The Amazing Colossal Man

Infobox Film
name = The Amazing Colossal Man


caption = Theatrical release poster.
director = Bert I. Gordon
writer = Mark Hanna
Bert I. Gordon
George Worthing Yates (uncredited)
producer = Bert I. Gordon
Samuel Z. Arkoff
James H. Nicholson
starring = Glenn Langan
Cathy Downs
William Hudson
cinematography = Joseph F. Biroc
music = Albert Glasser
costume = Bob Richards
released = October 251957
runtime = 80mins
country = USA
language = English
followed_by = War of the Colossal Beast and Attack of the 50 Foot Woman
amg_id = 1:1782
imdb_id = 0050118

"The Amazing Colossal Man" is a 1957 black-and-white science fiction film, directed by Bert I. Gordon and starring Glenn Langan. The film revolves around a 60 foot mutant man produced as the result of an atomic accident.

Distributed by American International Pictures (AIP) at the top of a program double-bill with "The Cat Girl", the film was followed by a sequel, "War of the Colossal Beast", which appeared in 1958.

Plot

Langan plays Lt. Col. Glenn Manning, a soldier in the U.S. Army who suffers serious burns over 90% of his body following inadvertent exposure to plutonium radiation from a bomb blast. Manning miraculously survives the explosion and his burns completely heal, but the radiation causes him to abnormally grow into a 60-foot-tall giant. At this size, his heart is unable to supply sufficient blood to his brain and he gradually goes insane.

Army doctors attempt to halt and reverse Manning's growth with a formula, but after getting injected with the cure, the colonel grabs the needle and spears one of the doctors with it, killing him on the spot. Manning then escapes from confinement, "kidnaps" his girlfriend, Carol Forrest (played by Cathy Downs), and wreaks havoc in Las Vegas before being cornered by the Army at the Hoover Dam. After releasing Carol he is shot and appears to fall to his death in the Colorado River.

Cast

References in popular culture

The film and its sequel have been referenced in comedy productions, including the television series "Mystery Science Theater 3000" and an episode of "Robot Chicken" when a large bald giant, wearing a sarong as a diaper, is struck in the crotch with a wrecking ball as he terrorizes a city.Fact|date=February 2007This movie somewhat, like "The Beast Of Yucca Flats" (1961), Frankenstein's Monster, and "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" inspired Stan Lee and Jack Kirby to create the Incredible Hulk character.A homage to the film can also be found in the Warren Ellis comic-book "Planetary".Fact|date=February 2007

The line: "Why don't you ask me what it feels like to be a freak?" is sampled in American industrial rock Rob Zombie's song "Demon Speeding", on the 2001 album "The Sinister Urge".

Hardcore band Madball have a song called "Colossal Man", in which they refer to him as a skinhead.

References

Bibliography

* Wingrove, David. "Science Fiction Film Source Book" (Longman Group Limited, 1985)

External links

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