Eegah (film)

Eegah
Year	1962
Directed by	Arch Hall Sr.
Produced by	Arch Hall Sr. (as Nicholas Merriwether)
Written by	Arch Hall Sr. (as Nicholas Merriwether) & Bob Wehling
Studio	Fairway International Pictures
Cast	Richard Kiel Arch Hall Jr. Marilyn Manning Arch Hall Sr.
Run time	90 minutes
Riffed in	Experiment #506 The Watch Out for Snakes Tour

For the MST3K episode, see MST3K 506 - Eegah.

For the MST3K live production , see MST3KL - Eegah.

“	"Watch out for snakes!"	”
	- Robert Miller

Eegah is a 1962 film directed and co-written by Arch Hall Sr. It is part monster movie and part showcase for the musical talents of Arch Hall Jr.

Plot

One night after shopping, Roxy Miller is driving to a party through the California desert when she nearly runs her car into Eegah, a giant caveman. She tells her boyfriend Tom Nelson and her father Robert Miller about the giant. Her father, a writer of adventure books, decides to go into the desert to look for the creature and possibly take a photograph of it. When his helicopter ride fails to show up at his designated pickup time, Tom and Roxy go looking for him.

Roxy is soon kidnapped by Eegah and taken back to his cave while Tom searches for her. In Eegah's cave, Roxy is reunited with her father, who tells her that he has begun to communicate with the caveman and has developed a theory as to the creature's astounding longevity. When a frisky Eegah expresses what seems to be romantic interest in Roxy, her father, fearful that the creature may kill them both if he is rebuffed, suggests she put up with as much of it as she can bear. Eegah never tries anything too explicit, though, and Roxy even ends up giving him a shave before Tom arrives and helps the Millers escape. Crushed, Eegah follows them back to civilization, a final confrontation ensues, and Eegah is killed.

Cast

• Richard Kiel - Eegah
• Arch Hall Jr. - Tom Nelson
• Marilyn Manning - Roxy Miller
• Arch Hall Sr. - Robert Miller

Notes

• Filmed in and around Palm Springs, CA (as evidenced by the pool and party scenes at the Ocotillo Lodge ) and at Bronson Canyon in Griffith Park (Los Angeles). Many of the films used on MST3K shot at Bronson Canyon, including Experiment 107 Robot Monster. Eegah's cave is Ro-Man's headquarters seen from a different angle.
• This is the only film directed by Arch Hall Sr.
• Mr. Fishman, the character tossed into a pool by Eegah, was played by Arch Hall Jr.'s friend and Mixed-Up Zombies star/director Ray Dennis Steckler. Steckler also worked as assistant cameraman for the film.
• This movie was made on a budget of about $15,000 - an uncommonly low budget for a color film, even by 1962 standards. Much of the dialogue was lost during filming, and large sections of the film are dubbed as a result. These disadvantages did not hurt the film's profitability, and by 1980 it had grossed more than $1 million.
• In The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Amazing Colossal Episode Guide, the writers mention that they considered the scene in which Eegah lolls his tongue around and laps up shaving cream to be one of the most disgusting things they've seen while working on the show. There was also speculation that some kind of romantic relationship existed between Arch Hall, Sr. and actress Marilyn Manning (who was Hall's secretary at the time of production), due to the non-familial chemistry the pair exhibited.
• In the late-80s, Richard Kiel attempted to get funding to remake this movie as a "Christian" film with a more positive ending in which the caveman finds religion and settles in the city.  That project eventually became The Giant of Thunder Mountain (co-starring Jack Elam from The Girl in Lovers Lane) which bears some similarities to Eegah!, but is not a true "remake."
• This is one of several films that was also used on Elvira's Movie Macabe.
• This was the second movie featured in Turkey Day '15.
• Two future songwriters were notable for their associations with this movie:
  • Deke Richards, a member of the band, became notable as a Motown songwriter and producer for the Supremes and the Jackson 5
  • Alan O'Day, a former bandmate of Arch Hall Jr., worked as music editor; he later wrote several hit songs in the 1970s, most notably his own 1977 #1 hit "Undercover Angel"
• Was nominated in The Golden Turkey Awards series for Worst Rock 'n' Roll Lyrics in Movie History. It lost to Mars Invades Puerto Rico.
• Eegah was the main film used in the 2017 Watch Out for Snakes Tour.

MST3K Connections

• Writer Bob Wehling also portrayed Joe in Revenge of the Creature.
• Richard Kiel also portrayed Dr. Kolos in The Human Duplicators and the Solarite in The Phantom Planet.
• Ray Dennis Steckler (Mr. Fishman) was also director and producer for The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies, in which he also portrayed Jerry.
• Carolyn Brandt (Fishman's girl) also portrayed Marge Neilson in The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies.
• Composer Andre Brummer was also composer for The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies.
• Recording engineer Sam Kopetzky was also sound mixer for The Sinister Urge and sound recordist for Girl in Gold Boots.

Critical Response

• Leonard Maltin wrote: "BOMB. A staple at “All-Time Worst Film” festivals."
• Michael Weldon in The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film wrote: "The man responsible for this laugh riot is also known as WIlliam Watters (he plays Mr. Miller under that name) and Arch Hall Sr. His son, 16-year-old Arch Jr., stars as Tom, the boyfriend of Mr. Miller's daughter Roxy. Richard Kiel excels as the title giant in an early featured role. Roxy discovers Eegah in a cave, befriends him, and gives him a clean shave. The idiot caveman falls in love with her. The sad love story ends in Palm Springs, where poor Eegah is shot by insensitive police while Arch Jr. and the Archers play. Amazing. From the people who later released the classic Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies,. That movie's director/star Ray Dennis Steckler is the man Eegah throws in the pool."