The Milpitas Monster (1976) Online

This is a feature movie but not of Hollywood quality. Here are some trivia about the movie:

The Milpitas Monster took three years to produce. The kids grew during all that time.

The director, Bob Burrill, was an art and photography teacher at Samuel Ayer high, he went on to write a book about the history of Milpitas and illustrated another history of the nearby town of Alviso. He was a student of famous photographer Ruth Bernhard and filmed a documentary of her shown on PBS. Some of his shorter projects can be viewed on YouTube on the moooose69 channel.

The persons in the film were often recruited from those families who contributed money, materials, and volunteer hours into making it.

The heroine, daughter of the Ayer High principal, and the young hero did marry in real life and raised a family.

A claw from the monster's hand was on display at the Great Mall, a shopping mall in Milpitas, until the President of the local historical society had it removed because she did not consider it to be part of the city's history.

The only professional, paid actor in the film was the drunk.

The film was shot in 16mm.

The attorney hired to copyright the film failed to do so, but the trusting producers never checked up on him. It took over 25 years for the error to be discovered.

The film has been pirated around the world with new covers.

The film is still shown in the South San Francisco Bay area as a fund-raiser for various charities, including an annual showing on Halloween to benefit the Niles Railroad Museum in Fremont, CA.

Of course both of the previous reviews are absolutely correct on this film. It is pretty bad. But let me fill you in on some details - you might appreciate it a bit more then. Or at least have more compassion.

This movie was created by High School students in the city of Milpitas (where's Milpitas? It's in Silicon Valley, California - next door to San Jose and and a little over an hour from San Francisco). it started off as a fake movie poster for an art class assignment and grew from there. The high school photo teacher got involved and kinda spearheaded it - turning it into a feature length film. Eventually the whole high school and then the community got involved.

You have to understand that although the movie came out in 1976 the actual filming as I understand it was done in 1974. This is waaaaay before the digital age of what we have today. So while the special effects are very crude for today's standards and they were pretty crude even back then, they are pretty good for a 1974 era community made movie.

There's a great scene in the film where there is an overhead shot of city hall - showing endless open fields surrounding it. Not so today! Shopping centers and industrial complexes now surround the building. At a benefit showing a few years ago - in a packed local theater, the audience spntaneously clapped and cheered when this scene came on.

The Washington D.C. Special Contact with the "odorolla" is none other than Bob Wilkins (I think I got his name right) who was a local host of a late night monster/sci-fi show called "Creature features" and also hosted a kids Sci-Fi show called Captain Cosmic.

Yeah - the movie's gots its flaws - but I think it's good for a low key evening of fun. Heck - it even has a good environmental message! Not to mention the fact that it came out on video in the 80's on "Le Bad films." Also, I also know a police officer and the then mayer who are featured in the film playing themselves. Now how many people can say they personally know people who have starred in a feature length movie?

But then again - maybe to really appreciate the film you just have to have lived in the city of Milpitas in the 70's.

PS - they tried to make a sequel a few years ago - but it failed to capture the community's interest like the first time. I also still have my Milpitas Monster coloring book - wonder what it will fetch on Ebay?

The movie it's self is cheaply made and the editing is horrid. The whole mess sounds as if it was dubbed and badly i might add. From reading other review I believe that this movie was a local project and that would explain why it looks so bad. But that would also explain the heart that you can feel from the film. Even though it sucks and is muddled you can tell the project meant something to the people involved and that is why I will give the film a 6. I hate watching it but the effort is a all that matters. If Hollywood films would put forth half the love into their films we might not have crap like Miami Vice or Halloween H-2-O ruining the cineplex experience and driving the box office takes down. In Conjunction with this I will say that the drunk guy who runs around through the movie is hilarious and the only saving grace of the films story. he is worth two stars all by himself So keep on destructing Milpitas Monster.

Pollution yields a towering beast which proceeds to de-populate the community of Milpitas, California.

The simple general consensus is understandable...this is a badly shot, rough-hewn monster movie. Now...consider that it was made as a high school project involving complete amateurs in every aspect of its penniless construction, and the results begin to look pretty darned good.

There's a world of movies made by "professional" low-budget filmmakers that are far less watchable than this. Overall, the quotidian mainstream movie viewer will probably have a tough time with THE MILPITAS MONSTER, but it would seem highly unlikely for these individuals to ever merge with it in the first place. For those among us with an interest in the more novel curiosities of cinema, this should manage to entertain, and occasionally even impress, when allowed to be recognized and appreciated on its own realistic terms.

