The Giant Gila Monster is a 1959 hot rod/monster/science fiction film, directed by Ray Kellogg and produced by Ken Curtis. This low-budget B-movie starred Don Sullivan, a veteran of several low budget monster and zombie films, and Lisa Simone, the French contestant for Miss Universe of 1957, as well as comedy relief Shug Fisher and KLIF disc jockey Ken Knox,. The effects included a live Mexican beaded lizard (not an actual Gila monster) filmed on a scaled-down model landscape. The movie is considered a cult classic.
After a couple of teenagers go missing in a small Texas town,
everyone assumes they've run off to the big city. But, when their bodies
are found in a nearby creek, the sheriff (Fred Graham) is puzzled as to
what could have killed them. Chase Winstead (Don Sullivan), the leader
of a local hot rod gro
up, agrees to help the sheriff,
and together they discover evidence of a giant lizard roaming the
desert. Soon the lizard is terrorizing the town, and only Chase can stop
it before it's too late.
