The Killer Shrews (1959)

(On Cable TV, April 2020) From The Killer Shrews’ first few bombastic moments, we’re clearly in 1950s B-grade horror movie land. There’s an interesting story behind the film, as it began as a small-scale independent regional production that was eventually distributed nationwide—and then revived by “Mystery Science Theater 3000” in the 1990s. That last fact, however, may prove more salient to modern audiences—it’s just not a good movie. Much of the first hour is spent managing the film’s budget by featuring lengthy dialogue in a living room, while the special effects were terrible even by 1959 standard. Still, it’s a time capsule of 1950s monster movies, and those are more exemplary the worse they are. The Killer Shrews is not good, but it’s not as terrible as it could have been either.