A+ for effort.

And that's not necessarily a good or bad thing.

Let's face it: The Milpitas Monster is a cheapie...in fact it's the kind of movie that Frank Zappa immortalized in the song "Cheepnis", only a couple of decades removed. This movie rode the tips of the coat tails of the brief monster movie revival of the seventies (Octaman, The Crater Lake Monster, APE) that occurred right before the advent of Star Wars and the plunge of science fiction into the mainstream.

But it has its points. I actually like some of the stop-motion animation in this one, primitive though it may be. There are a lot of interesting camera angles that one wouldn't normally see on such a film, and the lighting is for the most part adequate (the movie, especially during most of the special effects sequences, is kept rather dark).

I even enjoyed the story up until the introduction of the stupid "odorolla" tracking device, and the particularly stupid way that was used to lure the monster to its death. I don't mind a "bad" script, but I hate a stupid one.

The Milpitas Monster is worth a look if you are a fan of the giant monster genre, or if you just like cheap movies in general. A film that has Paul Frees do the narration can't be all bad.

You live in a quaint, boring town until one day when your town is suddenly not so boring! Does your town have its very own monster? Well, Milpitas does! The first hour of movie is, quite simply, buildup to the grand finale and revelation of the Monster himself. When the city stops taking care of its environment, the Milpitas Monster rises out of the garbage and murk and beings its regime of terror!

Not really; the monster is pretty impressive for the mid-seventies, but it's nothing George Lucas couldn't have done better on a limited budget.

If you actually live in Milpitas, then yes, the movie is a bomb, but it's also a legend. Most city residents were around at the time of the filming and/or grew up with the movie in their home. At the annual Art & Wine Festival in Milpitas, the Milpitas Monster is a frequent visitor. But if you live in the area, I highly recommend checking the library and getting the video and seeing for yourself just what is up with the Milpitas Monster. It's not a tale that's likely to be forgotten!

This movie was made by a high school, and not a rich one at that. Ayer High School in Milpitas, CA made this movie. At that time, Milpitas was a small suburb of San Jose. The movie was actually a big deal for the town and many had a blast making it, being extras and then watching it in our little theater.

Sure, as a movie, it's nothing great. But it was made for practically nothing by high school kids equipment that was not very modern at the time.

Ecology as it was known was just becoming a big thing back then, and this movie is about a monster spawned from pollution.

If Corky St. Claire in WAITING FOR GUFFMAN had directed the citizens of Blaine in a horror movie with comic undertones the result would have been very much like THE MILPITAS MONSTER.

To be generous, this was the longest hour and twenty minute movie I've ever seen. To call the pace glacial is to be kind.

Almost nobody associated with this project ever made another movie with the exception of Ben Burtt, who did the really admirable (considering the budget) special effects. He went on to do sound for movies like MUNICH and several other big budget projects. The narration is by veteran voice-over actor Paul Frees, who probably donated his efforts.

When you're watching the opening titles and see the Milpitas Unified School District listed as one of the producers you know you're going on a long, strange trip.

Pollution at the down dump in Milpitas, California, becomes so toxic that it creates a monster. Remember that this is 1975 and ecology was a hot topic. Just a few years previously moviegoers had been treated to GODZILLA VS. THE SMOG MONSTER.

So far so good. The monster is a winged creature at least fifty feet tall and has the capacity to tear the town apart. Instead it steals garbage cans.

Central to the premise is the idea that this monster can prowl a small city and leave eight foot long footprints behind but not be noticed by anyone. There's a nicely conceived scene where it walks through the middle of a carnival at night but somehow nobody notices.

The only person who sees the monster until the final scenes is George, the town drunk. All through the movie I hoped, hoped, hoped that George would be torn to shreds on camera but this didn't happen. Drat. In fact, nobody gets killed. George supposedly sacrifices himself to save Priscilla (he's tied to a helicopter to lure the creature- George smells worse than garbage and the monster is attracted to the scent).

The nominal leads are a group of high school students. There's pretty Priscilla and her nondescript boyfriend and some "bad" boys who (surprise, surprise) whip themselves into shape to help defeat the monster in the final scenes.

The monster is involved in four main set pieces. He attacks a Browning-Ferris garbage truck and leaves it beside an elevated highway, but nobody notices. He walks through the carnival, again unnoticed. He tears up a building (nice miniature work) and nobody sees him but George. Then he attacks the high school during a dance and grabs Priscilla and carries her off just like a certain very tall ape has done several times, most recently this past winter.

