science

The Killer Shrews

The Killer Shrews is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand The Killer Shrews rather than just read about it. In short: The Killer Shrews is a 1959 American independent science fiction horror film directed by Ray Kellogg, and produced by Ken Curtis and Gordon McLendon. The story follows a group of researchers who are trapped in their remote island compound overnight by a hurricane and find themselves under siege by their abnormally large and venomous mutant test subjects.

Key takeaways

The Killer Shrews belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect The Killer Shrews to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of The Killer Shrews from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Killer Shrews is a 1959 American independent science fiction horror film directed by Ray Kellogg, and produced by Ken Curtis and Gordon McLendon. The story follows a group of researchers who are trapped in their remote island compound overnight by a hurricane and find themselves under siege by their abnormally large and venomous mutant test subjects. The film stars James Best, Ingrid Goude, Ken Curtis, McLendon, Baruch Lumet and "Judge" Henry Dupree. Shot outside of Dallas, Texas, it was produced back-to-back with The Giant Gila Monster. It played in theaters on a double feature with The Giant Gila Monster. Now in the public domain, the film has been issued multiple DVD releases and was lampooned in the fourth season of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Plot

Captain Thorne Sherman and first mate Rook Griswold deliver supplies by ship to a research compound on a remote island. The station inhabitants (consisting of scientist Marlowe Craigis, his research assistant Radford Baines, Marlowe's daughter Ann, her fiancé Jerry Farrel, and a servant Mario) give them a cold welcome and direct them to unload the ship and leave immediately with Ann, even though a hurricane is approaching the island. Thorne insists that the storm will be too severe for them to leave that night and so instead goes to the compound, while Rook stays with the boat. Marlowe explains he has been trying to isolate the genes responsible for growth and metabolism in order to shrink humans to half their size so as to reduce the impact of human overpopulation. He uses shrews as test animals due to their short lifespan, allowing him to track results over multiple generations. As Thorne and Ann talk that evening, Jerry becomes jealous and confronts Ann. She tells him their engagement is off in light of his earlier cowardice. Thorne opts to return to his boat and avoid the uncomfortable atmosphere, but Ann pulls a gun on him and orders him to stay. She explains that Marlowe's experiments have created a batch of mutant wolf-sized shrews that escaped due to Jerry's drunken negligence and are now reproducing in the wild. The group barricade themselves inside their compound every evening before the sun sets due to the creatures' nocturnal feeding habits. They have not contacted the coast guard so that they can complete their research, predicting that the shrews will cannibalize each other once they have consumed all other food on the island.

Rook comes ashore and is killed by shrews. The storm makes landfall and the shrews dig through the floor of the compound's barn and attack the livestock. Hearing the sound and mistaking it for Rook, Thorne nearly opens the door to let him in but is stopped by Jerry and Marlowe. Thorne points out that while the main building's floor is too hard for the shrews to dig through, the walls are adobe and the storm will turn it to soft mud. Recognizing the danger, the group plans to leave at daybreak. One of the shrews takes advantage of a broken window and makes its way into the basement. Mario and Thorne hear the noise and follow it downstairs. Mario discovers the shrew and shoots it fatally, but not before it bites him. Thorne treats Mario's wound, but he dies in seconds. Examining the dead shrew, Radford confirms there is a highly toxic venom in its saliva, the result of the shrews adapting to the poisoned bait the researchers placed in an attempt to kill them off. As day breaks and the storm fades, Thorne and Jerry scout the path off the island. Once away from the compound Jerry threatens Thorne with a gun to his back, ordering him to stay away from Ann. Thorne disarms Jerry. They call Rook to bring the ship ashore. When he does not respond, they follow the path and find the tatters of his clothing. Starving, the shrews break their nocturnal habits and attack. Thorne and Jerry race back to the compound. Jerry reaches it first and tries to leave Thorne locked outside, but Thorne scales the fence. Enraged by the multiple attempts to kill him, Thorne beats Jerry senseless and nearly throws him to the shrews in a fit of anger. Another shrew gets in and bites Radford, killing him. As more shrews chew through the walls, Thorne hits upon the idea to fashion impromptu armor by lashing together empty 50-gallon chemical drums and then duckwalking to the beach. Due to his claustrophobia, Jerry refuses to get into the drums, isolating himself on the roof and watching the shrews chase after the lashed-together drums. When the coast seems clear Jerry runs towards shore but is cut off and killed by shrews. Thorne, Ann, and Marlowe reach the shoreline, ditch the armor, and swim out to the boat. Safely aboard and confident that they will make it back to the mainland, Thorne and Ann share a kiss.

Cast James Best as Captain Thorne Sherman Ingrid Goude as Ann Craigis Ken Curtis as Jerry Farrell Gordon McLendon as Dr. Radford Baines Baruch Lumet as Dr. Marlowe Craigis "Judge" Henry Dupree as Rook Griswold Alfred DeSoto as Mario

Production Principal photography took place outside of Dallas, Texas. Special effects were provided by first-time director Kellogg, who served as the head of 20th Century Fox's special effects department throughout most of the 1950s. Close-ups of the shrews were filmed using hand puppets, and for the wider shots, coonhounds were costumed as the shrews. This low-budget feature was regarded as one of the more successful "regional films". Unlike other regional films, however, it received national and even foreign distribution.

Release

Home media The Killer Shrews was released on DVD in 1999 by Diamond Entertainment Corporation as a double feature set with the creature feature The Giant Gila Monster. In 2001 it appeared on a DVD double feature with I Bury the Living instead, from Madacy Entertainment, and for the first time as a standalone DVD release, from K-Tel Entertainment. A colorized version of The Killer Shrews was released on DVD by Legend Films in 2007, again as a double feature set with The Giant Gila Monster. The satirical TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000 riffed on the movie in an episode during its fourth season. MST3K's version of The Killer Shrews was released on DVD by Rhino Home Video as part of the show's Volume 7 boxed set. The film was released on Blu-ray by the Film Masters label on September 26, 2023, yet again as part of a double-feature with its original theatrical co-feature The Giant Gila Monster.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with The Killer Shrews

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what The Killer Shrews claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to The Killer Shrews before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about The Killer Shrews ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of The Killer Shrews

In research: The Killer Shrews appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses The Killer Shrews in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: The Killer Shrews is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1950s monster movies, 1959 American films, 1959 English-language films, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for The Killer Shrews outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study The Killer Shrews in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what The Killer Shrews means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain The Killer Shrews out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is The Killer Shrews in simple terms?

Why does The Killer Shrews matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study The Killer Shrews?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on The Killer Shrews.