Trog (1970)
aka
La caverna del terror
Das Ungeheuer
A prehistoric troglodyte (Joe Cornelius in a hairy apesuit left over from "2001") gets discovered living in a cave in Britian. Stubborn, hard-nosed, dedicated anthropologist Dr. Brockton (a remarkably sincere performance by legendary actress Joan Crawford in her last role) wants to study him. Huffy local jerk Sam Murdock (a deliciously hammy Michael Gough) vehemently disapproves. Director Freddie Francis treats Aben Kandel's patently ridiculous script with jaw-dropping seriousness, thus ensuring that this picture qualifies as a choice chunk of pure gut-busting camp. The scenes depicting Dr. Brockton bonding with Trog are priceless: she teaches him how to wind up a toy doll and toss a ball! Other unintentionally uproarious moments include Trog freaking out when he hears loud rock music and Trog mixing it up with a German Shepherd. Better still, the inevitable last reel mondo destructo rampage certainly delivers the rousing goods: Trog tosses a guy through a window, impales another man on a meat hook, overturns a car, and abducts a little girl (the ubiquitous Chloe Franks of "Tales from the Crypt" and "Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?"). The solid cast play their parts totally straight: Bernard Kay as the stalwart Inspector Graham, Kim Braden as Brockton's cute blonde daughter Anne, David Griffin as eager young scientist Malcom Travers, Thorley Walters as a firm magistrate, and Robert Hutton as renowned surgeon Dr. Richard Warren. Desmond Dickinson's sharp cinematography, John Scott's cool ooga-booga score, the cruddy (far from) special effects (Trog's cave looks like it's made out of cardboard and paper mache -- and probably was!), and some laughably lousy stop-motion animation dinosaurs further add to the infectiously inane fun of this enjoyably asinine hoot. (IMDB Woodyanders)
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