On a South Seas island, a tribal prince named Kimo (therapy?) is wrongfully executed for his father's death. Before he dies, Prince Kimo vows that he will return from Hell to make his executioners pay for their crimes. He does, indeed, return from Hell—as a murderous tree called Tabanga, or the Spirit of Revenge. There's also a sub-plot involving political intrigue in the native tribe, but it's not worth getting into.
In many ways, this is your classic low-budget '50s sci-fi loser: wafer-thin plot, wooden acting (pun intended), dull dialogue, the requisite dumb-looking monster, the usual made-up science (radiation, of course, is the culprit); the non-existent directing and production values . What makes this one stand out, though, is that I found myself rooting for the tree monster. After all, Prince Kimo died over a crime for which he was framed by his cheating wife and her scheming boyfriend (who wants to the tribe's next king). As such, I applauded when Tabanga threw his widow into the quicksand and watched her die. That's not the reaction this type of film is supposed to elicit!
Additional items of note: a native hurls a spear at Tabanga from about three feet away but still misses; the Australian character Mrs. Kilgore, a middle-aged widow who is perpetually horny and outright annoying (not to mention extraneous to the plot); the Polynesian natives are all played by white people with New York accents; and conveniently for Tabanga, his victims all faint the moment they set eyes on him. Makes 'em easy to kill, doesn't it?
As one reviewer wrote: "From Hell It Came, and to Hell it can go!"
In many ways, this is your classic low-budget '50s sci-fi loser: wafer-thin plot, wooden acting (pun intended), dull dialogue, the requisite dumb-looking monster, the usual made-up science (radiation, of course, is the culprit); the non-existent directing and production values . What makes this one stand out, though, is that I found myself rooting for the tree monster. After all, Prince Kimo died over a crime for which he was framed by his cheating wife and her scheming boyfriend (who wants to the tribe's next king). As such, I applauded when Tabanga threw his widow into the quicksand and watched her die. That's not the reaction this type of film is supposed to elicit!
Additional items of note: a native hurls a spear at Tabanga from about three feet away but still misses; the Australian character Mrs. Kilgore, a middle-aged widow who is perpetually horny and outright annoying (not to mention extraneous to the plot); the Polynesian natives are all played by white people with New York accents; and conveniently for Tabanga, his victims all faint the moment they set eyes on him. Makes 'em easy to kill, doesn't it?
As one reviewer wrote: "From Hell It Came, and to Hell it can go!"