There are plot ideas that come out of nowhere and are dropped. Local citizens picket at City Hall because they want their garbage cans back. An elaborate secret weapon for tracking monsters is flown in by private jet, examined, and forgotten.

So why did I watch the whole thing? Because these people were having so darned much fun. I had the idea that the firemen were firemen, the businessmen were being filmed in their own offices, Priscilla may well live in that suburban tract house, and scenes of people in their yards may well have been in their own yards.

They may not be great actors, but they are real people. Nobody is stunningly good looking. In fact, I'd estimate that four out of five of the adults on screen wear glasses. Since this is the mid seventies we see some really bad clothes and some of the men have awesomely bad facial hair. One dignitary being interviewed before a meeting at Ciry Hall has such a loud tie and sportcoat that you think he's on his way to play Marcellus in THE MUSIC MAN.

And that got the movie two extra stars. Zero for the story. Two points for the sometimes decent special effects. And two points for the fact that people in the community actually got together and did this. They can actually say they've performed in a movie; despite lots of stage experience and working behind the scenes in live television I can't say that, and I'm happy for them.

Remember those great old movies with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland? At some point somebody would say, "Let's put on a show! Aunt Edna has all those old clothes in the attic, and we can use Uncle Ned's barn!" Then they'd do 'neighborhood shows' with sets and costumes that would cost well into seven figures if duplicated today.

That's the spirit that the good people of Milpitas had for this project, and bless them for that.

I was fortunate enough to have been a Milpitas resident when this student film came out. In fact, I was in kindergarten when they actually had the Milpitas Monster visit our classroom! The class was scared witless when that hulking thing lumbered into the classroom. I eventually saw the film, and yes, it is pretty bad. But it's still a better film than 'Gigli', and it holds precious memories for me. I think there was actually a song released for this movie which was put out on a 45rpm record. In fact, there was a Straw Hat Pizza in town that had it on their jukebox for a number of years. My wife thinks I'm crazy for being so attached to this movie, but like I told her, "You just had to be there". This film probably wouldn't do anything for people who aren't familiar with this piece of Milpitas History, but after viewing my share of old horror films, this really isn't all that bad.

A giant monster emerges from a local garbage dump to terrorize the suburban community of Milpitas, California. Okay, this rough-around-the-edges honey sure isn't an exceptionally well-crafted work of towering cinematic art, yet the clumsily earnest anti-pollution message, lovably lousy acting from a game, but lame non-star cast, poky pacing, meandering narrative, and gritty'n'grainy 16mm cinematography all give this picture an endearingly clunky charm. Moreover, one just has to dig a flick in which a drunken bum winds being the hero of the piece. In addition, the monster and miniature effects aren't half bad considering the paltry $11,000 budget, there's a groovy ending credits theme song, and the good-natured tongue-in-cheek inoffensive tone makes this flick impossible to either dislike or resist. The splendidly sonorous narration by the legendary Paul Frees rates as another significant asset. A cute little hoot.

I happen to love the Milpitas Monster! I have to say that everything that "Author: (rob@roballoo.com) from Lived in Milpitas for 25 years!" said is absolutely true. The whole town was involved in this project and to me that really adds to it. I grew up in Milpitas and I was actually there when it was made. It was the coolest. I guess you have to have lived there or near there to really appreciate it. Milpitas was a very small town back then where just about everyone knew each other.

I remember when the Milpitas Monster came out, the high school students went to all the elementary schools and junior highs (there were two then)and went to every single classrooms so us kids could personally meet the monster. It was so awesome. I remember some kids were very afraid of the monster. We had never seen anything like it before.

I think that everyone did a wonderful job with the technology that was available for that time. I encourage everyone to watch it!

It is real easy to toast, roast, flay, and otherwise burn this film for all of its abundant flaws. It was made by high school students and faculty and a whole community; it shows! Sure, I could examine the script which is just ridiculous. A monster created from the garbage of a growing Californian city starts eating garbage and taking garbage cans all over the city. Soon this huge beast with wings no less begins to destroy buildings and even plays the "beauty and the beast" act with a young high school girl. Fortunately for her there is a gang of guys, her former boyfriend nicknamed "The Penguin," and the town drunk out to help her. The direction is awful, the production values just dreadful, the acting non-existent, and the pace sluggish. The movie is hard to sit through - period. However, that being said, it is also a miracle of a film when you consider that this thing was crafted by an entire community. You can see all the collective effort from the actors, the actual mayor and actual firemen and policemen, to the area location shots used. I also was really amazed at all the local businesses credited at the film's end with helping to finance or contribute in some way to the film. When you look at the film from that perspective, it is indeed quite an achievement. I didn't know anything about it before I sat down and watched it. Now that I have found out something about it, I am impressed. But make no mistake - I have no...NO...desire to sit through it again.

