The Killer Shrews (1959)

A man delivering supplies to a scientist on a secluded island must stay the night because a hurricane is coming, eventually. The crew must remain indoors overnight because of an experiment gone wrong. I don’t want to say too much, but it’s Killer Shrews. Giant, ravenous, killer shrews.

Visual effects technician Ray Kellogg wanted to direct a movie, and scratched together some money and talent for the project. Our hero is Thorne Sherman (James Best). Tall, handsome Best was a could-have-been minor leading man but instead had a long career as an extra, secondary character, or character actor in both film and television. He will forever be remembered as Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane on TV’s Dukes of Hazzard.

The low budget and rushed schedule is evident on every frame. The opening narration contradicts the actual premise of the film, much of the dialog seems to have been written by someone with only a passing familiarity with human conversation, and the shrews were dogs in costume. Truth be told, I liked that last part.

Baruch Lumet, father of director Sidney Lument, is the well-intentioned doctor with a thick  Yiddish accent. Pretty, young Swedish model Ingrid Goude plays his daughter with a decidedly non-Yiddish accent. Much of the rest of the small cast also served as producers.

The Killer Shrews has a certain charm. It’s a low budget, quickie to the drive-in film and knows it. Much more could have been made of the resources at hand, but at an hour nine, it doesn’t overstay its welcome. AMRU 2.5. A sequel was made in 2012 featuring Best, but not Goude. She may have dodged a bullet with that one.

“Don't you wonder about the unusual things around here? The guns. The fence. The shattered windows. My accent. Anything?”