#firstfilmthatterrifiedyou — Public Fediverse posts

The question has been going around: "What is the first movie that terrified you?"
Mine, far as I know, is a VERY obscure 1959 horror/sf movie call "Caltiki, The Immortal Monster." I saw it in a theater at a FAR to young age. If I saw it close to the release date I would have been three or four at most, though it could have been later than that. I can't imagine my parents would have taken me, and my only theory is that I went with my frequent babysitter (still a family friend to this day) on what was surely a forbidden excursion with a friend or boyfriend. I've never gotten the courage to ask her about it. But I remembered enough specific details and scenes to track it down on Google, despite having no idea of the title or year. (I have a freakish memory that allows me to retain some early childhood memories with a great deal of clarity. I can remember having my diapers changed for example, and a dog that my mom says died when I was two. I can remember a lot of stuff of which a had only limited understanding at the time, and sometimes not the mobility or intelligence yet to investigate, but that interested me greatly.)
The movie appeared the year after "The Blob" and might have been an attempt to cash-in on that film. It was a US/Italian co-production set in Mexico, which is just the start of its strangeness. Basically in the course of investigating the downfall of the Mayan civilization, a blob-like creature is discovered (I think there is some native sacrifice ritual or legend involved). A man's arm is enveloped in the rampaging creature, before that part of it is chopped off. As the man is taken to safety, the hero is able to ram a fuel truck into it, rolling to safety while the creature is destroyed by flame. The injured man is taken to Mexico City for treatment, where the bit of Caltiki, still attached to his arm, is peeled away, revealing only bones and bits of dissolved flesh. The big of creature is put into a glass specimen box with a lid, and kept for study. Of course, the creature goes back to the hero's house (this is from rough memory, I've only skipped through the recovered film) for examination. But it comes back to life, and starts eating (maybe eating a rat is involved?), getting bigger and bigger, terrorizing the love interest (or wife maybe, there's a kid there too) alone in the house. The hero arrives in time to rescue her, and the army is summoned, battling the, by now, near Kaiju-sized blob with troops and tanks equipped with flame throwers, who after a battle, destroy the creature.
It's both very similar to The Blob, and very different. The approach to the blob effects is much different than the American film's animated blob of axel-grease. This one is more solid, pulsating, and organic looking. It's rather like the Horta from Star Trek TOS, but much more frightening in execution. The fact the the film is in black and white probably works in its favor here. The scenes of human ingestion are very graphic and horrific for the time. In tone, this has a lot in common with the 1988 Blob remake. There's not of the camp levity of the hot-rodding teenager vs. monster themes of original The Blob.
Anyway, if you're curious, I've found a rather fuzzy copy of the film. You can win bets with your nerd friends just by proving that this movie exists.
#movies #horrormovies #monstermovies #theblob #firstfilmthatterrifiedyou #scarymovies #memory #childhoodmemories
#fiftiesscifi
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