Eegah (1962)

[Masha]

Eegah (1962)

I saw this on a list of the worst movies ever made and so searched for it.

It stars: Richard Kiel who played: Kanamit in: The Twilight Zone episode: To Serve Man and as: Jaws in: The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and: Moonraker (1979). He is a caveman who lives in the hills near a small city. A girl sees him and her father goes to search for him and then the girl and her boyfriend have to search for her father.

It has the elements of a successful 1960s teen-beach movie with singing and romance but the actors are obviously in their twenties and the beach is a rocky landscape and the singing is horrible and the romance is dull.

Richard Kiel has the best scene in the movie as he laments the girl's leaving. He speaks in grunts but his meaning is quite clear. It may be best that it is this way because the dialogue in the movie is so bland that actual lines would have ruined the effect.

It is not horror and there is as much tension as waiting for a washing machine to finish its cycle and there is no surrealism and no science fiction special effects and the storyline is perfectly linear. I am sorry to say that I could find no artistic influences at all.

It is far from the worst movie I have ever watched and it is far from being in the same league with: Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959) or: Attack of the Killer Shrews (1959).

I recommend this movie highly to those people who love to be continually thinking: "This could have been a good scene if only they had...

I advise all others to run away.

[scsu1975]

Eegah (1962)

I commend you for sitting through this turd. I remember watching this on tv with my brother when we were kids. Since we were both musicians (he was the drummer, I was the organist), it took us about thirty seconds to learn the title song.

Any idea why Arch Hall Sr. wears a pith helmet in the Southern California desert?

[TikiSoo]

Thanks scsu, I had no idea that was Arch Hall Sr.
I do know the "Safari" look was all the rage in fashion around that time. As a 10 year old had an almost identical Safari style tunic shirt & short set with all the flap pockets just like he's wearing. (too young to wear the ruffly crop blouse like the girl's)

[Stevomachino]

The only way I was ever able to make it through this thing was to watch the MST3K version. And even then, Joel and the bots can only do so much to make it entertaining.

[Masha]

Eegah (1962)

I commend you for sitting through this turd. I remember watching this on tv with my brother when we were kids. Since we were both musicians (he was the drummer, I was the organist), it took us about thirty seconds to learn the title song.

Any idea why Arch Hall Sr. wears a pith helmet in the Southern California desert?

I thank you for your kind regard but I have a naturally high tolerance for things which are mundane and uninteresting in general as long as they are not actively obnoxious. My proof of this is that I have not yet kicked my little Fuzzy to the curb.

I believe it likely that his wardrobe was important to characterization. It immediately registered in the minds of viewers that he had sufficient wealth and power that no one could safely laugh at him to his face and that no one felt so close to him that they felt confident suggesting he wear clothes which did not make him look like a fool.

[Masha]

Thanks scsu, I had no idea that was Arch Hall Sr.
I do know the "Safari" look was all the rage in fashion around that time. As a 10 year old had an almost identical Safari style tunic shirt & short set with all the flap pockets just like he's wearing. (too young to wear the ruffly crop blouse like the girl's)

I saw recently a private collection of teddy bears. They were all between three and four feet tall. They were each wearing an outfit and sitting in their own little chair. One had a safari outfit and was sitting in a camp chair. That one was likely from the 1960s.

It was explained that a little girl in the 1920s outgrew her favorite outfit but insisted on wearing what pieces of it she could despite how tight they were. She was quite adamant also that her baby sister not be given it. The parents purchased a teddy bear, dressed in it the outfit and placed it in a play chair which the child was outgrowing. It placated her. The parents defused in similar manner a possible replay of the situation a few years later when the baby sister was about the same age and was fixated on an outfit.

It became a family tradition to dress a teddy bear in a favorite outfit when a girl began school. They most often were placed in a chair which the girl was outgrowing. It usually sat in the corner of the girls' room until she outgrew such childish things and it was then moved to the collections room. They have now eighteen teddy bears for five generations. There is no parallel recognition for any of the boys. They were professionally appraised a few years ago for estate purposes but were found to be of little value. One of the teddy bears might sell for around three hundred dollars but the other bears and the clothes are of no great interest to collectors.

The little safari outfit made an impression on me because an outfit from the same generation was a mass of lace and frills with nary a hint of the cloth which held it together. I do not know if that was from a sister or a cousin. I have to think that it was obvious which one was the tomboy of the family.

[laffite]

I believe you both that this is a bad movie though I have not seen it.

The title itself is verily onomatopoetic. You can google screams on google, to wit :

EEEEYAAAARRRRRRGH
EEEYAHHH
AIYEEEEEEEERGH
RAHHHRRRGGHH
AIEEE
YAAAAGH
AARRRGGHEEAAHH
AAAUUUUGH

The movie title is shorter but still exudes a modicum of agony

[LawrenceA]

Don't believe their blasphemy. Eegah is a cinema masterpiece. Thrills, chills, you'll laugh, you'll cry! Just try not to groove out when Arch Hall Jr and the gang start rockin' out at the pool party. Just try not to swoon when the damsel in distress gently shaves Eegah. Wonder at the scientific theory that sulfur in cave walls allows one to survive millennia. See all this and more in...Eegah!

[laffite]

Don't believe their blasphemy. Eegah is a cinema masterpiece. Thrills, chills, you'll laugh, you'll cry! Just try not to groove out when Arch Hall Jr and the gang start rockin' out at the pool party. Just try not to swoon when the damsel in distress gently shaves Eegah. Wonder at the scientific theory that sulfur in cave walls allows one to survive millennia. See all this and more in...Eegah!

You should produce and direct movie trailers. You would be great!

[scsu1975]

[TikiSoo]

Don't believe their blasphemy.

Yeah, I kind of liked Eegah.

[ElCid]

I saw Eegah many years ago and then purchased a DVD set of multiple "horror" movies - "The Best of the Worst." Eegah may very well be the best one on it. Using fast forward helps.
If you have never seen it, probably worth watching once. You just have to view it as much silliness or comedy as "horror," just like The Killer Shrews. both are far from the worst movies ever mad.

Apparently Arch Hall's father was trying to advance his musical career by producing movies featuring junior and having him sing. Don't think either career took off.

[ElCid]

I saw Eegah many years ago and then purchased a DVD set of multiple "horror" movies - "The Best of the Worst." Eegah may very well be the best one on it. Using fast forward helps.
If you have never seen it, probably worth watching once. You just have to view it as much silliness or comedy as "horror," just like The Killer Shrews. both are far from the worst movies ever mad.

Apparently Arch Hall's father was trying to advance his musical career by producing movies featuring junior and having him sing. Don't think either career took off.
In 1967 Arch Hall, Jr. went to work for Flying Tiger airlines which later was bought by FedEx and he eventually retired from that.

[MovieCollectorOH]

I liked Eegah. Pretty good for a "bad movie". There are some others the Arch Hall Jr/Sr team made. Out of those I'd mention a couple others I've seen - The Choppers and Wild Guitar - as at least in my notes I found them more or less on par with Eegah back when I saw them.

For me this was about aesthetics rather than story line, and the knowledge of the father/son team behind the scenes.

[scsu1975]

I liked Eegah. Pretty good for a "bad movie". There are some others the Arch Hall Jr/Sr team made. Out of those I'd mention a couple others I've seen - The Choppers and Wild Guitar - as at least in my notes I found them more or less on par with Eegah back when I saw them.

Haven't see Wild Guitar, but I did see The Choppers and it's so-so. Hall's best film is probably The Sadist; he plays a really repulsive character in that and does a great job.