Excellent Bert I Gordon movie - Mark McGee claims it was his best and although I haven't gotten all the way through his back catalogue yet it's not hard to see why. It's helped by an excellent performance from John Hoyt as a creepy toy maker who likes to shrink people into toys. Hoyt is a different sort of star for this kind of movie - normally you get some cackling mad scientist a la Vincent Price; Hoyt's mild mannered kiddie-fiddler-esque nutter is far more believable and scary (and Hoyt gives an excellent performance).
The influence of The Incredible Shrinking Man is again obvious (as it was in Gordon's The Amazing Colossal Man) but also The Bride of Frankenstein - particularly, the sequence where Dr Pretorious shows off his little creatures.
June Kennedy is a likeable heroine and John Agar does his normal solid 50s sci fi leading man duties. There is some great atmosphere and one or two decent effects. Unfortunately the limited budget does hurt it in the end - it really needs a big set piece, like a fight with a spider or something, and/or big finale... and that never comes. So it sort of ends - the finale is very anti-climactic.
Still, the photography is excellent, the ideas strong and it's a lot of fun to watch. (Gordon fans will also appreciate the scene where Agar and Kennedy go watch The Amazing Colossal Man at the drive in.)
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