them. I love the "walking in trash cans" scene, it's a weird mix of laughable yet creative. Ken Curtis's cowardly Jerry is totally different from his Festus on Gunsmoke, and he carries it off pretty well. Throw in some dedicated scientists who have unwittingly unleashed a monstrous terror, and the titular savagely-fanged creatures that look like feral dogs with an attitude, and this movie just gets away with all its goofiness.But what stands out for me about this is that I've watched it so many times, and still enjoy it. I know the lines better than the characters do, but still the goofy energy level of this thing just never wears out. Among b-movies, this one has a unique personality, and is worth a look.

Yeah, by today's standards it's an awful movie. But think of the time it was made, for a low budget horror film, especially a Fifties one, it was pretty good. Even if it isn't scary it sure is funny. The acting is generally pretty decent, especially Rook, Mario and Dr. Baines. The shrews were at least worth laughing at (they were actually dogs in rat suits), and it remained suspenseful towards the end. There was a very "so lame it's funny" moment at the end when the captain says to the scientist woman, "I'm not worried about overpopulation just yet!" and kisses her. Four characters die; Rook gets eaten alive by shrews as he hides in a small tree. Mario gets bitten and dies in the basement. Baines gets bitten in the crotch and types out his final moments. Jerry, the alcoholic scientist, acts stupid and loses his life that way. He is the main antagonist, not counting the shrews. It's worth watching if you want to laugh and have fun with your friends.