In a skiing station in Dakota, a gang of criminals leaded by Alexander "Alex" Ward (Frank Wolff) plans the heist of golden bars from a small bank. While the lover of Alex, Gypsy Boulet (Sheila Carol),goes to an isolated cabin with the ski instructor Gil Jackson (Michael Forest),a time bomb explodes a cave to divert the attention of the locals and the gangsters steal the gold. But the explosion releases a spider-like monster and due to a storm, the group becomes trapped in Gil's cabin and threatened by the creepy beast.

The debut of Monte Hellman as director is a typical trash movie of the 50's. The story is not bad; the low budget effects are very poor and laughable; the heroine is gorgeous; the sudden conclusion gives the sensation that the shooting was interrupted; and the cover of the Brazilian DVD is extremely funny with the following text: "Young girls scared and sucked by a maze of horror and blood of a hunger beast from hell", which is delightfully funny and ridiculous, since the story has nothing to do with it. In spite of these remarks, I like this type of film, which are part of mine childhood, therefore "Beast From Haunted Cave" is a good entertainment at least for me. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "A Besta da Caverna Assombrada" ("The Beast From the Haunted Cave")

Drive-in classic is the first time cult director Monte Hellman made a feature. Here its the story of a bunch of gangsters on the run after a robbery who hide out in a cabin in the mountains. Adding to the complications is a monster lurking in a near by cave. As the gangsters try to figure out how to get away from the law they also have to deal with the monster who is whittling away at their number.

Its a creepy little movie thats perfect for late night movie viewing on a cold winters night. Far from the greatest film ever made its just an enjoyable little horror film that manages to balance both the crime and monster (although I'm the first to admit that the monster at times seems to have been a secondary thought.) Worth a look and a bag of popcorn, especially on Halloween.

(The running time of this movie was originally 65 minutes. Additional scenes were added for TV broadcasts)

This is an early Roger Corman production and it shows many of the trademarks of such a film. It has a very simple story, the budget is pretty low and there is, of course, a monster. But I do think the current score of 4.1 is a bit high as the film is an odd blend of romance, crime and cheesy mutant spiders! The film concerns a handsome outdoorsman (Michael Forest) who has been contracted to guide some folks through the Dakota wilderness. What he doesn't realize is that these people are criminals--and after pulling a robbery they plan on killing him. During their time in the snowy north, Forest slowly falls in love with one of the gangster's girl. And, by the way, a giant spidery-thingie attacks them and starts killing them off one by one! This is an amazingly bizarre combination of genres, that's for sure! On the positive side, Forest was handsome and did a pretty good job in the lead. And, at least the film has some nice wintry scenery. But there is so much against it--one of the dumber monsters I've ever seen (even for a Corman film, it's pretty bad),the writing is only okay at best and it's very, very, very talky. Not a terrible film--if it were, it would be more enjoyable. Not even good for a laugh--except when the dumb monster arrives.