DILLON ON FILM

My Ten Favourite Ray Harryhausen Creatures

A personal ranking of stop-motion brilliance by the master of monsters

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958). Credit: Sony

Ever since discovering Jason and the Argonauts (1963) as a child, I’ve been obsessed with the films of Ray Harryhausen. Famous for his many stop-motion monsters, his indelible stamp is almost auteur-like, with the directors on his films mostly present for technical functions, ensuring the shots required for his spectacular monster set pieces were captured appropriately. In that respect, he’s akin to Walt Disney. Ask most people who directed The Jungle Book (1967), and they’ll incorrectly say Disney rather than Wolfgang Reitherman, just as most people think Harryhausen directed Jason and the Argonauts, rather than Don Chaffey.

I say all of this to make clear to the uninitiated that Harryhausen’s part in cinema history is not to be underestimated — not just from a visual effects perspective, but from the tone and feel of his films. They are straightforward adventures; colourful, cheerful, and great fun for all the family, uncluttered by unnecessary subtlety, nuance, or indeed narrative logic. For instance, the plot of Jason and the Argonauts is grossly flawed, as the film ends only halfway through the Jason legend. Yet one does not come away from that film feeling short-changed, as the creature feature set pieces are so remarkable.

With Ray Harryhausen, you can feel the love he has for his creations to the point that there’s a kind of tragedy and pathos to their inevitable demise at the hands of the protagonist. On more than one occasion as a child, I found myself rooting for the monster rather than the hero. I felt sadness at their death akin to the sadness felt at the end of *King Kong* (1933), a film that massively influenced Harryhausen. I call this feeling “Ray Harryhausen Syndrome” and I discuss it a little more in this more extensive piece on monster movie cinema, if you’re interested. (Among other things, I point out how filmmakers such as George Lucas, Peter Jackson, and Guillermo Del Toro all have their own moments of Ray Harryhausen Syndrome.)

With all that in mind, here are my top ten monsters from Ray Harryhausen creature features, presented as a countdown in order of personal preference.

10. Allosaurus (One Million Years B.C.)

Credit: Warner/Pathé/Hammer

A lot of people have another reason to love this 1966 film besides Ray Harryhausen’s dinosaur stop-motion, namely Raquel Welch. But for the purposes of this article, let’s not dwell on her. In all objectivity, this isn’t the best film in the world, but it’s good silly fun, and features some spectacular creature feature set pieces. My favourite of these involves the attack of an allosaurus.

9. One-Eyed Centaur (The Golden Voyage of Sinbad)

Credit: Sony

The evil wizard in Harryhausen’s second foray into Sinbad’s adventures was played by Tom Baker, just before he became Doctor Who. He makes for a fun villain in this colourful 1973 adventure, which also features Caroline Munro in a love interest role, and a plethora of mythical creatures including a one-eyed centaur. There’s a daft subplot about Munro’s character being sacrificed to the centaur because of a tattoo she bears, but never mind all that. Instead, just revel in Harryhausen’s creature design as a “good” monster, a gryphon, fights the “bad monster”, the aforementioned centaur. It’s creaky and silly, but immensely entertaining.

8. Giant Crab (Mysterious Island)

Credit: Sony

Very loosely based on a Jules Verne novel, this bonkers 1961 adventure film features soldiers fighting in the American Civil War escaping a Confederate prison via hot air balloon and crashing on the titular island. Here they encounter giant bees, giant flightless birds, and, in one remarkable sequence, a giant crab. Why? Well, eventually Captain Nemo turns up in the Nautilus, apparently alive and well despite the ending of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. He’s experimenting with genetics to help solve world hunger. Anyway, never mind that, because the monster scenes, especially the fight with the giant crab, are great fun.

7. Dragon (The 7th Voyage of Sinbad)

Credit: Sony

In this cracking 1958 fantasy adventure, Sinbad sails to a monster-infested island to return his beloved Princess Parisa to normal size after she’s shrunk by a vindictive magician in a ruse to… Oh, stuff the plot. Let’s get to the dragon, and let’s also admit that it plays second fiddle to the monstrously brilliant Cyclops (see further down the list for more details). That said, the dragon is still a remarkable creation, kept chained when first introduced, but later let loose in a desperate and reckless ploy by Sinbad so that he, Princess Parisa, and the crew can escape the evil magician and yet another cyclops, which the dragon then fights (see header image).

