Sunday, January 17, 2010

James Best will be taking on the "Shrews" once again

Just a few years ago, in 2005, a fervent fan cried out for a sequel on the IMDb page for the 1959 movie, "The Killer Shrews." He kicked off some interesting responses, then later added, "I think James Best could return as the doctor if the movie is remade." Well, faithful fan, you'll be happy to know that Best, our own Rosco P. Coltrane of "The Dukes of Hazzard," is right now working on the script for the sequel, 50 years after the original was released.

"I am been very busy lately, doing a rewrite on a screenplay that Steve Latshaw and I are working on," Best says in the current issue of his email newsletter. "We hope to shoot the movie in the spring. It is a sequel to a movie I made 50 years ago. It is called 'Killer Shrews II.'"

The plot of the original, written by Jay Simms of "Have Gun, Will Travel" and "The Big Valley," involved a group of people on an isolated island, being terrorized by giant, voracious shrews. In the midst of a hurricane, we'll add. And hey, the promotional campaign involved a woman's pink pump and splattered blood, so whaddya expect? (But just so we're clear here -- we're talking about the vicious animal shrew here, not the ... ahem ... female.)

"This was a movie that I made as a favor to a man named Ray Kellogg," Best continues. "Years ago. It was made for practically nothing but was so corny that it actually became a cult film. We hope to shoot it in a three-dimensional format."

Wanna get primed? You can watch the original at Archive.org, where you'll see posts from other ardent fans(!). You can also catch the film's trailer at the IMDb.

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