Woodyanders Review of The Milpitas Monster

The Milpitas Monster (1976)

An amiably amateurish $1.50 creature feature

[8/10 · 13 August 2014]

A giant monster emerges from a local garbage dump to terrorize the suburban community of Milpitas, California. Okay, this rough-around-the-edges honey sure isn't an exceptionally well-crafted work of towering cinematic art, yet the clumsily earnest anti-pollution message, lovably lousy acting from a game, but lame non-star cast, poky pacing, meandering narrative, and gritty'n'grainy 16mm cinematography all give this picture an endearingly clunky charm. Moreover, one just has to dig a flick in which a drunken bum winds being the hero of the piece. In addition, the monster and miniature effects aren't half bad considering the paltry $11,000 budget, there's a groovy ending credits theme song, and the good-natured tongue-in-cheek inoffensive tone makes this flick impossible to either dislike or resist. The splendidly sonorous narration by the legendary Paul Frees rates as another significant asset. A cute little hoot.