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What's not to like about a fright
film featuring a stalking, scowling, murderous tree stump?
Set on a remote South Pacific isle, this quick-jack horror
tale is memorable solely for the moss-covered sneer of its
twiggy menace.
Served up as part of a double
bill with Disembodied, this opus detailing the revenge
of a leaf-sprouting evil spirit is the responsibility of
the Milner brothers. Dan Milner, here making his directorial
debut, had been an editor in Hollywood for some years. He'd
learned his craft cutting both top-drawer features (Tay
Garnett's Cross of Lorraine) and bottom-rung programmers
(William Beaudine's Oh, What A Night). Screenwriter
Jack Milner took up the editing chores when brother Dan
slipped into the director's chair. Together they fashioned
what is undoubtedly the most fondly remembered walking plant
film of them all, From Hell It Came.
This
1957 schlockfest centers around a tropical terror spoken
of only in hushed tones by the 'ignorant' natives, Tabanga,
evil spirit of the Earth. Fortunately for the hapless Polynesian
brood, there are white medicine men on hand to dispel the
superstitious nonsense.
When a native lad is killed
in a heated exchange, his restless soul is reincarnated
in the form of the troublesome tree called Tabanga. Emerging
from the mossy soil, this revenge-bent walking log wastes
no time in menacing the island's nubile maidens.
Our nominal hero is Dr. William Arnold
played by Tod Andrews who starred as Maj. John Singleton
Mosby on TV's Grey Ghost. He'd begun his career as
Michael Ames, appearing in genre classics such as Voodoo
Man and Return of the Ape Man, as well as A pictures
like Now Voyager.
 It
should come as no surprise to true cut-rate monster devotees
that this zombiefied bit of grimacing greenery was designed
by ace creaturemeister Paul Blaisdell, justly renowned for
fashioning the countenances of the Saucer Men, the
cucumber creature of It Conquered The World and the
buxom She-Creature. This time he's concocted a truly
offbeat if none too frightening bag of bark. The fiercely
jutting brows and drooping clown mouth owe more to Emmett
Kelly than to Karloff.
And what of the hapless thespian who was actually fitted
with the Tabanga threads? Former pro wrestler Chester Hayes
has mixed feelings when recalling his stint as the stump.
''When inside the suit, the chicken-wired frame became a
bit hazardous, cutting me at times,'' he told Filmfax
magazine. ''I had a lot of trouble walking in the suit as
it was splitting in the legs due to all the walking and
moving I was doing. You can almost see my pants in one or
two scenes."
Hayes had initially entered the biz
through the mentoring of fellow ring masters Tor Johnson
and George Wagner, a.k.a. Gorgeous George. Tackling bit
parts in a number of productions, he became a familiar face
around the Allied Artists lot. When the call went out to
cast a burly young swain as a walking tree, Hayes was at
the top of the list. In fact, the film afforded him more
than one B film distinction. Also cast as an islander, he
warns the village of his own approach: ''Tabanga come! Tabanga
come!''
Though dismissed by one crusty
critic with the now-classic jape ''and to Hell it can go,''
Tabanga wasn't moviedom's sole soil-born menace. Plant life-driven
plots are nothing new to scare-film makers. Roger Corman's
classic The Little Shop of Horrors is potted proof
as to their staying power, as evidenced by this seedy sampler:
Day of the Triffids
(1963)
Based on John Wyndham's
classic sci fi novel, this film should have been far better
than it is. The effects are passable and American stage
star Howard Keel delivers as the hero. But whatever suspense
the film manages to muster is undermined by talky stretches
of exposition.
Acting: B-
Atmosphere:
C
Fun: C
The Quatermass Xperiment
(1958)
First in the legendary
British film trilogy detailing the exploits of Prof. Quatermass
(Brian Donlevy) a no-nonsense, pioneering scientist. In
this initial outing, a returning astronaut's body is slowly
assimilated by an alien plant, transforming the doomed
pilot into a deadly walking cactus. Well done.
Acting: A
Atmosphere:
A
Fun: A
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