User reviews

This movie is scripted by Willis O'Brien ,who obviously thought so much of it ,that he used it again in 1969 for the superior The Valley of Gwangi It is a curiosity among movies, being a science fiction and Western hybrid .Mexican based rancher Jimmy -woodenly played by Guy Madison -believes that his dead cattle are the result of predators .He is thinking "Mountain lion " or "coyote " maybe .Wrong!Its a T-Rex and the pattern then follows the standard monster movie template -capture and escape ,rampage and eventually happy ever after resolution . The monster effects are okay for the era but completely overshadowed by the genius of Ray Harryhausen ,employed in the remake .Add somewhat muddy colour and you have a movie whose technical side is deficient by today's standards It still remains worth watching however if only for its being such a rare commodity in combining monster movie and Western

When looking through a book of film reviews you would (as I've found) not always find this film. It's minor, old and unacclaimed, and as a result largely unknown. It's worth a look, though. While most reviews would not rank it at all highly, and while it's hardly 'Godzilla' or 'King Kong', it's not that bad. The build up and Mexican scenery promise much, and the story (about a strange beast eating ranchers' sheep in a small Mexican town) does have its fair share of suspense. However, the climax, marred by awful special effects (due to the low budget) lets the whole thing down. This film has its good points, so watch it, but don't expect to be overwhelmed.

I saw The Beast of Hollow Mountain in the theatre when I was nine. I slept under my bed for weeks. I just knew that T. Rex was going to walk up to 504 5th Avenue West and look in my second storey window and consider me a tender morsel. The world has changed considerably since this movie was in theatres. While it was just as primitive as described by the other reviewers here, this little boy had the be-Jesus scared out of him. I call that good film-making.

First of all, I don't know why this site says this movie is Horror, Romance, Sci-Fi. It's not any of those. It's a light-hearted western comedy. If a man failing to steal a woman is a romance, then this is a romance. I haven't seen many westerns but from what I have heard they all have this plot. The bad guy wants to chase someone off their land. And there's a drunk Mexican. The only really bad thing about this movie is that it is way too long. There are several extended periods of nothing and it's hard to keep paying attention. Basically, this movie is a family friendly monster flick that no child would ever have the patience to sit through. I'm sure if you could force a first grader to watch the whole thing, they might thing it was awesome. A second grader would know better.

Don't waste your time with this one. The movie is about an hour old (it's only 1 hour 20 minutes total) before you even see the "beast", then you wish you'd hadn't. I've seen better SFX on old Gumby reruns which is terrible considering that even the original King Kong had better SFX more than 20 years earlier. The first thing that you wonder is if there's a beast at all because the story centers around a feud between 2 cattle barons and a woman. After about 40 minutes there's finally something to show that there's actually a creature in the movie but it's not until the last 20 minutes before you finally get to the point. As a western, this film could have been a decent B film. As it is though, 'nuff said. The filmmaker should have used the money to finance better effects but chose to use it on color and Panoramic widescreen. Rather than bother with this film at all, watch Valley of the Gwangi instead.

It is said that a mountain surrounded by a swamp is hollow and that a prehistoric monster from 'the dawn of time' comes out during times of drought to stalk the land.

Alright, so the plot lacks any sense of reality (there would have to be a whole race of dinosaurs for them to survive until the present day). The special effects also leave something to be desired. But look over these faults and you'll find that this film is actually very enjoyable and entertaining. The dinosaur isn't revealed until the last twenty minutes, but when it shows its face there's non-stop action, and for once the dinosaur can move fast and so poses a genuine threat. The dinosaur itself is fairly well-animated and there is a wonderful 'golden age of monster movies' feel about the whole thing.

Mix Guy Madison, at the peak of his popularity, a genuine western with a great villain, a fair-to-middling fight, a cattle stampede, a comely heroine torn between love and obligation, an unintentionally obnoxious little Mexican boy, a mysterious, deadly creature lurking in a vast- well maybe- swamp, and you have a terrific science fiction oater that for some reason seems irresistible for me. I remember this film from childhood, and it has been so rare over the years. I cannot even find it on DVD. It is appearing on cable now and I do not miss an opportunity to watch.

As low budget as the film was, I think the monster moves quite well; especially when it is running. And I love that tongue! Once the beast appears, the film ramps up the action and never stops until the end.

This is somehow a spellbinding film. Go figure! You can laugh at its low budget antics, you can enjoy the romance, you can hiss at the villain, or just enjoy the monster. This film is really entertaining; a tribute to the attracting power that Guy Madison always had on film. Get yourself a good beer, some gummy dinosaurs, lean back and have fun!

Back in the 1950s, the big family weekend outing would be the drive-in movies. "It came from beneath the Sea", "The Alligator People", "Earth vs the Flyimg Saucers", "1984", "The Dam Busters", "The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake", "Love Slaves of the Amazons", etc. and (when I was 8 or 9) "The Beast from Hollow Mountain". I finally caught it again on DVR on TCM Thur 27 Jun 2013. For what is billed as the first Cinemascope and Color dinosaur movie, "Beast" has rough goodness.

And it is better than I remember. Surprised me. The dinosaur effects are some what better than "Dinosaurus!" 1960 (apparently the reviewers panning the FX have not seen "Dinosaurus!"), but it is not as good as what Willis O'Brien and Ray Harryhausen did together in Irwin Allen's "Animal World" 1956. I think the "Beast..." FX were billed as RegiScope animation in depth.

I have read that Willis O'Brien's "cowboys and dinosaurs" idea had been kicking around since before his "Mighty Joe Young" another movie where O'Brien and Harryhausen worked together. And after O'Brien's death, Harryhausen decided to make his mentor's unmade pet project as "The Valley of Gwangi".

