Only evil can come to you here.
In Pine Ridge, California bad things have been happening. In an area called Devil’s Craig. People in the area have been experiencing livestock mutilations, chickens and hen houses destroyed. Then the sheriff (Bob Steele) finds the body of a man named Harold Banks. People in town are gossiping about a curse. An old legend, perhaps something to do with the Native American burial ground. The sheriff is looking at everyone with a suspicious eye. Wayne Brooks (Ed Kemmer) happens to show up. The sheriff zeros in on him for awhile.
A jeep pulls into town. The driver is Dr. Fredrick Cleveland (Morris Ankrum). He is here with his daughter Janet (Sally Fraser). Dr. Cleveland is an archeologist. Wayne recognizes the professor from some lectures he took at the university. He introduces himself and invites them to dinner. Over dinner Dr. Cleveland relays why they are in Pine Ridge.
The professor is looking for a giant. A Spanish conquistador who has been dead for over 500 years. He is writing a book about Diablo the Giant and his band of renegades. The giant’s real name was Vargas. Wayne relays that he found some artifacts and the professor asks to see them. One of the artifacts ends up being broken pieces of a cross. Wayne agrees to take the professor and Janet to the spot where he found the artifact.
After setting up camp Wayne and the Professor start searching the area with metal detectors. After hours of searching they find the graves of the conquistadors. Later they find the armor of Vargas. During the night Vargas arises from his grave and begins his rampage.
“Giant from the Unknown” was released in 1958 and was directed by Richard E. Cunha. I have an issue with the movie. When the giant wakes up he looks a little confused. It looks like this is the first time he has woken up. His doesn’t have his amour on and he appears to be covered in earth and muck. If this is the first time he comes out of his grave then who killed the livestock and poor Harold Banks? It seems like a big continuity no-no. Also, our professor mentions that the conquistadors he is looking for died 500 years ago. That would put them in California even before Columbus got here. That, however, is a little thing that I can excuse.
It’s a little slow in spots. The end, however, had a lot more going on than I expected. The townspeople don’t have pitchforks and torches but they do have rifles. And they use them. Of course reanimated people have a tendency to not go down easily. Good for us. Bad for the townspeople. I’m not totally sure how I feel about the film. That continuity thing bothered me a lot.
Jacob Henry “Buddy” Baer plays Vargas. Buddy was 6’7’’ and was a heavyweight boxer. He is the younger brother of world heavyweight champion Max Baer. Make-up for Vargas the Giant was done by Jack Pierce. Although 6’7” doesn’t seem all that tall, it did 500 years ago