[7]
A group of cowboys and showmen travel to a hidden valley in Mexico where prehistoric creatures are rumored to live. Once there, they square off against several dinosaurs and capture one of them — an Allosaurus nicknamed ‘Gwangi’ — to bring back and exploit in their Wild West Show. Naturally, things don’t go quite according to plan when Gwangi escapes the show and wreaks havoc through town.
The Valley of Gwangi is a fun, matinee fantasy adventure featuring stop-motion effects by the esteemed Ray Harryhausen. While the middle part of the movie, featuring episodic encounters with one creature after another, feels a little too much like many other Harryhausen adventures, the emotional third act really distinguishes this film. Following in the footsteps of King Kong, our sympathies come to lie with Gwangi — an animal trapped in a world in which he doesn’t belong. The human characters are a bit less endearing, although James Franciscus (Beneath the Planet of the Apes) makes for a charismatic leading hunk and Laurence Naismith makes for a nice permutation on the wise old mentor archetype.
Directed by Jim O’Connolly. With Gila Golan, Richard Carlson, and Freda Jackson.