"Maneater of Hydra" (1966) was a delirious Spanish-German horror tale that aired 5 times on Pittsburgh's CHILLER THEATER from 1969-1972 (I missed it, too young). The dubbing isn't as bad as it could have been, and Cameron Mitchell does not dub his own voice, but it certainly had a weird atmosphere that 1962's "The Day of the Triffids" couldn't match. Obscure in its day, and even more so now, this is a perfect example of the types of features that we enjoyed in the days of late night movies-till-dawn, replaced by dull-as-dishwater paid programming and network gabfests indulging pseudo-hipsters with rabid young audiences that have never experienced anything else. These titles can be difficult to find, and this one was no exception, with a starring role for Cameron Mitchell, who gets to dominate the screen from start to finish. It doesn't work as a mystery because we already know that Baron v. Weser is up to something with his carnivorous plants, feeding a mouse to one, while a fellow botanist steals a cute bunny rabbit to do the same with an unseen creation outside. The director is veteran Roger Corman actor Mel Welles (working behind the camera primarily in Europe), immortalized for his marvelous turn in 1960's "The Little Shop of Horrors," which also dealt with a bloodthirsty plant (he would later direct 1972's "Lady Frankenstein" for Corman's New World Pictures). Welles had just finished an acting part in 1965's "The She-Beast," shot in Italy and Yugoslavia by 21 year old cult director Michael Reeves, and remained in Europe for the remainder of the decade. Cameron Mitchell was coming off a starring role in "Nightmare in Wax," another CHILLER THEATER regular, no stranger to European cinema, whose best work came in the Swedish "Face of Fire" (1958), in a rare sympathetic turn. This must rank as one of his best horrors, with a remarkably grisly climax for its period. He remained busiest in Italy, and frequently collaborated with genre pioneer Mario Bava, particularly on the 1964 cult classic "Blood and Black Lace," which aired 6 times on CHILLER THEATER (quite a showcase for rabid horror fans like myself). "Maneater of Hydra" may not be a classic, but I never found it dull, definitely worth a look.
