A team of archaeologists are investigating Mayan ruins in Mexico, trying to figure out why the Mayans migrated in 607 A.D. They soon discover a pool of water, which was used to make sacrifices to the goddess Caltiki. They are also soon threatened by a carnivorous, pulpy mass that can only be destroyed with fire. Not only will the characters have to deal with this monster, but one of their team (Gerard Herter), who's gone insane after a physical encounter with the creature has left him mutilated.This is an absolute must see for any fan of old school horror and the celebrated filmmakers Riccardo Freda and Mario Bava. Bava was responsible for the effectively stark black & white cinematography, and the special effects. He also actually directed a fair portion of the picture, although Freda (a.k.a. Robert Hamton) would get the sole directing credit. The story, by Filippo Sanjust, owes a debt to earlier pictures like "The Quatermass Xperiment", "The Blob", and "X: The Unknown", and is pretty straightforward and enjoyable. Pacing is more than adequate, resulting in a trim little movie that runs a mere 77 minutes. However, it's definitely the technical know how that makes this work as well as it does. Bavas' cinematography is beautiful, bringing out the atmosphere inherent to those rural settings, and his special effects are enjoyable, especially when the monster (made out of tripe) is multiplying, and several of the resulting duplicates are rampaging. Good music, as well, by Roberto Nicolosi and Roman Vlad.The cast is efficient, with Canadian born John Merivale ("A Night to Remember") creating a reasonably likable hero. Didi Sullivan is lovely as his wife. Herter is quite good as the unhinged human antagonist, and Daniela Rocca is appealing as the lady who loves him, but is unable to compete for his affections. In other roles you'll see reliable actors such as Giacomo Rossi Stuart ("Kill, Baby...Kill!") and Arturo Dominici ("Black Sunday").Exciting at times, and appropriately hideous (there are some wonderful shots of the damage done to human bodies after Caltiki has engulfed them), this is a creature feature well worth your time.Eight out of 10.

Caltiki has some connection to the Mayans. The monster is a big bag of jelly that has the ability to ingest human flesh. The plot has to do with a cave and lots of gold and trying to deal with this thing. I remember that the monster is amorphous, unlike the blob which was more like a congealed wad of bubble gum. The production value on this one is really lacking, but, in fairness, they probably only had a few bucks and a coupled months to pull it off. As is usually the case, people do lots of stupid things as they encounter this menace. I feel sad now that we have become so jaded that we can't produce a tacky equivalent to this. It would never make the screen.

On the heels of "The Blob" comes Caltiki, the vindictive mass of an ancient Mayan god who literally swallows and disintegrated its victims, many of whom it had driven crazy beforehand. Unlike the American blob, this one is in black and white and thus not as gory. However, the attacks are certainly quite frightening.Italian made but badly dubbed, this is a mixed bag of horror and mythology. The voice of the litter girl sounds like something you'd hear on Rocky and Bullwinkle, and other voices don't match, either. Still interesting and quite graphic, there are a few moments where you might turn your head away.The special effects are by Mario Brava, who would find immortality with directing "Black Sunday". One ugly moment has one of the psychotic characters being shown inside Caltiki. practically dissolving into a skeleton before your eyes. A survivor of Caltiki literally has their arm chewed off. This isn't going to be for everybody. But I can see why it has a cult following.

Ours is a sick culture. Either that, or a strangely apologetic one. Because if there is any genre that is sure to garner praise without any reservation; it's a Holocaust flick. You want an Oscar? Make one. You don't like it? You must be an anti-Semite, cry the critics. Bizarre, America had no role in the Holocaust so why feel guilty? And with a few exceptions, most of those films are mediocre at best, exploitative trash at worst. Clearly, there is only one way to remedy this sickness that has held Hollywood in it's vice like grip:Make more giant Blob movies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!It's true. That is the one sub-genre that can do no wrong. Think I'm joking? Look at all the great blob films of decades past, from THE film which led to Hammer's first big hit; 'The Quatermass Xperiment' and it's sequel, to the studio's own talky but engaging 'X, the Unknown', Steve McQueen's acting debut Tour de Force; 1958's 'The Blob', it's charmingly awful sequel, it's amazingly superior remake(And I hate remakes with a passion), that awesome segment in 'Creepshow 2', Japan's 'Dogora' and 'Yog: Monster from Space' all are great. Not a truly bad or unwatchable film in the lot. So why not make more entries in this unbeatable sub-genre? Clearly, Hollywood has no guts to explore the boundaries of cinema that these films could expand. They just want to make safe and marketable holocaust flicks. Shame.BUT! As good as those films mentioned are, no discussion of these drippingly good classics or classics dripping with goodness is complete without mentioning the 1959 masterpiece 'Caltiki'. Directing was begun by Riccardo Freda, with much of the film completed by Mario Bava(I wonder if he moved on to anything good?*sarcasm*)and it's a gem.Legend says that Mayan Goddess Caltiki will return when fire is seen in the sky, and wouldn't you know it? A meteor passes through! While exploring Mayan ruins, explorers made up of bickering couples(One is a square-jawed white man with a white wife, the other couple is a sniveling, accented man named Max with an interracial girlfriend who he abuses, jeeze, who do you think is going to be the couple that survives?)stumble upon a cave with a lake inside, best of all, it has jewels at the bottom! Max decides to take the jewels, but fails to notice the tar like substance that is at the bottom of the lake that is rising......You can guess what happens next, it's all a lot of fun. From a plot development involving a maimed Max doing an imitation of Richard Wordsworth in 'The Quatermass Xperiment' for no real reason other than to provide a human villain, to a memorable sequence where the protagonist is jailed while his family is in danger, to a surprisingly deep performance from Daniela Rocca as Max's submissive girlfriend, to a surprisingly clever psuedoscientific explanation for Caltiki, to several scenes that must have been appallingly graphic for the era, it's all a hoot. You'll keep your feet off the floor in the dark for weeks.It starts off slow and the dialogue is silly, but it's more entertaining than the majority of 'A' movies now!!! See it, or have your arm burned off by Caltiki! It's the 'Citizen Kane'....of Blob movies.