Village of the Giants Reviews

Attributed to an H.G. Wells novel but bearing it no discernible resemblance, this teenage musical fantasy deals with the remarkable odyssey of a youthful octet who, stranded by an avalanche that destroys their auto, steal some food and grow to massive proportions. Young Howard plays "Genius," the brat who has invented the monstrous manna. The eight delinguents, averaging 30 feet in height, terrorize the town's ordinary folks to the dismay of young lovers Kirk and Doherty, Howard's sister. Ultimately Howard comes up with a vaporous antidote (a smoking-stunts-the-growth allegory, perhaps) which reduces the juvenile offenders to manageable proportions. Producer Gordon made a later movie, not intentionally funny, from the nominal source of this one, THE FOOD OF THE GODS (1976). Unlike the latter, this one has some entertaining moments, including a rain-and-mud ballet and camera concentration on massive mammaries and, especially, big buttocks. This was to have been the first of a series of 13 low-budget fantasies made by producer Gordon in an equal-partnership deal with Joseph E. Levine. Songs and musical numbers include "Woman," "When it Comes to Your Love" (Ron Elliott, sung by the Beau Brummels); "Little Bitty Corrine" (Frank C. Slay, Frederick A. Picariello, sung by Freddy Cannon); and "Marianne," "Nothing Can Stand in My Way" (Jack Nitzsche, Russ Titelman, sung by Mike Clifford).