This 1959 film, ‘The Monster Of Piedras Blancas’ came on to my want to watch list when it was noted in ‘Cryptology’ that it was one of several films that came out in the wake of the ‘Creature From The Black Lagoon’.
The lighthouse keeper, Sturges (actor John Harmon) warns people to stay away from the lighthouse, saying the area was off-limits. Dead bodies pop up on the beach from time to time, much to the dismay of the local population. The latest was the Renaldi brothers. Weird place. They keep their bloodless bodies at the back of the grocers until the funerals. Sturges sees his daughter, Lucy (actress Jeanne Carmen), on the way home, reminding her to be home before dark from her job, only to be told she would be late and that Fred (actor Don Sullivan) would see her home. It’s explained later that she is rarely home as she was taught at boarding school. Back at the lighthouse, Sturges puts some fish out for his later night guest when he couldn’t get scraps from the grocer Kochek (actor Frank Arvidson), supposedly for his dog. Lucy has a late night swim in the ocean but her father is not happy about it.
Kochek is a gossip and warns of the monster of Piedras Blacas but ignored. Here, we go a bit spoiler. The monster is hungry for blood and the bodies begin to mount up and Constable George Matson (actor Forrest Lewis) and Doctor Sam Jorgenson (actor Lee Tremayne) are clueless as to what is going on. Must have been a bit of a change in diet from meat to blood for this particular creature.
Quite how Little Jimmy (actor Wayne Berwick) could recognise a beheaded Kochek at his store beats me. A scale is found and Fred and Jorgenson analyse and agree its from a rare reptile. Lucy arrives and gets them to come and help her as her Dad has fallen off a cliff, but appears more stunned than broken with sprains to his left and arm. It’s amazing how when they are asked about events, they tell Matson as if they are reading from a police statement. Not quite so sure if tranquillisers for everything is a good idea. Fred stays with Lucy to keep an eye on her father.
After two more deaths, Matson gets Fred and a posse to search for the killer as you would do in the USA. When two of the posse are injured, Matson says they’ll take them back and go stalking again in the morning. They do know it’s a monster though but not what kind.
That should be enough of a taster before going spoiler. I’m glossing over a lot of the details so you won’t get too many spoilers.
The monster is just that. A combination of the legs of the Metaluna mutant from ‘This Island, Earth’, the hands from the 1956 film ‘The Mole People’ and the rest of the body crafted by Jack Kevan, who also constructed the ‘Creature From The Black Lagoon’. It does proved the point that a monster is often better seen in the shadows. Much of the time it is, until the end.
By the way, I goggled Piedras Blancas and it is an actual place with a lighthouse. It wasn’t used for filming but another place called Cayucos, another seaside town.
Other than the monster, the film really doesn’t have much going for it except for a lot of off town behaviour, like stowing dead bodies at the grocers, stilted dialogue and relationships. Despite these, it does become a tad watchable, simply to find out what happened next. Be grateful that you don’t end up on the monster’s diet as he likes to drink from the body.
GF Willmetts
November 2026
(public domain. 71 minutes)
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