Jack The Giant Killer (1962)

Has anyone else seen this film? I rediscovered this gem, er maybe that's not the best choice of words, today, catching the tail end of its climatic fight and conclusion. I remember watching this once as a kid, taking it extremely seriously while my dad laughed at the silly plot, goofy acting, and the special effect failures. I have actually been looking for the name of the film for a long time but gave up, thinking maybe I had imagined it.

For those who don't know, it's rather loosely based on the fairy tale Jack The Giant Killer. In this version there's some guy who has to fight against angry, rubber faced giants who are controlled by a campy looking sorcerer who likes to set enchantments on royal women. These said enchantments can be broken by using a strategically placed mirror (in front of them) and some sort of object to crack the mirror. And a leprechaun, viking, and little kid help our main hero. A pity MST 3 K never did this movie, it's right up their alley in corniness. Now, I'm wishing I had seen the whole thing again.

Pendragon, the Prince of Witches!! XD

Love that movie for all its cheesy glory. I really think that the writer just grabbed an elementary classroom and got all the boys and girls to give ideas ("There's a pretty princess and it's her birthday!", "The toy turns into a monster and kidnaps the princess!", "There's a leprechaun and a viking!", "Make it fight a two-headed gorilla-octopus monster!", etc.) and then wrote it all in.

Despite the corniness, I think there were some good ideas. Even as a kid they got me thinking. The biggest one was the whole corruption thing by Pendragon. It was almost like a Body Snatchers thing, albeit magical. You were still "you", but an evil version. I mean, notice how both enchanted characters (the nurse and the princess) both ask for forgiveness after they break the spell (the whole "break the mirror, break the spell" is still cool in my eyes), meaning they were conscious about what they did. Creepy stuff!

Now I want to watch it again, too.

Why did I immediately think of Fables when I saw this thread?

My God! It’s like an orgy of matte paintings, stop-motion and optical printer effects! I love stuff like this! Thanks for the heads-up. Now I just need to track it down for myself!

Honestly, as much as my original post is sardonic, it is great in a campy so bad it's good type way. I do agree with Canidaemon, it does have ideas and potential to be interesting if well executed. But, then it has so much silliness that it balances out. :P

For those interested, the movie is available through Netflix.

I've had this movie on DVD since forever.

The story behind this film is almost as interesting as the film itself. After the huge success of The Seventh Voyage Of Sinbad, producers tried to copy film's combination of sorcery, swashbuckling, and stop-motion. Producer Edward Small decided that he could achieve the greatest success by imitating Sinbad the most slavishly of all, and, sure enough, Jack the Giant Killer swipes Sinbad's hero (Kerwin Mathews), villain (Torin Thatcher), director (Nathan Juran), and a significant chunk of the plot. For their troubles, United Artists (the distributor) got sued by Columbia (Sinbad's distributor), causing the film to be pulled from circulation. The film then resurfaced as a kiddie matinee title in the late '60s...dubbed into a musical.

No, really

(Un?)Fortunately, the DVD release is of the original, non-musical version.

Anyway, I always found the film to be a lot of fun, even if it isn't very good. While it attempts to copy The Seventh Voyage Of Sinbad, the film that ends up resembling most is The Magic Sword. They both share the same hammy acting, cheap-looking sets and costuming, and fun but unconvincing special effects. Since Jack had a much bigger budget than Bert. I Gordon's epic, it was able to afford substantially more special effects, but not necessarily better ones. The whole film is awash in sloppy optical shots and cheap looking cartoon animation (for "magic"). The film falls flat in the monster department as well; while the Witches of the Wind are actually pretty creepy looking (though the cel-animated "fire" they spread kind of ruins the illusion), the stop motion you long for the skill of someone like Ray Harryhausen. The animation is more Gumby than Gwangi.

All that criticism aside, I really did like the film. It's fast paced, doesn't take itself seriously, and is certainly never dull. It's a prime example of a film that's So Bad, It's Good.

Oh, I love those Russian fairy tale films by Alexandr Ptushko and Alexander Row (some of which turned up on MST3K) and they were absolutely slavish to really cheapo optical effects and the like. So this totally sounds right up my street!

Recut as a musical? Lordy, that sounds like a nightmare! I can’t help but think of The Thief and the Cobbler, maybe because it was recently featured on TNC, maybe because I watched Raggedy Ann and Andy: A Musical Adventure for the first time in ages fairly recently, so it’s on the brain. (Which reminds me, I need to see that Recobbled cut that’s on Google Video.)

Bryan Singer is remaking this, turning down the X-Men reboot to do so.

^ Is he specifically remaking this movie or is it supposed to be a another adaptation of the original fairy tale?

^^^ Um. Whoa, don't know what to say about the musical version. Wow, I never knew it existed. That is hilarious in a whole other way. I would actually like to see this. I love how slapped together it is and how some of the dialog seems to be the same except with music and being "sung."

I don't know really but he is retaining this version's title.

For those interested, Hulu has the film in full. (US users only can access though, I think. :/)

The op regretted that it was never covered by Mike, Joel or the rest. Well next month (August 17, '11), the Rifftrax gang are covering it live like they did for Plan 9 from Outer Space, Reefer Madness and others.

Really?! Ahh! Oh man, I wish I could catch that. T'would be amazing.

I just got back from it. It was really, truly amazing. Seize the Bone!

"Be right there."

I saw it too. The film was pretty terrible, and simply amazing with the Rifftrax treatment. OH! And the movie is also listed currently on Instant Watch via Netflix, so it really can get some more exposure and tropes listed!

I really liked the Riff Trax screening. "Be right there!"

Made a page. Needs Wiki Magic.