The dinosaur in "Beast..." appears late and the conflict between the gringo rancher Ryan from Texas and the Mexican rancher Enrique, and the growing romance between Ryan and Sarita, Enrique's betrothed, occupies the first two thirds or three fourths of the movie. Mysterious deaths of cattle are attributed to rustlers and the ranchers' rivalry. But after the steer-chomping Beast makes his appearance, he has lotsa screen time in the last part of the film. (OK, I concede the tongue gets to be a bit much in some scenes. Looks to me like the tongue was rotoscoped onto the sequences shot with replacement animation.)

What has stayed with me from seeing this film over fifty years ago, is the scene where Sarita and the kid Panchito are besieged in a cabin by the Beast. That was scary then, and is still is a moment (or that may be my nostalgia acting up again).

Did you think the genre mash-up "Cowboys vs. Aliens" was original and clever? Well about 40 years earlier there was this fun Cowboys vs. Monster flick. Actually it's a story about a bunch of vaqueros who find themselves face-to-face with an allosaurus who's been killing their herd. The allosaurus doesn't actually show up until near the end of the film and a lot of time is spent on the vaqueros trying to figure out what's happening to their herd. That part of the film isn't all that compelling, but once the stop motion allosaurus shows up, this film is a whole heck of a lot of fun! Filmed in Regiscope! and was followed up with "The Valley of Gwangi" by Ray Harryhausen.

I first saw this movie as part of a group of summer matinees offered for children. Later, I remembered it when it came on TV as part of a Cable TV Monstervision. This movie has some very interesting scenes, it is good family entertainment. I will try to contact the Cable TV Networks to please air this movie so others can enjoy it. IF ANYONE KNOWS WHERE I CAN GET A COPY OF THIS MOVIE, PLEASE E-MAIL ME.

Cowboys and dinosaurs?! Now why don't we have this more often. This unique combination of fantasy, sci-fi, western and horror would show up again only once after 'The Beast of Hollow Mountain' in the vastly superior 'Valley of Gwangi (1969)'. As a kid I loved watching cowboy movies and constantly reading about dinosaurs. Well this was made for me… well surely back then I might have dug it, but this was my first viewing of 'Beast of Hollow Mountain' and it was a largely a lightweight disappointment. The problem here was that the western side of the story (feuding cowboys, cow herding and a mischievous Mexican kid) is lacklustre, systematic and takes up most of the framework and time. The pacing is ultimately slow and languishes within this period. The projected dino action (and this when it virtually appears too) doesn't come in to play until the hour mark and the film runs for just 80 minutes. This is when it picks up the energy levels and riveting suspense, but this all depends on if you have bothered to last the distance. Even with the ambitions, it never entirely gels and satisfies. The variable stop motion animation is less than imitating, but well achieved nonetheless. The direction is colourless (ironically it's filmed in colour) and typical, as the heavy-handed score and atmospheric sound FX gets out much more life. Doesn't make it any better though. The acting is acceptable, with a perfectly able lead performance by Guy Madison and the location photography is admirably framed.

Not terrible, but a plain, unremarkable hybrid b-film.

An American cowboy living in Mexico (Guy Madison) discovers his cattle is being eaten by a giant prehistoric dinosaur.

What is most strange about this film is that the dinosaur aspect -- which is played up with the poster, title and such -- really is not all that important. The bulk of the film is not about missing cattle but Jimmy's relationship with a woman who is engaged to another man.

The story could be good enough just like that -- a love triangle, with some multicultural stress thrown in. Jimmy is apparently the only American in the film, making him something of a stranger -- he is encroaching on Mexican soil and trying to "steal" a Mexican woman. Much could be said about American opinion of Mexican immigration and how it is reversed here, but I will not go there.

The film ultimately comes up mediocre because it does not blend its fantasy and western aspects as smoothly as it could. Fantasy fans will be bored for much of the film. Western fans may enjoy it a bit more, seeing as it never strays from the genre until much later on.

While this movie won't set any imaginations on fire, the tongue on the T-rex is by far the best thing going in the animation sequences. It HAS to be the inspiration for Gene Simmons of KISS...long, independent movement with a mind of its own. It is hard to believe this was done in 1956 for the quality of the cinemascope color and resolution; which is quite good...the white-washing may have some modern day "activists" on their toes screaming for "justice" but remember, it's a product of it's time. Enjoy it for what it is. A B-movie monster flick with the genuinely unique idea of crossing two genres that were on fire at the time (westerns and stop motion animation fantasy/sci-fi) together like chocolate and peanut butter....unfortunately, it just didn't leave the same delicious after taste.

How can you not love a cowboys and dinosaurs film? I saw this on TV about 15 or 20 years ago so my memories are somewhat vague, but I do remember being enthralled by the story and finding the stop-motion effects fun, if not realistic. The color must have been pretty washed out, because I was surprised to discover here that this is in fact a color film! If you love westerns and you love dinosaurs, you can't help but love this film. Sadly, there's only this and Gwangi to choose from in this rather narrow genre. I was hoping this would be released on DVD to capitalize on the King Kong publicity, but no such luck apparently. Maybe someone will do a CGI remake of this or Gwangi, since remakes are all that Hollywood seems capable of lately.

King Kong was more alive than this beast. Gumby was more alive than this beast. This kind of movie lives and dies by the F/X. I have seen hand puppets more alive than this beast. It's interesting to watch, but you won't buy one minute of it. It's a curiosity. It's just not very good.