This film is noteworthy as the first feature film produced by a high school that got wide distribution. Recently I saw that they've done a DVD transfer, so it is no longer only available on videocassette. It may be hard to relate to modern audiences, but what you have to remember is that this film was made in the 70s, when foreign monster movies were ubiquitous on TV and in the theaters. The Milpitas Monster is better understood as a *parody* of the monster movie genre: the acting is intentionally over-the-top (by the principals) or wooden (by the many non-actors in the film, such as the actual city mayor), and all the dialogue in the film was dubbed to be slightly out of sync to parody these movies. Sure, it also parodies "King Kong" to some extent, but the primary target was the movies which everyone knew from "Creature Features" and the double features at the local movie house.

The film has additional historical interest for people familiar with the Bay Area, as it provides a detailed snapshot of what the South Bay (and particularly Milpitas, of course) looked like 30 years ago: lots of open space, an airport, a traveling carnival, and no sign of the cultural diversity for which Milpitas has since become famous. It's astonishing how much change can happen in one generation.

If there's any problem with this film, it is that it tries to do too much: environmental message, parody of monster movies, love story, demonstration of civic participation in a school project. As a result, it is possible for people to mistake it as a serious film, rather than as the comedy it is intended to be.

I love low and no budget flicks from the 50's through the 80's, and Milpitas Monster is way up on the list. Shot in glorious 16mm and written and directed by Robert Burrill, it seems like he enlisted half the town of Milpitas along with the local high school to make this movie. The giant creature is bizarre and amusing and the effects work well enough for a film that supposedly cost 20 grand to make? Incredible, however I recall another favorite of mine, First Man on Mars, also cost 15 grand and was made in 2016. Highly recommended and look out for the hilarious King Kong effect reference!

Amateurishly made monster movie is more interesting to watch as a 1970s time capsule of cars, fashion, and culture. I was about to tear into this film as to how badly written, directed, and acted it was, but then I read it was shot over three years as a high school project by some teens attending Samuel Ayer High School in Milipitas, CA. Taken on that level, I'll say they did a respectable job. The story involves a local landfill overflowing, where the pollution reaches levels that end up creating the titular monster, a giant creature resembling a monstrous fly. I did particularly enjoy the cheesy stop-motion monster scenes, and I did also liked the teen filmmakers' other attempt at depicting a giant monster by creating a giant hand that would grab regular-sized actors, or putting a regular-sized actor in a monster suit on miniature sets, or shooting the guy-in-a-monster-suit using forced perspective to make them look enormous,, but the primary entertainment value of the film is derived from it capturing of a specific time and place. I was highly entertained by seeing our 1970s teen heroes going to school, driving around in station wagons, going to the county fair, going to sporting events, seeing local radio DJs, retro pool halls, rotary phones, going to a dance whee a local band is playing, etc. Since this film was not made by professional actors or filmmakers (although they somehow got Paul Frees of "War of the Worlds" and "Rocky & Bullwinkle" fame to narrate), it was shot on real locations, used real police cars, and used real people wearing their own real plaid jackets. To be sure, this film is really a zero-star quality of film, but I got at least 5 out of 10 stars worth of entertainment out of this amateur production. Ange be sure to stay through the end credits for all of the thanks to the local businesses that helped the production, which I found charmingly retro, with everything from Kinney Shoes to Buts Bakery.

One important thing to remember when looking at the review history of a movie is that watching a movie is as much of an art as making it sometimes. You can't go into a movie like this and expect something as good as (insert name of current awesome movie here).

In the land of rubber monster B-movies, this one has a very comfortable home. According to the trivia on IMDb, this was made by some high school students in California. It looks like lit, but it also looks like there were some experienced hands at work in this movie.

It's silly, cheesy, and it definitely doesn't take itself seriously. What it does is offer a scenario similar to the creation of Godzilla. Those movies make a point of telling the audience how horrible nuclear waste is. This movie uses pollution as its base.

