'Eegah!' Review | shameface.com

Eegah! is considered by many to be the worst movie ever made. We think we've seen worse, but there's no denying that Arch Hall Sr's caveman epic is among the most poorly made motion pictures of all time. Hall cast himself, his son, and his secretary in the lead roles, and all three of them are low on talent. The only person involved with this film that has any scrap of talent whatsoever is Richard Kiel, who went on to play Jaws in two James Bond films. Kiel plays the part of Eegah, a caveman who's been living in the California desert for thousands of years without being discovered. Fortunately for us, Roxy Miller, played by Hall Sr's secretary, is the first to discover the ancient giant. Your heart really goes out to this woman, because she has to play the girlfriend of Hall's son, Arch Hall Jr. "Junior" is not a particularly attractive man by any stretch of the imagination. This man's hair makes Donald Trump look like Fabio.

Hairstyles aside, Arch Hall Jr. adds absolutely nothing to this movie. He certainly deserves a nomination for the worst actor of all time, if not the grand title itself.This is unfortunate because his character, Tom, seems to have more lines than anyone else in the movie. That says a lot about this film, since Tom spends much of his on-screen time wandering around the desert yelling "Roxy". Roxy, played by Marilyn Manning (Hall Sr's Secretary) ends up in Eegah's lair along with her father (played by Arch Hall Sr himself). The two befriend Eegah (Roxy even shaves his fake beard) until the caveman decides to be a little too friendly with the girl. They escape, along with Tom, into the city. Eegah follows them and goes on a minor rampage in the town.

Perhaps the most disturbing thing about Eegah! is the fact the it actually made a profit. Quite a substantial profit actually. The film reportedly made its debut at a drive-in theatre in Omaha, Nebraska, where it took in about $15,000 on opening night. Believe it or not, Arch Hall Sr. only spent 15 grand on the entire movie, so he came out ahead in the end. I guess people really will buy anything.

Interestingly enough, Hall wasn't the only one to make money on what most would consider pure cinematic crap. Eegah! was featured in an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, a television show that brought hilarious new commentary to atrociously bad films. Rhino films later released a DVD of Eegah! with both the MST3K commentary and the original version of the film. If you must see Eegah!, we recommend picking up this version rather than the cheaper editions that don't include the commentary.

Eegah! is not the brain-cell annihilating, vomit inducing crapfest that some make it out to be, but it's close. There really isn't a point to sitting through this movie unless you want to see bad film-making at its best. Our final verdict:

Stats & Info
Rating: Not Rated
Rarity: Common (We recommend the MST3K Version distributed by Rhino)
Released: 1962
Country of Origin: USA
Video: Color; Fullscreen (1.33:1)
Audio: English (2 ch)
Plot: Prehistoric caveman found in California Desert goes on a rampage.
How Bad Is It? - Horrible acting, bad script, budget of $15000, Director's secretary cast in lead role, Director's son cast in other lead role, 7'2" caveman has no lines and a fake beard.