The Amazing Colossal Man (1957)

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.


Langan plays Lt. Col. Glenn Manning, an officer in the U.S. Army who suffers serious burns to over 90% of his body following an inadvertent exposure to plutonium radiation from a bomb blast. He 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 his growth with a formula, but after getting injected with the cure, he grabs the needle and spears one of the doctors with it, killing him on the spot. He 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. From Wikipedia

One of my all time favorite movies, this was the first film I saw as a kid that intoduced me to a whole new world of cinema. -JB

THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN
BERT I. GORDON  (1957)
AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL PICTURES
73 MIN
USA