The pollution created by the town of Milpitas eventually festers and the monster is born. It wreaks unusual havoc, focusing on trash. People's lives are in upheaval as their garbage cans are the most important priority there is! Demands are made! Protests are attended! Garbage men are... are... well, I can't tell you that.

Of course the movie is predictable, and has the usual foreshadowing and such, but it's still fun to watch. The film makers had some interesting ideas, and certainly wanted to send a message about garbage and pollution. I think that message rang loud and clear. Most households were putting out at least 3 cans of trash in this movie. That alone qualifies as scary! The monster is just the icing on the cake!

Definitely a solid 5, which is about where decent B-movies fall for me.

B-movies, either you love them or you hate them. Right? I'm not so sure. I believe there are exceptions. I just cannot except how anyone in their right mind, could hate this movie. And by the way, this hilariously inept pile of garbage ain't no B-movie. I'm talking about genuine Z-grade. I'm talking about some of the worst acting you'll ever see, even if you happen to like this type of thing. I'm talking about an incoherent, pointless movie which drags the term "Z-grade" to new lows. This is The Milpitas Monster. This avenger was toxic before toxic was cool. Actually, this guy isn't much of an avenger, he sorta wants to kill everybody. Years and years of garbage build-up, and an accident, involving the town drunk has somehow created a giant, pollution monster, who, like I said, wants to kill everybody, or at least walk around and scare the hell out of everyone, and destroy stuff, and leave giant footprints everywhere. That's basically it. No character development, or anything like that. I don't think that anyone even says anything remotely clever. Not the brightest bunch, I guess. The phrase "so bad, it's good" never made so much sense. An enthusiastically produced, feel-good, schlock-fest, from a better time. I would say how they don't make them like this anymore, but the truth is, they didn't then either. The giant monster thing was done a million times over in the 50's and the early 60's. Just one more thing to add to the clueless oddity that is The Milpitas Monster. I suppose this movie could have used a little gore, like other stuff from this era, but it ain't about shock in Milpitas, California, it's all about the schlock... or at least that's how things ended up. For all I know, these people could have been going for a masterpiece, although, I sincerely doubt it. Just try to remember, The Milpitas Monster meant well. 8/10

In the past 5 years I have rented some bad movies...completely on purpose. See I aspire to be a movie reviewer, and as we all know there are horrible movies released every year. Anyway, about 3 months ago I rented this one. I watched it all the way through...and cried profusely. This is one of those movies that is so freakin bad it makes you want to puke. It actually put a sick feeling in my stomach. I've seen lots of bad movies (Mystery Science Theater 3000 anyone?) but this one takes the cake. The plot was hard to follow, the lighting horrible and the sounds almost inaudible. If there was a negative rating on the scale here this movie would be at -11 for me. This may seem odd, but I highly recommend it. It's something you have to see for yourself...but don't say I didn't warn you. I don't think this review could get any more precise so I'm done now.

*Spoiler/plot- The Milpitas Monster, 1976. A quiet Californian town experiences some strange occurrences with their cities garbage. An investigation reveals a gigantic monster that terrorizes the city. Authorities are alerted and the city fights the monster.

*Special Stars- Doug Haddahl, 'Crazy' George Henderson, Priscilla House.

*Theme- Dumping waste into water sources or landfills can produce pollution and other awful things.

*Trivia/location/goofs- Filmed entirely in Milpitas California. The entire city helped in producing this film with locations, performers, vehicles and personnel. Watch for extensive use of miniatures and camera tricks in the monster's scenes.

*Emotion- A terribly predictable and pedestrian giant monster movie dealing with a ecological theme. The only interest is to see how this film was put together with almost the entire citizenry of Milpitas city either helping in its production or appearing on film. If this plot theme had not been done better in many more interesting script permutations with Frankenstein, King Kong, Creature from the Black Lagoon, and even Troma Film's 'Toxic Avenger', this film would be more fun and entertaining. But it isn't and is boring even for it's time.

I've heard that this move was put together by a bunch of high-school students. As a high-school art or theatre project it's not too bad. Unless you lived near milpitas in the seventies or knew someone involved in the making of the movie, this is pretty awful. Most of the actors are clearly not actors, but locals who volunteered. Bob Wilkins (the original host of Creature Features on KTVU in Oakland appears, but only for about a minute). Some of the monster effects are done with stop motion animation and some with a man in a monster suit and each works okay on it's own, but there is no continuity between the two. Watching without dialog, you'd assume that the movie had 2 monsters. I guess the most unsupportable aspect is that even the main characters, who I assume are the kids behind the movie, cannot even pretend to act. These kids must have been involved in theater in some way to want to do this project, but they display zero believable emotion in front of the camera.

