10 Great Monster Movies You May Have Missed
3. Valley Of Gwangi (1969)
Ahead of its time in the genre-mashing stakes, 1969's Valley Of Gwangi uniquely pits wild west cowboys against living dinosaurs in a New Mexico canyon. Intriguingly, the film was based on an abandoned project by Wills O'Brien, the creator of the original King Kong, who sadly passed before he could bring this idea to life.
Though it never quite lives up to its A-list potential, the film has plenty to offer, not least the novel plot, which concerns the supposed existence of a herd of tiny prehistoric horses. The owner of a struggling wild west show teams up with her former lover and a British paleontologist, hoping to track down and capture these beasts in order to boost flagging ticket sales.
James Franciscus (The Naked City), Richard Carlson (King Solomon's Mines) and Gila Golan (Ship Of Fools) play the protagonists, but the real stars, of course, are the dinosaurs, which are wonderfully brought to life by legendary animator Ray Harryhausen. Long-time Harryhausen collaborator Jim O'Connolly directs.