People wonder why Fox went for lizards and spiders when pioneer effects wiz WIllis O Brien offered to head the monster side of things. The main reason was simple, 1959's Journey To The Center Of The Earth starring Pat Boone and James Mason. Lost World was to be a follow up considering the films huge success and award winning effects despite the fact that monitor lizards and tegus were used in this as well. COnsidering what O Brien was going to do it would have taken a year extra for the effects and more money than the Caimen(not crocodile )would work for. Ultimately the studios decided to strike while the iron was hot and go for a large but not prestigious film filled with enough carnage to keep the kids happy and have them see it again once the flick went into support on a double feature. Surely,The O brien film would have been spectacular but this film is still very enjoyable on a level because everything about it is so wrong. It's very campy but also sexist and racist on a consistently level and the animal cruelty holds a strange fascination and power that eclipses into looniness when Claude Raines holds up a common house gecko and says "It's a baby T. Rex." The color scheme is extremely good from the hot pink palm trees to the lime green tarantulas. Personally, aside from the superior dinosaur effects I prefer this To Jurussic park as there are no annoying kids or schmaltzy message about family. It's tacky but good tacky.
Review of The Lost World