I'm giving it a three instead of the lower number it deserves because of its history. A full-length movie made by high school students! It shows, too, but that's part of the charm and appeal. Get ahold of some of the stuff George Lucas did at UCLA; this is better. Maybe due to being a group effort.

A monster made of toxic waste and too much garbage--these kids were way ahead of their time!--starts ravaging the town of Milpitas during a high school dance. The monster destroys randomly, leaving garbage and smelly footprints.

The movie has local TV and radio people, the Milpitas mayor, the Samuel Ayer High School principal, and a whole bunch of the high school students and their parents, not to mention the mayor's daughter as the ingénue.

Dumb? Yeah! Fun? Yeah! Great screen writing? C'mon, they're untrained high schoolies! Copy that comment for the acting, cinematography, directing, et cetera.

Milpitas is right next to San Jose in the heart of Silicon Valley; maybe one of the graphics geniuses there will update the video somehow. Now THERE's a challenge.

This is a VERY bad movie. However, I read that it was made by a high-school teacher so maybe I should give it at least a TINY bit of praise for it's ambitious (yet awful) special effects. Here is the plot: a monster emerges from a pile of trash and pollution in the town of Milpitas, California and embarks on a destructive rampage. I'm about to spoil the "big surprise" about what the monster looks like, so please read the rest of this at your own risk. You have been warned! The monster looks sort of like a giant, two-legged fly wearing a gas mask. In some scenes, the monster is an actor wearing a costume. In other scenes, the monster is created by stop-motion animation. The acting is terrible. The dialogue is terrible. The special effects are terrible. The plot is predictable. Stay away!

This is the result of the town of Milpitas California making a home movie and subjecting the rest of the world to it. Legendary in some circles as the biggest cinematic turkey this movie is rightly thought of as a bad movie. Part comedy, part giant monster horror movie this movie is full of non actors not acting. the plot has something to do with a giant monster being created from the garbage and pollution in the area and going on a rampage. The monster, which we don't see until the final 20 minutes, is rather cool looking but isn't cool enough to warrant watching the preceding hour of boredom. Frankly even hardened bad movie lovers are going to have a tough time getting through to the end. This is a stinker.

I got this movie on Blockbuster Video on DVD under the title, THE MUTANT BEAST. Let me tell you this movie is a complete waste of the following, a complete waste of talent, a complete of money, a complete of time and a complete waste of celluloid. Back by popular demand, it's "Matthew Rants!" Most monsters come from the supernatural (DRACULA, THE WOLF MAN and THE MUMMY), unexplored lands (KING KONG), and outer-space (THE THING, INVADERS FROM MARS and THE BLOB). Others are created by science gone mad, (FRANKENSTEIN, THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU and THE FLY) and atomic radiation (GODZILLA). In the 1970's pollution was a very big problem and filmmakers had ideas for movies about monsters being spawned by pollution. OK, introduction aside, to start off, the only good thing about this picture is Paul Frees' narration. I have no idea what's it trying to be, a comedy? Or a monster movie? The acting is dull and stupid! The teenagers who break into the skull out-stupid the Three Stooges, they don't know how to control their voices, they sound like game show announcers! Whether I saw this as a teenager or not, I would still be offended by that! There is also this Charlie Chaplin wannabe who is this drunk guy and with so much human drama, the viewer wishes to get to the part with the monster! Apart from the acting there are the special effects range from cheap stop-motion animation (which can make MYSTERIOUS PLANET (read my review of that picture) look like EQUINOX) to a man in a suit (that can make early GODZILLA movies look sophisticated). It also does a good job at putting you to sleep and obnoxiously waking you up (OK that is a bit of an overreaction there). The film started as a short subject from 1970 as a short little statement film called THE MONSTER WE ALL CREATED. Then there was plans for a feature, which took three years to make and this was the result. 20 years later, in the nineties, there was plans to make a sequel called THE MILPITAS MONSTER 2. As the tackling goes, "The city of Milpitas is all grown up, but it's not alone. THE MILPITAS MONSTER 2 - it's back, and this time we're not kidding." Bottom line: Although it gained some sort of cult status, this film goes into Cinema Snob territory. If there is a choice between this film and GODZILLA VS. THE SMOG MONSTER, go with the latter. THE MILPITAS MONSTER is rated PG for scary scenes, mild language, thematic elements, and peril.