The Killer Shrews/Fun Facts
From The Grindhouse Cinema Database
< The Killer Shrews
- Close-ups of the giant shrews were filmed using hand puppets. The wider shots used dogs made up as the shrews.
- This low budget feature is still regarded as one of the most successful "regional films." Unlike other regional films, it not only received national distribution, it also had some foreign sales.
- This film and its companion piece, The Giant Gila Monster (1959), marked the directorial debut of veteran special effects man Ray Kellogg.
- Coon dogs were used to play the killer shrews.
- The man playing Dr. Baines is Gordon McLendon. He was the uncredited executive producer and financier of this and its companion feature The Giant Gila Monster (1959). He owned radio stations and a chain of theaters in Texas.
- For its Germany release the film was titled "Die Nacht der unheimlichen Bestien", which means "The Night of the Scary Beasts".
- This was one of two features produced by an independent company in Texas and intended to be distributed as a double feature. The other feature was The Giant Gila Monster (1959).
