(re)search my Trash

<body> <div align="left"> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" width="800" cellpadding="0" height="100%"> <tr> <td width="100" rowspan="3" background="../stylepix/square.gif" valign="top">  </td> <td width="4" rowspan="3"></td> <td width="592" height="1%" valign="top">  </td> <td width="4" rowspan="3"></td> <td width="100" rowspan="3" background="../stylepix/squareright.gif" valign="top">  </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="592" height="99%" valign="top">   Gangsters (Frank Wolff, Richard Sinatra, Wally Campo) distract the authorities by exploding a goldmine while they are robbing a bank at a skiing-resort & plan to disguise their escape to Canada as a harmless skiing-trip, lead by good-natured "nature-boy" Michael Forest. Unfortunately the boss's doll (Sheila Carol) falls for natureboy if that wasn't enough, there's also a bloodthirsty monster (Chris Robinson in cobweb-outfit) aloof & it delights in putting people into coocoons in its "Haunted Cave" (yes, hence the title). <p> </p> <p>Admittedly that sounds all pretty underwhelming for a late-50s monstermovie, as there were hundreds of others that shared basically the same plot (not that there's necessarily anything wrong with that), what makes this a standout is on one hand an imaginative use of unusual camera-angles  & -shots that put this film closer to the French <i>nouvelle vague</i> (back then still in its infancy) than to executive producers usual output (not that there would be anything wrong with that neither), on the other hand the dialogues are much sharper written, much more to the point than usual for this kind of movie, foreshadowing Hellman's later existential masterpieces <b>Ride in the Whirlwind</b>, <b>The Shooting</b> & <b>Two-Lane-Backtop</b>. As monstermovies go, this one's very much worth the while !</p> <p>Shot back-to-back with Roger Corman's <b><a href="skitroopattack(1960).shtml">Ski Troop Attack</a></b> (with which it shares most of the cast) & originally co-billed with Corman's <b><a href="waspwoman(1960).shtml">Wasp Woman</a></b>.</p> <p> </p> <p>  </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="592" valign="top" height="1%">  <SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript"> currentyear = "2003"; </SCRIPT> <SCRIPT language="JavaScript" src="../scripts/endcredits.js"></SCRIPT> <SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript"> dosworsdonn(); </SCRIPT> </td> </tr> </table> </div> </body>