6. Giant scorpions (Clash of the Titans)

Credit: MGM

This 1981 retelling of the Perseus legend proved Harryhausen’s swansong. He certainly went out on a high, with this film containing multiple mythical creatures — Pegasus, a giant vulture, the monstrous Calibos, a two-headed dog, Medusa, and of course giant sea monster the Kraken. But on top of that lot, Perseus also has to reckon with a nest of giant scorpions after Medusa’s blood supersizes them. A fabulous giant critter fight scene ensues, somewhat reminiscent of the giant crab sequence from Mysterious Island that I mentioned earlier.

5. Cyclops (The 7th Voyage of Sinbad)

Credit: Sony

When my eldest son was about four or five years old, he could perform the most brilliant impersonation of the roar of the Cyclops in this film. Anyway, this landmark Harryhausen monster features in three scenes: The opening, a thrilling mid-section (in which the Cyclops also decides to roast a few of Sinbad’s crew over a slow flame) and in the finale, which also features a dragon (as I’ve already mentioned).

4. Kali (The Golden Voyage of Sinbad)

Credit: Sony

This cracking Sinbad adventure features a variety of fantastic monster moments. I’ve already mentioned the Centaur earlier in this list, but the highlight of the film is surely Sinbad’s sword fight with the reanimated statue of the goddess Kali. This six-armed deity, each arm bearing a sword, engages Sinbad in an absolutely cracking duel that doubtless tested Harryhausen’s skills to the limit.

3. Children of the Hydra’s Teeth (Jason and the Argonauts)

Credit: Sony

This sequence arguably deserves to be at the very top of the list, but since this is a rundown of favourites rather than what is technically the “greatest” of Harryhausen’s set pieces, I’m placing it here. The 7th Voyage of Sinbad featured the titular hero fighting a single skeleton (complete with fabulous Bernard Herrmann xylophone scoring). The sequence was such a success that Harryhausen had Jason and his crew face several skeletons (again, with a splendid Bernhard Herrmann accompaniment).

After Jason slays the multi-headed monster guarding the golden fleece, King Aeetes uses the teeth of the creature to summon the skeletons of those it had slain. These “children of the hydra’s teeth” rise out of the ground and attack Jason en masse, resulting in a cracking confrontation that perhaps represents the pinnacle of Harryhausen’s craft.

2. Medusa (Clash of the Titans)

Credit: MGM

My favourite monster sequence in this film features Perseus entering the flame-lit lair of Medusa. A horrific aberration resulting from the curse of a jealous goddess, Medusa was originally beautiful, but was transformed into a hideous being with a serpent’s body and snakes for hairs. Just one look from her, even if she’s dead, is enough to turn anyone to stone.

Perseus needs her head to turn the Kraken to stone and thus save Andromeda, but how can he chop off Medusa’s head without looking at her? Cue a tense sequence involving a lot of hiding behind pillars, whilst using polished shields as a mirror. But Medusa won’t be easy to catch, especially as she’s a skilled archer. The sequence is an atmospheric gem among Harryhausen’s very best. Although recreated in CGI for the 2010 remake, somehow it felt dull, insubstantial, and far less scary in comparison to the physicality of the original.

1. Talos (Jason and the Argonauts)

Credit: Sony

To bring this article full circle, I will never forget the first time I saw Jason and the Argonauts. More specifically, I will never forget the first time I saw the bronze giant Talos come to life, as my first exposure to this film (and indeed Ray Harryhausen) was this scene. I had popped in on a friend across the street, and he was watching it. I arrived just as Hercules foolishly ignored Hylas’s suggestion not to take that giant brooch pin from the treasure chamber (per Jason’s warning about only taking food from the island), and shortly afterwards, the terrifying massive statue that guarded the treasure turned its head towards Hercules, climbing down from the pedestal and chasing after him.

The following set piece, with Jason and his men versus Talos, is a triumph of stop-motion brilliance. Set to Bernard Herrmann’s dramatic score, and featuring the clanking, creaking sound effects of the giant moving, these practical effects, composited onto live-action backgrounds, are nothing less than remarkable. The moment when Talos picks up Jason’s ship as they flee, as though it were a toy, shaking Jason and the others into the sea, remains a gasp-inducing landmark of my childhood.

Sadly, I wasn’t able to stay long at my friend’s house, and left after the conclusion of the sequence, just as the harpies started to torment the blind Phineas (another stop-motion masterclass set piece). However, rest assured when the film next appeared on television, I was absolutely glued to the screen, and watched it from start to finish. Jason and the Argonauts remains my favourite Harryhausen film, and that love has now been passed on to my children. More on that subject here, if you’re interested.

Of course, this ranking fails to represent key Harryhausen pictures such as Mighty Joe Young (1949), The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953), It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955), The Three Worlds of Gulliver (1960) and various others. What are your favourite Ray Harryhausen films, and what are your favourite monsters from those films? Let me know in the comments.

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