Cimarron Strip (TV Series) The Beast That Walks Like a Man (1967) User Reviews

Houston family values

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 2 April 2020]

The large extended Houston family has picked out a piece of land to settle on, but there are two problems. First the government hasn't opened the land for settlement. And secondly there is a rumor of a savage large creature that is terrorizing the area.

Leslie Nielsen and Lola Albright head the Houston clan and the clan is a rambunctious but charming crew. Even Stuart Whitman isn't immune to them. But he has a job to enforce the law.

Whitman also has to find out the source of the savage killings that look like an animal could have done it. The solution won't be that surprising though.

Good performances from Nielsen, Albright, Royal Dano, and Simon Oakland and an exciting climax where Whitman confronts the beast.'

A group of settlers supposedly killed by a cryptid?! I think they already ran out of ideas!

[planktonrules · 2/10 · 26 March 2022]

The plot of "The Beast That Walks Like a Man" is an episode that seems like one that you'd see long after a show has jumped the shark and run out of decent plots. Oddly, however, it's only the 11th episode of "Cimarron Strip".

During the land boom in Oklahoma in the 1880s, portions of land were set aside for settlement by the US government. Oddly, instead of just letting people settle there, they made it like a contest. Settlers from all over were allowed to line up and hurry into the unclaimed land once there were all given the signal...not a moment sooner. And, there was then a mad dash into the territory where folks would make their claim by removing a stake from a piece of parceled out property. Odd...certainly. And it must have been a real free-for-all once the signal occurred! I mention all this because this episode is set just before this land dash occurred.

This is the setting for this story...the land dash is about to occur. But there are two problems. First, a group of yahoos named the Houston family are not about to abide by the rules and make it clear they're going to sneak into the unclaimed land in order to get the best lots. Second, and this is really nutty, some sort of monster is supposedly killing people and threatens to disrupt the Houston's plans. Yes, apparently some Sasquatch-like creature is supposedly killing folks intent on taking this land!! Talk about a strange plot!!

So does this weird story work? Not really. It just seems like the writers ran out of ideas or perhaps came up with this after they smoked a few joints too many or took peyote! Additionally, once again, the Marshall seems incredibly ineffectual when dealing with the Houstons...and repeatedly he screws up when handling them...and the 'cryptid'. Overall, a really dopey episode...and I noticed the previous two weren't very good either.