The Cyclops (1957)

 The Cyclops (1957) dir. Bert I. Gordon, B & H Productions, Inc. 

This one got lost in the shuffle but I didn't want to just delete it, so enjoy an extra review. 

Lon Chaney was still working by the late 50's but his staring roles days were now officially over, at least as far A-Films were concerned. Nope, the only way he was getting top billing now was in the B flicks. And when you think B, you think Bert.

Susan Winter (Gloria Talbot) arrives in Mexico with one thing in mind-finding her missing fiancé Bruce. His plane went down over the boarder some three years ago and despite the local governments best efforts not even a piece of scrap has been recovered. 

So now Susan, along with Lee Brand (Tom Drake)-pilot, Dr. Russ Bradford (James Craig)-biologist, and Melville (Chaney)-some sort of stock broker, are assembled in a small government office and awaiting permission to get their flight approved.

The permit not only get denied but a police officer is to accompany Ms. Winter back across the boarder. Melville is not some idle rich layabout though and he beats the cop half to death and hustles everyone into Lee's plane. 

Unfortunately Melville is also unfamiliar with the concept of downdrafts and when Lee's little craft gets hit with a flurry of them his panic almost causes them to crash. Lee sets them down, thankfully pretty near where Bruce's plane last reported. 

It's a desolate valley surrounded by high cliffs. So high, in fact, Lee isn't a hundred percent sure he could clear them if they had to take off in a hurry. Melville, meanwhile, finds what he was really looking for and the reason he bankrolled the trip. Yup, turns out the valley is practically pure uranium under a thin lay of dirt. 

Susan and Lee find trouble when a mouse the size of a dog gets plucked up by an eagle the size of Lee's plane. Because radiation makes things big, right? They soon run into a giant man with a twisted face and a hankering for blood. Could just be a random mutation, but there's the way his single eye fixates on Susan...

Better than it has any right to be. Gordon didn't waste any time and the film moves at a brisk pace. Chaney, at first or even third glance, makes no sense as a millionaire stock manipulator but he acts more like a gangster which could be brilliant if unintentional bit of casting.